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 ...