The Market Report

Hannaford Opened:  2004 Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  Victory Markets (ca. late 1980s-2004) Cooperative:  none Location:  927 Merriam Ave, Leominster, MA Photographed:  April 7, 2023 Another Worcester County Hannaford, another former Victory Market. In fact, every Hannaford in Worcester County was previously a Victory  but one. Victory, a local chain (you can read about its history and see a few pictures on Wikipedia ), built this store in the 1980s at 44,000 square feet, and just before Hannaford's acquisition in 2004, it was expanded to its present 64,000. It has the latest Hannaford decor package looking beautiful inside. The grand aisle is located in the expansion on the left side of the store, with produce in the front part, bakery in an island facing, and prepared foods, deli, and seafood in the back-left corner. The facade is new, probably installed around the time the inside was redone; the outside was previously much more 1980s . M...

Original Grocery Tenant: Shaw's Address: 289 N Main St, Leominster, MA Opened:  1990 Closed:  2019 Later Tenants:  subdivided Photographed:  April 7, 2023 Apologies for the terrible picture out the window of a bus, but here's a look at a former Shaw's of 53,000 square feet. It dates back to 1990, when it was a new-build Shaw's -- the only one in the Montachusett region, as far as I know -- and it closed in 2019 along with three other stores . It looks like the space was or is being prepared for an Amazon Fresh , given the renderings posted to the real estate company's website. The renovation didn't end up looking much like those renderings , though, without the signature Amazon Fresh facade. So it's not clear to me whether Amazon Fresh is still interested. Here's a look at the back of the store -- clearly a former supermarket, check out those loading docks -- which was also being redone when I was here in the spring of 2023. We'll see if Amazon Fr...

Roots Natural Market Opened:  ca. mid-00s in this location Owner:  Marieke Cormier Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  INFRA Location:  100 Crawford St, Leominster, MA Photographed:  April 7, 2023 The light-industrial stretch of Crawford Street in northern Leominster doesn't look much like a spot for a grocery store, but Roots Natural Market made its home here about 20 years ago and they've been going strong ever since. The natural food store isn't large -- just around 6500 square feet -- but is a really nice small natural supermarket. We enter in the front to a small cafe and coffee shop area, then turn left to enter another room of specialty items, home goods, and some prepared foods in the refrigerators here. In the back of that room is a doorway to the main grocery store part, which is in the back of this space. It seems like this store was previously a light-industrial space just like all the others that surround it, so perhaps the back part was a w...

Original Grocery Tenant: unknown Address: 568 Main St, Leominster, MA Opened:  ca. 1960 Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  subdivided Photographed:  November 21, 2023 This 15,000 square foot building in northern Leominster sure has the look and feel of a former supermarket, but try as I might, I can't find any records that show a grocery store at this address. Then again, I can't find much of anything at this address, so I don't know. The building was built around the late 1950s or early 1960s. Any locals who can tell us about the history of this location? Maybe northern Leominster has lost a grocery store in this location, but in the mid 2000s, the neighborhood gained a grocer with the opening of the store we'll be touring tomorrow!

Market Basket Opened: ca. 1990s Owner:  DeMoulas family Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  71 Sack Blvd, Leominster, MA Photographed:  April 7, 2023 It's been a while since we last saw a Market Basket, but as we inch closer to their home territory of northeastern Massachusetts, we'll see more and more of them. The Montachusett Region alone has three between Leominster and Fitchburg, but once we get into Middlesex County, we'll be seeing plenty more. This is a mid-sized Market Basket, a chain whose stores can be over 100,000 square feet or as small as in the 35,000 square foot range. This one clocks in at 65,000 square feet. But inside, it looks exactly like every single other Market Basket. That's not a bad thing, they tend to be extremely well-maintained, perfectly clean, and stocked fully. Below you can see a single light burnt out -- I think that was the single burnt-out light in the entire Market Basket chain. We enter the store to ais...