The Market Report

Emanuel Supermarket Opened: 2014 Owner:  Jorge Bernal Previous Tenants:  Santiago's Market > Smart Supermarket Cooperative:  none Location:  195 Hollis St, Framingham, MA Photographed:  March 18, 2022 Just south of the main downtown area of Framingham is Emanuel Supermarket, a small store of around 4000 square feet. In the past, it was Santiago's Market until around 2007 (not sure if there was any relation to the stores in Worcester of the same name), then became Smart Supermarket around 2010 and Emanuel by 2014. Tomorrow's stop is a couple blocks north, in downtown Framingham!

Plaza Supermarket Opened: 2008 under current ownership Owner:  Robert de Fernando Monegro Previous Tenants:  Finast > King Super Market > Santiago Meat Supermarket Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  1000 Main St, Worcester, MA Photographed:  January 13, 2025 Today's look at Plaza Supermarket in Worcester's Main South neighborhood is a very quick revisit to the small store, as they've almost finished a multi-year renovation project. The produce department has been redone with new fixtures (see here for the previous setup and a look at the store through the years), and new flooring, shelving, and aisle markers are in throughout the store. This building has been home to a grocery store for over 100 years at this point, going back to Abraham Glass, who owned a store here in the 1920s. Several other tenants occupied the building through the decades, until Plaza opened up in 2008. The only other change is that a hot food counter is being installed next to...

Gala Foods Supermarket Opened: 2018 Owner:  Aurora Grocery Group Previous Tenants:  department store > Santiago's Supermarket > Compare Foods Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  664 Main St, Downtown, Worcester, MA Photographed:  October 9, 2018; November 18, 2018; April 14, 2019; and October 18, 2020 We're coming back to Worcester's Gala Foods (previously Compare Foods ) in downtown Worcester to see the final stages of the conversion fully finished. Long ago, of course -- Aurora Grocery Group converted their New York and New England Compare Foods stores to Gala Foods back in 2018, when they joined Key Food but couldn't keep their name . (I find it absolutely hilarious that Gala Foods' new slogan is "Beyond Comparison," a joke not that many people will get.) The 27,000 square foot building was originally a department store, which in 1965 was The Mart . I believe it became Santiago's Market around 2000 (incidentally, my former boss's fa...

Plaza Supermarket Owner: Robert de Fernando Monegro Opened:  2008 under current ownership Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  1000 Main St, Main South, Worcester, MA Photographed:  April 21, 2018; April 22, 2018; September 5, 2018; September 15, 2018; November 9, 2018; March 27, 2021; April 23, 2021; April 28, 2023; May 8, 2023; and September 15, 2023 So I've only photographed this store 10 times, not the extravagant 11 like the Shaw's at Webster Square Plaza . But again, I lived nearby and went frequently, so we've got an extensive look at Plaza Supermarket here in Main South Worcester! This grocery store dates back all the way to 1925, when Abraham Glass owned a grocery store at 998 Main Street (that's somewhere around the middle of Plaza Supermarket, whose address is now 1000 Main St). First National Stores was next door at the same time at 988 Main St, now the far-right side of Plaza (where you can clearly see what used to be a separate storefront). By the ...