Glenn’s Grocery a Neighborhood Market

Posted On October 10, 2012

Back before we became such a car crazy gas guzzling bargain hunting consumerist society always runnin’ the roads, as they say, folks depended upon local neighborhood markets that they could walk to for most of their needs.
A recent conversation with my 94 year old uncle, Sewell Shaw, revealed that in 1951 in Perth-Andover, for instance, there were eleven….count ‘em, eleven small grocery stores spread throughout the village.
These small, independent groceries stocked the staples that everyone needed. They had meat, cheese, produce… they were convenience stores that were a staple of the community.
They didn’t make a fortune, but they provided a living for the owners, a legacy for their children, jobs for hired help and whatever local citizens needed for their daily sustenance.
Fortunately for us 21st Century Denizens a few of these old fashioned full service markets still exist!
Glenn and Angelia Canam opened Glenns’s Grocery in what was then the village of Bristol 18 years ago.
The two villages of Florenceville and Bristol have since amalgamated and so are now known by the somewhat mouth-bending title of “Florenceville-Bristol”.
Glenn’s Grocery is small, but it packs in a wallop in service and goods.
The store carries pantry basics as well as fresh produce, meats and cheeses. There is also a bakery that bakes fresh home made bread on a daily basis, and you can get a dandy sub to order on this same homemade bread.
Glenn ’s carries a selection of new DVD Movies for rent as well. This little market also employs 8 to 10 people at any given time.
We all of us tend to get wrapped up in our own personal jobs, relationships and dramas and so are usually completely unaware of what goes on in other businesses, jobs and careers. What are the daily challenges and duties, that sort of thing, that others experience in their lives.
You know how they say that all it takes to gain compassion and understanding is to walk a mile in another person’s shoes….This is so true! We’d all surely have a lot more appreciation for each other if we had to do someone else’s job each day…
I learned some interesting stuff about convenience stores while I was chatting with Glenn last week.
Like most industries, convenience stores and corner markets have their own associations and informational publications. The Canadian Convenience Store Association keeps track of trends and statistics and publishes the data in their own magazine.
So I learned that in spite of the invasion of Big Box Marts, there are still nearly 23,000 independently owned convenience stores and corner markets in Canada.
These stores currently collect a total of 16 billion dollars….that’s billion with a “B”….in revenue for the Canadian government each year. This 16 billion bucks goes towards paying your salary if you work in the public sector, helps support our health care system and all the other social services we tend to take for granted that make Canada one of the best countries on Earth to live in.
Although these independent small markets and stores collect this vast sum to support the system that supports us all each year, their own total net profit is only one billion dollars per year.
That may sound like a lot, but do the math. Small businesses ARE the backbone of our country’s economy, but they sure don’t get much love or appreciation for their toil and effort!
Here in Canada also, ten million people visit a convenience store or corner market each and every day!
Like most of these small markets, visiting Glenn’s is something of a social event.
People in these parts tend to congregate at our local markets to catch up on the latest gossip and news in the area.
The next time you pass Glenn’s Grocery, stop in to say hi and fill up on the latest local scuttlebutt and any necessary items you might need!
Stephanie Kelley