TOUR: Debra's Natural Gourmet - West Concord, MA

Debra's Natural Gourmet & Debra's Next Door
Opened: 1989 originally; ca. 2008 in current location

Owner: Debra Stark

Previous Tenants: non-grocery tenants

Cooperative: INFRA

Location: 98 Commonwealth Ave, West Concord, MA

Photographed: May 18, 2024

Happy Monday, and welcome back to West Concord! On Friday, we took a look at the longtime supermarket that was right in the middle of West Concord but closed in 2013. Just a few years before that store closed, a small natural foods store opened up across the train tracks. Debra's Natural Gourmet had been around since 1989, but moved into the current 3200 square foot location in 2008 or 2009. In 2022, Debra's added a second storefront next door, appropriately called Debra's Next Door, expanding the business by about another 4000 square feet.

Debra's original store has a produce department in the front-left corner, with several aisles of natural groceries to the right of that. Meats are in the back occupying what used to be the prepared foods department (that's now Next Door), and dairy/frozen along with HABA are on the right side of the store.

Debra's is a member of the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association, or INFRA, a large cooperative of natural food stores.

I believe INFRA uses a storebrand called Cadia for natural food items, but I don't recall seeing a lot of storebrand items at Debra's.

Here's a look at the front-end, looking in the direction of the frozen/dairy and HABA departments on the far side of the store.

In the back, the former deli/bakery area is now meat, with the Kitchen items being moved to Debra's Next Door.

There's a large HABA department in the front-right corner of the store, along with its own service counter.

Now let's go over to Debra's Next Door!

We enter to the bulk foods department, which Debra's claims is the largest in Massachusetts. While I can't independently confirm or deny that -- there's no doubt it's very impressive.

Other bulk items line the rest of the main room, including cleaning products, spices, and teas.

What we're looking at below is a wall of bulk spices. You can bring your own container or use one of theirs, and fill it with your choice of spice and pay by the pound.

Bulk soaps and cleaning products are in jugs for the same process. You can fill a container with the dish soap, laundry detergent, and other items that are here.

And in the back, there's the Kitchen and a seating area.

This is also what functions as the store's deli, although I don't think they have the typical cold cuts you'd find at a regular supermarket deli.

Debra's is a delightful little store with a lot to offer, and it's great that an independent grocer continues to anchor the West Concord business district. We're now off to the southern part of Acton, about two miles west!