Winthrop Marketplace Opened: 1999 Owner: Frank Carideo Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 35 Revere St, Winthrop, MA Photographed: April 22, 2023 New England definitely has a lot of independent supermarkets. There are plenty of areas of the United States where your only choices are Walmart and Kroger, and don't get me wrong, there are plenty of small New England towns that have only a Hannaford or only a Shaw's. But independent grocers also thrive in New England, which I mentioned on yesterday's visit to Chelsea's Stop and Compare . Here in Winthrop, in fact, the only store in town is the little independent Winthrop Marketplace. And if you thought Stop and Compare was tiny at 8000 square feet, try Winthrop Marketplace's 5900 square feet. Still, it's a full-fledged supermarket without a doubt -- and a very nice one at that. You enter to the produce department in the front-right corner. Meat and deli/bakery line the back wall of the store,...
Stop & Compare Supermarket Opened: 1996 Owner: Calvo and Ianotti families Previous Tenants: First National Stores (late 1950s-1980s) > Oppedisano's Market (open by 1980s, closed by mid-1990s) Cooperative: none Location: 170 Everett Ave, Chelsea, MA Photographed: July 22, 2019 Truly independent supermarkets are getting harder and harder to find. It's no secret that the supermarket business is a hard one, and heck, it's rough out there for small businesses of any kind at all. But in the northeastern suburbs of Boston, a three-store, fully independent chain is not only running full steam ahead but has recently expanded. Stop & Compare Supermarket, run by members of two longtime food industry families, opened up here in downtown Chelsea back in 1996, later adding a location in Lynn in 2004 and another in 2021. Recognize the exterior of this building? If it looks familiar, it's because we've seen other stores with the same general facade design befor...