232 Chandler St, Worcester, MA

Original Grocery Tenant: Living Earth Market

Address: 232 Chandler St, Main Middle, Worcester, MA

Opened: 1971

Closed: 2019

Later Tenants: vacant

Photographed: August 31, 2018 and March 20, 2021

For a few decades, a natural food store called Living Earth Market stood at the corner of Park and Chandler in Main Middle. The grocer was just under 7,000 square feet, and was the only natural food store in Worcester. I visited the store back in 2018, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures other than that first one. The rest all come from 2021, after it had closed.

I won't go too deeply into the history here, but make sure you read this profile on the store from the Telegram & Gazette when it closed. You can also see quite a few pictures on the Yelp page.

In 2022, a restaurant owner purchased the property. Long before Living Earth was here, though, the property was a Community Stores location back in the 1920s and 30s, then was taken over by Harry Provost by 1943, then Pasquale Luzzo by 1949. During the 1950s, the space was Jim's Market.

The arrangement of the building means we couldn't get a great look inside after it closed, but this is the entrance and exit foyer/hallway along Dewey, the small side street. One small part of the store was visible in what looks like an atrium at the front facing Chandler Street...

We'll have to wait and see what comes for this space! In the meantime, let's tour the chain supermarket just west of here tomorrow!