The Market Report

Hannaford Opened: before 2007 Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  190 Kennedy Memorial Dr, Waterville, ME Photographed:  August 12, 2019 Waterville has two Hannafords along with a Shaw's (and previously had a Save-A-Lot ). Both are around 45,000 square feet, and this one is on the southern end of town just down the street from the Shaw's. Unfortunately, I don't have much to report on the history of the store -- tracking down full history for a lot of these Maine stores has been tricky -- but I seem to remember Hannaford briefly owning a warehouse-style discount store, which I believe was under the name Sun Foods . This exterior bears some resemblance to those stores, so it's possible it was once a Sun Foods but I don't have confirmation of that. Tomorrow, we'll be headed about three miles west to tour an independent grocer in a nearby small town!

Save-A-Lot Open: 2012-2023 Owner:  employee owned Previous Tenants:  Ames Later Tenants:  vacant Cooperative:  none Location:  20 Concourse W, Waterville, ME Photographed:  August 12, 2019 Save-A-Lot has had some well-publicized struggles in recent years, and part of the shift was switching all of the corporate-owned stores to independent franchise ownership. But beyond that, even some independently-owned stores have faced hard times, and that's been the case here in Waterville. A new, roughly 20,000 square foot Save-A-Lot opened downtown in 2012 in part of a former Ames department store, but closed a little over a decade later. This one was employee-owned by a local group that also runs Food City supermarkets in New England. I visited in 2019, and it was still looking fairly new despite the fact that it would close four years later. Produce was in the front-right corner with sale items in the rest of the first aisle. Meat and cold cuts were on the back wa...

Pleau's Market Opened:  unknown Owner:  Rob Pleau Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  10 China Rd, Winslow, ME Photographed:  August 12, 2019 Happy June! Winslow is a suburb of Waterville, ME, and here we're just across the Kennebec River from downtown Waterville. While I haven't been able to find a specific opening date for this little store of about 14,000 square feet, I think it's safe to say it's been here a long time (or at least, it's been a supermarket of some kind for a very long time). The store looks small but well-kept inside , though I didn't get the chance to go in. It's a member of Associated Grocers of New England. Tomorrow, we're headed across the river to Waterville!

ShopRite of East Orange Opened: May 27, 2026 Owner: Sumas family/Village Super Market Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp. Location: 533 Main St, East Orange, NJ Photographed: May 27, 2026 It's not all that often that I get to post about a brand-new ShopRite, so today is an exciting day. It's especially exciting because Village Super Market has replaced the tired old store at Brick Church Plaza with a truly impressive new-build one on the same property. This is the latest development in a multi-year project to reuse a large lot right at the Brick Church train station in downtown East Orange. Since the late 1980s, it's held a fairly unremarkable strip mall anchored by a ShopRite. Now, a new development has brought a higher-rise building complete with a new supermarket on the ground floor. You can see the store in progress in 2024 here , and tour the previous ShopRite here . Although the new supermarket has been in the planning and construction phases...