The Market Report

New Market Opened: 1984 Owner:  Huong Le Previous Tenants:  Kuszmar's Market (open in 1961) > Cal's Market (open in 1991) Cooperative:  none Location:  109 Bridge St, Salem, MA Photographed:  May 14, 2022 Today's visit is a quick one: New Market in northern Salem, on a peninsula that extends north of downtown. This store is right around 2000 square feet, and clearly has been a grocery store for a long time. Historical information is limited, but looking at Newspapers.com, the building was Kuszmar's Market in 1961 and Cal's Market in 1991. Other than that, I don't have much more information to offer. Today, the store is a pretty updated liquor and convenience store . Tomorrow, The Market Report crosses the Essex Bridge over to Beverly for two stores in the southern part of town!

Daily Table Grocery Open: 2023-2025 Owner:  nonprofit Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  135 Lafayette St, Salem, MA Photographed:  March 29, 2025 Previously, we've spent some time checking out nonprofit Daily Table Grocery locations in Boston and Cambridge, and now it's time to see the shortest-lived location. The roughly 6000 square foot Salem Daily Table opened in September of 2023 , closing with the rest of the locations in May 2025. The Salem store, like the others, was small but bright and clean with a simple selection of low-priced foods including a produce department as the centerpiece. The store was oriented with the registers at the right side, next to the parking lot, and groceries on the front wall with produce and a few aisles in the middle. Dairy, frozen, and cold cuts/prepared foods lined the left-side and back walls of the store. As you can see, the store is small and simple but bright and clean. It was a good concept and goo...

Los Amigos Supermarket Opened: 1991 Owner:  Cesir Euerrero Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  122 Lafayette St, Salem, MA Photographed:  March 29, 2025 There are a few small grocers here in downtown Salem, and one small supermarket -- Steve's Quality Market , just a couple blocks northwest of here. Los Amigos is quite a bit smaller than Steve's, at only around 1000 square feet, so it's closer to a corner store or bodega than full supermarket. It's been here since 1991, but if I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if a corner grocer has stood at this corner, directly across from a small park or common, for many decades longer. A larger but still small-format grocer was briefly located across the street, which you can see here in today's other post. And tomorrow, The Market Report visits a small store at the northern edge of Salem!

Steve's Quality Market Opened: 1932 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  36 Margin St, Salem, MA Photographed:  May 14, 2022 One look at that sign tells you this store has been around for a while! In fact, it dates back to the early 1930s, when Steve's Quality Market first opened at the corner of Margin and Gedney here in downtown Salem. The store was expanded and remodeled in the 1960s, which is also likely when the sign went up. Today, Steve's is 4000 square feet -- a small store, but definitely a supermarket, not a convenience store. Its decades-old neon sign has garnered it some attention (you can even buy a print of a photograph of this store from Bed Bath & Beyond! Or from here ) but glimpses inside the classic supermarket are limited online. So let's check it out here on The Market Report! The nighttime pictures you can see online are really spectacular. The effect is less cool during daytime hours, but still, th...

Original Grocery Tenant:  Elm Farm Food Stores Address: 426 Essex St, Salem, MA Opened:  by 1965 Closed:  by 1970 Later Tenants:  Giant Value Discount Foods (open by 1970, closed 1988 or 1989) > Crosby's Marketplace (open by 1989, closed 2000 or 2001) > CVS (2002- ) Photographed:  May 20, 2025 Just west of downtown Salem, Elm Farm Food Stores opened this 15,000 square foot supermarket in the early 1960s, no later than 1965. By 1970, it had become a Giant Value Discount Foods, which then became a Crosby's Marketplace in 1988 or 1989. Crosby's stuck around here until late 2000 or 2001, and a new CVS opened up in the space in 2002. Now, a couple interesting things here. First off, the Elm Farm to Giant Value progression is actually a familiar one: a supermarket in Boston's Mission Hill was originally an Elm Farms, later a Giant Value. It looks like both of those might have been cooperatives or franchises, so it's possible ownership didn't change during tha...

Market Basket Opened: 1970s Owner:  DeMoulas family Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  227 Highland Ave, Salem, MA Photographed:  March 29, 2025 Just across the parking lot from yesterday's Shaw's  is a 1970s-era Market Basket. It appears to have been expanded, probably around the 90s, to its current 65,000 square feet -- slightly larger than the Shaw's. It feels larger, but it also feels older. The Shaw's is newly renovated, but this Market Basket hasn't been renovated in a fairly long time -- so although it's a larger store, it lacks the expanded bakery, prepared foods department, and cafe/coffee shop in the Market's Kitchen and Market's Cafe areas. Dairy is in the first aisle on the right side, with seafood and deli at the back. Meats line the rest of the back wall, with frozen and produce on the left side. Bakery and a small prepared foods counter are in the front-left corner. Even though it cosmetically looks the same as a much ...

Shaw's Opened: 1980s Owner:  Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  11 Traders Way, Salem, MA Photographed:  March 29, 2025 The time has come to make a visit to Salem! Yes, that Salem . This nondescript strip mall outside of downtown Salem probably isn't the first place that tourists go, but it's definitely the regional retail center, with Shaw's, Market Basket, Home Depot, Planet Fitness, TJ Maxx, Target, PetSmart, Town Fair Tire, a liquor store, and numerous fast-food restaurants within a couple blocks. This 60,000 square foot Shaw's actually dates back to the 1980s, although it appears to have been renovated and expanded in the early 00s. When I visited last spring, it had just celebrated its latest grand reopening, with a fresh coat of paint outside and much more extensive changes inside, as we'll see. Until this remodel, the store still had the old Shaw's logo and slogan out front. The remodel was pretty extensive,...