Let's now retrace our steps a bit, starting on Bell Hill (just north of Shrewsbury Street) and then continuing up Lincoln Street through Brittan Square and all the way beyond Lincoln Plaza to the Great Brook Valley area!
A note on historical sources: To get "past stores" in each location, I've consulted Worcester city directories going back to the 1910s. Here in the city, I'm drawing from 1916, 1922, 1927, 1931, 1937, 1943, 1959, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1969, 1973, 1979, 1985, 1991, 2000, 2009, and 2017. Also of note: this is far from an exhaustive listing of all grocery stores that have been in this area, although I'll probably eventually post the full thing, this is just what I've been able to photograph.
Reading the captions: A caption such as the following...
| John Smith (1926-1937) > Joe Jones (1955-1982)
...means that John Smith appears in the directories in 1926 and 1937, and Joe Jones appears in all directories I consulted between 1955 and 1982. That doesn't mean that John Smith opened up shop in 1926 and closed in 1937, he might have started in 1920 and closed in 1941 but since I don't have those records, I don't know for sure. Any questions (or corrections), feel free to drop a note in the comments and I'll look into it!
Bell Hill
Popcorn Market
Owner: unknown
Opened: before 2008
Location: 179 Belmont St, Bell Hill, Worcester, MA
Photographed: March 20, 2021
Belmont Street goes up and over Bell Hill before joining Shrewsbury Street to the east, just west of Lake Quinsigamond (which also serves as the border between Worcester and Shrewsbury). The steep street has multiple little grocers on it, and a vegetarian restaurant not run by a cult (I mean a transnational cybersect; see 413 Chandler). It also has the Popcorn Market, which dates back to at least the 1920s selling groceries in the tiny store of just over 700 square feet. Recall that in this context, spa means small grocery store.
Past Stores: Kazar Ogasian (1927-1931) > John Ogasian (1937-1957) > Ogasian & Sons Spa (1962-1973) > Corner Store (1979)
Owner: unknown
Open: 2020-2023
Location: 158 Belmont St, Bell Hill, Worcester, MA
Photographed: March 20, 2021
Past Stores: John Ekman (1916-1943) > Nicholas Vessio (1949-1957) > Vessio's Market (1962-1973)
Owner: John Robles
Opened: before 2007
Location: 94 Belmont St, Bell Hill, Worcester, MA
Photographed: March 20, 2021
This store's owners plead guilty to selling fentanyl out of the storefront in 2019.
Past Stores: There were no grocery stores here before Albino's.
Leonard Banionis owned a grocery store next door at 96 Belmont (now the smoke shop) in 1937.
Brittan Square
M&M Market
Owner: unknown
Faith N Hope Farms
Owner: Alexander Opoku
Owner: unknown
Opened: 2012
Location: 169 Lincoln St, Brittan Square, Worcester, MA
Photographed: April 1, 2022
Past Stores: Community Stores Co (1927-1937) > International Market (1991)
Owner: Alexander Opoku
Open: 2008-2023
Location: 196 Lincoln St, Brittan Square, Worcester, MA
Photographed: April 13, 2021
Faith N Hope Farms became Faith Market Place in 2023.
Past Stores: There were no grocery stores here before Faith N Hope Farms.
Great Brook Valley
JC Plaza Supermarket
Owner: unknown
Owner: unknown
Open: ca. 2015
Location: 6 Boylston St, Great Brook Valley, Worcester, MA
Photographed: February 26, 2022
Past Stores:
6 Boylston St: Louis Market (1985)
6a Boylston St: Ramos Market (1991; closed ca. 2005)
6b Boylston St: Daniel's Mart (1985-1991)
6c Boylston St: Handy Mart (1979)
My guess is all of these are the same place, and that the city directories just aren't perfect. So my guess (I don't know this for sure, but here goes): Handy Mart by 1979, Louis Market in the early 80s, Daniel's by 1985, Ramos by 1991, closed around 2005, One Stop Mart by 2011, JC Plaza by about 2015.
Great Brook Valley Market
Owner: Minerva Gonzalez Nunez
That wraps up our look at the independent grocers of northeastern Worcester! We're gonna go straight through this weekend with a look at former grocery stores tomorrow (and LOTS of updates and special reports) and then a preview of our final Worcester group on Sunday!
Open: 1986
Location: 112 Tacoma St, Great Brook Valley, Worcester, MA
Photographed: February 26, 2022
Past Stores: unknown
This small grocer is kind of embedded within the Great Brook Valley complex, a sprawling campus of public housing apartments. I'm not sure whether the complex had a grocery store between the time it was built -- around the 1950s -- and the opening of this store in 1986. Another, slightly larger, grocery store is just outside the complex.
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