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Main Street Markets - Rockland, ME

By Zachary
Main Street Markets Opened: 2014 Owner:  Jennifer and Rick Rockwell Previous Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants Cooperative:  none Location:  435 Main St, Rockland, ME Photographed:  August 13, 2019 and June 16, 2022 Here in downtown Rockland, a few storefronts have been combined to become Main Street Markets, a gourmet grocer and cafe that opened in 2014. I actually visited the store twice, once back in 2019 and again in 2022, so we'll see pictures from both times. This isn't exactly a grocery store, but more of a specialty food and wine store with a small cafe. The interior has been beautifully renovated with a nod to the building's past with wood floors and brick walls. There's an emphasis on local and specialty products on the grocery shelves here, with a counter for food and beverages to order. There's also a small seating area. And in the back of the store is a beer and wine department. These days, the business seems to be in the beer/wine and cafe si...
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Rockland Foodservice - Rockland, ME

By Zachary
Rockland Foodservice Opened: ca. 2010 in current location Owner:  Kenneth Pierce Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  195 Park St, Rockland, ME Photographed:  August 16, 2019 This 8500 square foot building just outside Rockland, ME has the look of an old supermarket, but I haven't been able to confirm that. These days, it's home to Rockland Foodservice , a small wholesale grocer that sells mostly to foodservice small businesses. Tomorrow, we're headed into downtown Rockland for a look at a small grocery store there!
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Hannaford - Waldoboro, ME

By Zachary
Hannaford Opened:  unknown Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  Dave's Shop & Save (open in 1968) Cooperative:  none Location:  17 Kalers Corner St, Waldoboro, ME Photographed:  August 10, 2019 At just a third of the size of the other Hannaford we're seeing today , the Waldoboro store is much smaller and older, too, though it's been nicely remodeled. This one is 19,000 square feet, and was Dave's Shop & Save which opened around the 1960s. The big remodel happened in 2016, bringing it to its current size and modernizing both the interior and exterior . The inside was redone again more recently , and has the current Hannaford decor package. Tomorrow, we're headed about 13 miles east to Rockland!
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Hannaford - Damariscotta, ME

By Zachary
Hannaford Opened: ca. early 00s Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  469 Main St, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 16, 2019 In addition to the Main Street Grocery and the Rising Tide Co-op , Damariscotta has a big chain supermarket: a roughly 60,000 square foot Hannaford built in the early 00s. I don't know if this replaced an older Hannaford in town or in the area, but I can't find evidence of that. It's on the larger side for Hannaford, but given that we're in Hannaford's home territory here, that makes sense. I didn't go in -- Hannaford stores generally aren't that exciting -- but the inside looks both quite nice and just like every other Hannaford . Speaking of Hannaford, that's the dominant chain in this part of Maine, so check out another one about eight miles northeast here , and tomorrow, we're headed up to Rockland!
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Rising Tide Co-op - Damariscotta, ME

By Zachary
Rising Tide Co-op Opened:  2009 in current location; 1978 previously Owner:  cooperatively owned Previous Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants Cooperative:  National Co-op Grocers Location:  323 Main St, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 16, 2019 Damariscotta is a very small town of about 2200 people about halfway between Portland and Bangor, but even this tiny town has three full supermarkets. The local independent store is Main Street Grocery , and directly across the street from it is the Rising Tide Co-op. A Hannaford is just down the street, and we'll see that Monday. Although Rising Tide has been in business since 1978, the co-op moved into this building -- formerly a motorcycle dealership! -- in 2009. You can see in the exterior picture at the beginning of this post that it truly is directly across the street from Main Street Grocery. But the stores are very different. In New England, there's a very strong culture of community co-op grocers, a...
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Main Street Grocery - Damariscotta, ME

By Zachary
Main Street Grocery Opened: 2022 under current ownership; 2018 previously Owner:  Greg Snyder Previous Tenants:  Yellowfront Grocery (1990-2018) Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England (previously IGA) Location:  5 Coastal Marketplace, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 10, 2019 Constructed in 1990 as the Yellowfront Grocery (with a yellow front -- or at least a partially yellow front ), this approximately 15,000 square foot supermarket became Main Street Grocery in 2018 . Local business owners Jane and Gary Gravel took over the supermarket when Yellowfront closed, then sold it again in 2022 . The new owner, Greg Snyder, has switched the store's supplier from IGA (supplied by Bozzuto's) to Associated Grocers of New England. When I visited in the summer of 2019, it was still owned by the Gravels and still an IGA member. The store isn't that old, but has an old-school, familiar feeling. You enter in the front-left corner and walk across the front to p...
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