There's Something About Market Basket

When I was growing up in the Concord of the 1950s and 1960s, we seemed to have a plethora of grocery stores that dotted our landscape.

There were the larger stores like Grand Union and Champagnes. We also had a wonderful A&P located on Park Street. In addition there were numerous neighborhood stores including Filides, Superior Market, Diversi’s and on Washington Street, near my home, The Food Basket. 

The Lillios family ran The Food Basket and for a small store it still seemed to have everything. It was not uncommon for me to be sent over for a loaf of bread, some cheese or some particular spice, almost on a daily basis. I don’t ever remember coming home empty handed – it all seemed to be there.

Later on the larger stores came to town including Stop & Shop, the IGA Foodliner in the King’s Department Store Plaza and where I learned to bag groceries while still a teen. We also had J.M. Fields Quality Discount Foods and later on came Shaws, and Market Basket to name but a few.

I am not part of the P.R. team touting the virtues of Market Basket but I love the two stores located in Concord (Storrs Street and Fort Eddy Road). Yes, I shop at some of the other stores from time to time but always I am drawn to Market Basket.

I will confess that I have been approached on more than a dozen occasions in the past year or so at Market Basket by individuals who had read my book, "Was That a Name I Dropped?" and had to tell me what it had meant to them in effusive terms. One elderly woman insisted it should be made into a Lifetime Movie because “That channel is always on in my house!!” Actually it will probably be made into an independent film later this year or early next if present plans work out, so who knows, it might show up someday at Concord’s Red River Theatres.

What I really love about Market Basket is the amazing cross section of individuals you meet in the aisles or in line at the registers. It helps you to really understand the diversity of our community and to recognize the differences between us.

In addition, the majority of the staff are a real throwback to an era when workers genuinely looked at customers as people and not simply as an annoyance. Take a look at the name tags on some of the employees and you’ll be surprised at how many years some of them have worked at Market Basket as indicated by the tags. Customer service, which is becoming almost as extinct as the Dodo Bird in some sectors is alive and well at Market Basket.

There are some stores I’ve shopped in where I had to ponder taking out a second mortgage to pay for what I was buying. Not at Market Basket, where you can fill your cart, pay and still have enough left over to partake in lunch at your favorite local restaurant.

If it’s not on the shelves, they will try to get it for you and have on many occasions, never using the line, “We don’t have any call for that…..”

It’s not perfect. I’ve had to dodge the floor buffer a number of times because they seem to delight in bringing it out when the store is at its busiest but go during the off hours (between 7 and 8 in the morning or any evening after 7:30) and you’ll find yourself returning and understanding why some of my warmest childhood memories were of time spent in the grocery store.