The Market Report

LaBonne's Market Owner: Bob LaBonne Opened: unknown Cooperative:  IGA Location:  639 Straits Tpk, Watertown, CT Photographed:  July 9, 2021 We've seen some excellent independents around Connecticut so far, and today's tour is no exception. The four-store LaBonne's Market chain runs higher-end but complete supermarkets with lots of specialty items but not crazy high prices. Like so many other stores in this area, they are IGA-affiliated and supplied by Bozzuto's -- whose home base is in Cheshire, just about ten miles from this store. We enter the 30,000 square foot store on the left side to produce in the left part of the grand aisle. It opens up to prepared foods up next, with a sushi island in the middle of the grand aisle and the rest at the back. The salad bar we see here was closed not permanently, but due to the coronavirus when I visited. The deli is at the back of the grand aisle with meat and seafood taking up the rest of the back wall. Dairy and frozen ar...

Adams Hometown Market Owner: Bozzuto's Foods Opened:  1996 Previous Tenants:  Edwards Super Food Stores (ca. 1960-1996) Cooperative:  IGA Location:  1167 Main St, Watertown, CT Photographed:  July 9, 2021 I've mentioned that many independents in Connecticut are supplied by Bozzuto's, a food wholesaler based in a suburb between Waterbury and Hartford, including all of the IGA stores in this region. What I didn't know until relatively recently is that Bozzuto's has actually owned a group of IGA stores for several decades, and in 1996, acquired nine Edwards Super Food Stores from Ahold and renamed them Adams Super Food Stores after Bozzuto's founder Adam Bozzuto. They've also acquired various other IGAs and independents -- especially from their own customers who are looking to sell their stores for one reason or another -- over time, rolling them all into what's now called Adams Hometown Markets. The Adams chain now owns 17 stores under the Adams Hometown...

Sunny Ridge Supermarket Owner: Steven Meehan Jr. Open:  1966-2023 Cooperative:  none Location:  82 Main St S, Bethlehem, CT Photographed:  July 9, 2021 We've seen (and will continue to see) quite a few very well-run independent stores that seem to be doing very well in Connecticut. Unfortunately, some are definitely less successful. We're here at the Sunny Ridge Supermarket in Bethlehem, CT, about 30 miles southwest of Hartford and 10 miles northwest of Waterbury, which closed shortly after I visited. The supermarket was about 8000 square feet and also had a small gas station attached until around 2010. The store finally went under in the first half of 2023, and we can see it vacant in an August 2023 street view . When I visited in the summer of 2021, the store was definitely struggling but I didn't think it was about to close. You entered around the middle of the storefront, then turn right to enter produce in the front right corner of the store. Dairy lined the fi...

Washington Food Market Owner: George Verrastro Opened:  1973 Cooperative:  IGA Location:  5 Bryan Hall Plz, Washington, CT Photographed:  July 9, 2021 This store definitely doesn't look like your average supermarket! This store of around 9,000 square feet is located on the downtown stretch of Washington, CT, a small town of around 3600. The town was largely destroyed in a 1955 flood , then rebuilt in a similar setup. The main businesses are located mostly on Bryan Hall Plaza , a somewhat strange almost dead-end main street with businesses only on one side and the town hall's large property on the other. This IGA-affiliated independent opened in 1973, but I'm not sure if there was previously another supermarket here. Inside, it's pristine but wonderfully original -- possibly some parts even to the store's 1973 opening. Produce is in the front part of the first aisle, with chips and beverages in the back part. Dairy runs across the back wall, with deli in the back le...