The Market Report

Tozier's Family Markets Open: 2021-2024 Owner:  Dale Tozier Previous Tenants:  Save-A-Lot > Brewer IGA Later Tenants:  vacant Cooperative:  none Location:  87 S Main St, Brewer, ME Photographed:  June 13, 2022 Just across from Tiller & Rye is this longtime supermarket, which goes back decades although I haven't been able to pin down the exact history here (so anyone who knows this area, please tell me what I'm missing!). In recent history, the approximately 16,000 square foot supermarket has been a Save-A-Lot, which closed around 2020 and became the Brewer IGA. That store also closed shortly after opening, and in 2021 it became a location of Tozier's Family Markets . Tozier's closed all but its smallest store in 2024, and this one has remained vacant since. Inside, the Save-A-Lot history is clear. Brewer IGA updated some of the signage, but the bones are distinctly Save-A-Lot (including these food image posters). See here for an example. Produce ...

Tiller & Rye Opened: 2015 Owner:  Sarah Morneault and Lindsey Levesque Previous Tenants:  Rite Aid > Brewer Discount Furniture Cooperative:  none Location:  20 S Main St, Brewer, ME Photographed:  June 13, 2022 I'll stop beating a dead horse someday soon, but there are so many supermarkets that have opened up in former Rite Aids and other drugstores in the last five years or so. Here's one from a bit before the current trend. This former Rite Aid in downtown Brewer briefly became a furniture store after closing, but since 2015 has been Tiller & Rye, a roughly 10,000 square foot specialty market. The exterior doesn't have a particularly distinct Rite Aid look, but my best guess is that the drugstore designed this facade to match the somewhat small-town setting. Neither the furniture store nor Tiller & Rye redid the outside extensively, but the inside has been remodeled. And as you can already tell from the outside, this is no typical supermarket...

Hannaford Opened: early 00s Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  A&P > A-Mart Discount Foods (1970s) > Shop 'n Save (open by 1991) Cooperative:  none Location:  383 Wilson St, Brewer, ME Photographed:  June 13, 2022 Brewer is a town right outside Bangor, which is the bigger city in the area (and the county seat of Penobscot County). Brewer is to the east, across the Penobscot River from Bangor to the west. We're going to take a look at some grocery stores here in Brewer before crossing into Bangor. This Hannaford, although it's been extensively renovated, actually is hiding a centennial A&P deep under that facade. The supermarket today has been expanded to around 52,000 square feet, but prior to Hannaford was also an A&P-owned A-Mart Discount Foods, and later Shop 'n Save. Hannaford is the primary big-chain supermarket in town, but tomorrow we're going to see a much more specialty grocery store in Brewer's small downtown! PLUS, big news! ...

G&M Family Market Opened: ca. 2015 in current building; 1984 previously Owner:  Greg Hawes Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  1024 Main Rd, Holden, ME Photographed:  June 13, 2022 Today's stop is a quick one, a look at the G&M Family Market in Holden. I'm not sure what (if anything) was here before G&M, but they've been open in this spot since 1984. Between 2011 and 2018, the previous building was demolished and replaced with the current one in a slightly different footprint. You can see the old building on Google Maps . Here's a look inside the supermarket. Happy Memorial Day, and tomorrow we're headed to the Bangor area!

  We are coming to the end of The Market Report's time in Maine, and it's time to circle back inland after spending some time along the coast (see here and here )! As you can see on this map, this is only a fraction of the geographic area of the state, but it's all I have, at least for now. This time, we start with a few stores in the Bangor area, then proceed west via Waterville and Oakland, and finally end up in Augusta and Gardiner which are about 20 miles north of Wiscasset . See you on Monday for our first stop outside of Bangor!

  Continuing the celebration of The Market Report's 10th year! Each month of 2026, I'll be posting a different special feature to celebrate my 10th year of writing this blog. There's a lot to see already, so here's a summary of what we've done so far: January: Remembering A&P February: Best of 2016-2020 March: Back in Time ( Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 ) April: Recommended Reading This month, I'm excited to talk a little bit more about the blog itself and give you an inside look at how it works! Here are some fun facts and questions I get periodically about The Market Report. (And come back tomorrow to preview the next group of Maine stores!) Who am I? Hi! I'm Zachary. I'm a food lover and food writer, and for almost 10 years, The Market Report has been my passion project, my hobby, and my favorite conversation starter. I have a background in food service management and journalism, so this is where my passion comes together with my skills. I'm a Ne...