The Market Report

Foodland International Opened: 2021 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants > V-Mart Market Cooperative:  none Location:  123 Church St, Lowell, MA Photographed:  October 8, 2023 Lowell is best known for being the city where Market Basket, the powerhouse regional chain with five locations in town, originated. But various other supermarkets have come and gone throughout the city, including Hannaford, which currently operates a supermarket to the east of downtown. Downtown Lowell today has two supermarkets: a relatively small Market Basket  just west of downtown, and this independent store called Foodland International to the southeast of the city center. Foodland International is a supermarket of about 12,000 square feet, and has a really interesting mix of international products along with some grocery basics. It takes up part of a uniquely-designed former department store; a big-chain supermarket was originally at the other end ...

Kennedy's Butter & Eggs Opened: 1995 under current ownership; unknown previously Owner:  Gunjan Patel Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  13 Merrimack St, Lowell, MA Photographed:  October 8, 2023 Downtown Lowell is a beautiful, historic former mill town, and its downtown is situated right on the confluence of the Merrimack River, the Concord River, and Pawtucket Canal, which runs through the city . Merrimack Street , one of the main thoroughfares, is lined with historic buildings and small businesses -- among them Kennedy's Butter & Eggs, a convenience store that actually goes back decades. I can't find an actual opening date, but Kennedy's appears to have been a significant chain with locations here in Lowell, Worcester (paywall), Jamaica Plain (Boston), Salem , Waltham , and Medford . That City Data forum has the most historical information I can find about the company, though, so unfortunately I don't have much more history or...

Market Basket Opened: 2020 Owner:  DeMoulas family Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  90 Old Ferry Rd, Pawtucketville, Lowell, MA Photographed:  August 20, 2023 Contributor:  Jenna W. Our contributor Jenna, who brought us yesterday's look at Village Variety , shows us this very new Market Basket on the west side of Lowell. At over 75,000 square feet, it's quite a bit larger than nearby stores in Chelmsford and Westford , for example, but not nearly the biggest Market Basket out there. I don't believe it replaced an older store nearby, although there is a much older and smaller (but newly renovated) location just about half a mile south across the river. Unfortunately, I haven't been to this store or that one, but I have been to a couple of stores in downtown Lowell. Come back tomorrow to check out our next stop!

Village Variety Store Opened: 1982 Owner:  Pankaj Desai Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  1301 Pawtucket Blvd, Pawtucketville, Lowell, MA Photographed:  August 20, 2023 Contributor:  Jenna W. The city of Lowell spans the Merrimack River, with the bulk of the city including its downtown south of the river, on the same side as Chelmsford . But today we're north of the river to check out a variety store of about 4000 square feet at the far western edge of the city. It looks like today Village Variety is mostly a liquor store, although they do seem to sell some food, and although it appears to have opened in the 1980s under its current ownership, I wouldn't be surprised if it dates back much farther than that. This area of Lowell, known as Pawtucketville, does have a supermarket and we'll be taking a look at that tomorrow!

Hannaford Opened: 1990 Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  Alexander's Supermarket (closed 1990) Cooperative:  none Location:  66 Drum Hill Rd, Chelmsford, MA Photographed:  July 3, 2024 Hannaford is a pretty significant regional chain, but they're not all that big. Based in Scarborough, ME, Hannaford owns just under 200 supermarkets in ME, VT, NH, MA, and NY. Of course, they're a division of the much-larger Ahold Delhaize conglomerate. But here in Massachusetts, they have only 16 locations. They previously had more, but sold a handful in the 2016 Ahold Delhaize merger. When Stop & Shop and Hannaford overlapped, Hannaford stores were sold and S&S locations were kept. I have to wonder if, given all that Stop & Shop has struggled with lately, Ahold Delhaize wishes they'd kept the Hannaford stores instead. But here in Chelmsford, both a Hannaford and a Stop & Shop operate (separated by a mile and a half, and a Market Basket ). The roughly 60...