The Market Report

West Newbury Food Mart Opened: 1963; 1959 previously on this property Owner:  Vermette family Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  275 Main St, West Newbury, MA Photographed:  August 20, 2025 "Welcome," that chicken painted on the store above says, "to The Market Report's last store visit in Massachusetts!" Over the last year and a half or so, we've spent a lot of time visiting stores across the state, and now it's time for the very last one. And it's a fun one! The West Newbury Food Mart has been in business here since 1959, according to their website . It opened in 1959, but burned down just four years later. That resulted in the current iteration of the store being built, although it was expanded and renovated in 1976 to its current 7600 square feet or so. It's the only full-scale grocer in West Newbury, but we're just down the street from the Shaw's and the Market Basket in Newburyport ...

I mentioned on the post for America's Food Basket that Lawrence has a number of independent grocers, mostly small corner stores catering to Latin and Caribbean shoppers, so let's take a look at them before The Market Report leaves the area. Plus, we'll see a store just outside of Lawrence. Here we go! Lawrence V&V Market & Restaurant Opened:  2015 Owner:  Victor Villacis Previous Tenants:  car dealer > car rental agency Cooperative:  none Location:  273a S Union St, Lawrence, MA I've seen grocery stores in buildings previously occupied by lots of different businesses, but here's a somewhat unusual one -- a former car dealership, later car rental agency, that's now the V&V Market & Restaurant. That certainly explains the unusually large parking lot for this store of just 3000 square feet. V&V has been here since 2015, and is a small corner store with a butcher, deli, hot food, and general grocery.

Crosby's Marketplace Opened: ca. early 2000s Owner:  Chris Crosby Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  15 Walnut Rd, Hamilton, MA Photographed:  May 14, 2022 The Market Report's second-to-last stop in the Salem area is the Crosby's Marketplace here in South Hamilton! A pleasant, attractive store of just 14,000 square feet, this Crosby's is tucked away in the back of a strip mall behind the Hamilton/Wenham train station. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the history here is very limited and I can't find much information in my usual sources, so any wisdom anyone has to share would be helpful. Crosby's opened at some point between 1980 and 2006 (looks like closer to 2006 than 1980), but the building dates back to at least the 1960s. You enter the store to the grand aisle on the right side, with produce up in the front and deli-prepared foods behind that, along with seafood and bakery. The meat department is in the back...

Henry's Market Opened: 2015 under current ownership; 1941 previously Owner:  Jim Crosby / Crosby's Marketplace Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  588 Cabot St, Beverly, MA Photographed:  May 14, 2022 In business since 1941, Henry's Market of Beverly, MA is definitely one of the longest-standing grocers in this area -- though not the oldest operating one . Expanded many times to its present 18,000 square feet, the supemarket was taken over in 2015 by the owners of Crosby's Marketplace . Crosby's has mostly left the store as-is, but has brought some of the higher-end prepared foods and other more gourmet offerings into their other locations. The building is laid out a bit strangely because of the many expansions, but it's an attractive and well-run supermarket. The first department we encounter is the produce department, in the front section with some very nice skylights bringing natural light into the rustic-style...