The Market Report

Shaw's Opened: 2001 Owner: Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants: Grand Union (ca. early 1960s-2001) Cooperative: none Location: 2 Main St, Montpelier, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 Yep, that's rain you're seeing in that picture. What a nice day to stroll around beautiful quaint Montpelier. Oh well -- it passed quickly. Vermont's capital city is home to two supermarkets, one of which is a beautiful food co-op and the other is this Shaw's with a bit of history! It was built in the early 1960s or so as a Grand Union, which appears to have closed and sold to Shaw's in the chain's 2001 bankruptcy (like this one ). At around 21,000 square feet, this store is slightly larger than the Hunger Mountain Co-op, but definitely feels smaller as it's less modern and more cramped. I believe the majority of the setup here is left over from the Grand Union days, although Shaw's does also appear to have done several rounds of renovations. Produce is on the le...

Hunger Mountain Food Co-op Opened: 1996 in current location; 1960 previously Owner: cooperatively owned Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: National Co-op Grocers Location: 623 Stone Cutters Way, Montpelier, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 We've seen more food co-ops in New England than I've posted anywhere else, and that's because the co-op culture is still very strong in this part of the country. Look no further than the Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier for evidence. This co-op has been active since 1960, building the current 20,000 square foot facility in 1996. It's a large and busy supermarket, modern and appealing with an interesting selection of products. The focus in the grocery aisles is on natural foods, but this is definitely a full-line supermarket that also has a large selection of locally-made and grown products. The grocery aisles are on the right side when you enter, with the produce department opposite that on the left side. Behind that all are...

CP Dudley Store Opened: 1889 Owner: Richard and Bonnie Hall Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: none Location: 2915 US-2, East Montpelier, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 Like so many of the Vermont general stores we've seen (and will continue to visit as we pass through the state), East Montpelier's CP Dudley Store has been continuously operating for more than a century. It opened in 1889, and it's now attached to a gas station, as is fairly common for country general stores. Today, it's about 6,000 square feet, having apparently been expanded out both sides. Unlike a couple of the stores I've posted recently, Google Maps doesn't have an interactive tour of this one. Nevertheless, we can still get a look inside here . East Montpelier is a small town of just 2500, but it's just outside the larger town of Montpelier (which is also the capital of Vermont). That's where we're off to tomorrow for a look at one of two supermarkets in the town!

Original Grocery Tenant: Grand Union Address: 355 N Main St, Barre, VT Opened: 1974 Closed: ca. 1990s Later Tenants: assorted non-grocery tenants Photographed: August 13, 2025 It's not hard to tell from a glance that this building in downtown Barre was originally a supermarket. And given that we're here in Vermont, it's easy to guess who the original tenant was -- Grand Union, which has left plenty of similar buildings across the state. It's around 28,000 square feet, and has been subdivided between a shoe store and a Walgreens. Grand Union opened here in 1974, though this store replaced an older location in town that had been in business since at least the 1940s. I haven't been able to pin down exactly where that old store was. And it looks like this store didn't actually make it to Grand Union's 2001 bankruptcy, instead closing around the 1990s. I'm not sure if there was a very short-lived replacement store in the area, which is possible. At the...

DeCicco & Sons Opened: September 9, 2026 Owner: Chris, John, & Joe DeCicco Previous Tenants: Grand Union > Stop & Shop (2001-2023) Cooperative: none Location: 21 Glen Ridge Rd, Greenwich, CT Photographed: September 25, 2026 It's time to visit another new DeCicco & Sons location! Most recently, I wrote (overly dramatically, of course, as is my tendency) about the Sleepy Hollow location in New York's Westchester County, a truly spectacular supermarket. That store proves they can produce an incredible, first-rate supermarket when they're building a store from the ground up. What about when they're revitalizing a closed chain supermarket? Well, this new store just across the border in Greenwich, Connecticut proves they can do that just as well. I posted about this store back when it was a Stop & Shop a couple years ago, or I suppose more accurately I posted about it shortly after it closed. After being vacant for a few years, this aging Grand U...