The Market Report

Food City Opened: unknown Owner: Nishantkumar Patel Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 101 Lake St, St Albans, VT Photographed: August 12, 2025 In downtown Saint Albans City, the only grocer other than the small and specialized Rail City Market  is Food City. Food City is a small chain with other locations in Massachusetts and Maine, plus a handful of Save A Lot locations . Though Food City was owned by the Sclar family for years, it transitioned to employee ownership in 2019. But this past summer, the company's eight stores were acquired by a Massachusetts-based owner, Shiv Holdings. More here . In other words, when I took these pictures in the summer of 2025, it was about a year before the new owners took over. Deli-bakery are in the front-right corner, with produce in the back-right. Meat is on the back wall, with frozen in the middle and dairy on the left side. Beer and wine are in the front-left corner. I don't know too much about the history of th...

Rail City Market Opened: ca. 1990s Owner: Ashley Cleare Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 8 S Main St, St Albans, VT Photographed: August 12, 2025 Welcome to downtown Saint Albans City! Between the city and the surrounding town, Saint Albans has around 14,000 people, making it one of the larger municipalities in the area (we're about 25 miles north of Burlington here and just 50 miles south of Montreal). In the middle of town is the Rail City Market, named after the city's railroad heritage, and it's a small specialty grocery store and gift shop. In other words, not a spot to fill a shopping cart, but worth a stop for unusual items. Rail City Market has been in business since the 1990s or so, but we can tell this is a historical building that's been beautifully preserved. In terms of other food options, Saint Albans also has a Hannaford and a Market 32, but both are north of town. Here in downtown, there's a small independent supermarket th...

West Enosburg Country Store Opened: 2002 Owner: Marguerite Panko Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative: unknown Location: 2394 W Enosburg Rd, Enosburg Falls, VT Photographed: August 12, 2025 In my travels, I've encountered a few examples of a cooperative that has dissolved, but relics remain even when the group doesn't exist anymore. Think of Shop n Bag , for instance. That's what I imagine is the case here in Enosburg Falls, although I don't know for sure. This West Enosburg Country Store has only been in business since 2002, but I'm sure there was previously another general store on this spot. An IGS -- not IGA -- sign remains here outside the small grocery store. It's possible that IGS was another cooperative or brand name (Independent Grocery Stores? Independent Grocers Services?). On the other hand, it's very possible that the IGS logo refers to the gas station rather than the store. None of my usual sources are giving me any helpful information,...

Stop & Shop Opened: 2001 Owner: Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants: Edwards (late 1990s-2001) Cooperative: none Location: 245 Littleton Rd, Morris Plains, NJ Photographed: October 10, 2026 Welcome to the latest Stop & Shop renovation! This store opened in the late 1990s as an Edwards, becoming a Stop & Shop in the early 00s when the chain rebranded. It got a full renovation in the mid-00s or so before getting some other fix-ups over time, and this store has always struck me as being kept up really well. Now, it's getting another overhaul. You can see some "before" pictures here on my original post. The 67,000 square foot store seems to do fine and be kept in really good shape despite (or perhaps because of) its very close proximity to multiple other very busy supermarkets. Here in the grand aisle, the produce department looks like it's been reset and the walls have been painted, but the real renovation work hasn't yet made it to the deli and prepare...