About Us

Ashburnham Market Place was founded in 1952 on the shores of Lake Winnekeag. At that time, there were 11 full-service grocery stores in the town of Ashburnham! Today, Ashburnham Market Place is the town's only remaining full-service supermarket, and when you stop in to shop or just to visit, we think you'll understand why we've stood the test of time. From our high-quality products, commitment to freshness, and friendly staff, we've been able to grow and change as society grows and changes. We carry a full line of grocery, dairy, and frozen items. Our produce is always fresh and lasts longer than what you buy at the chain stores. Our meats are cut fresh daily in our own butcher shop, by knowledgeable, experienced butchers who have been doing this for decades.

In our deli department, we never pre-slice deli meats - your order is sliced when you order it - that way you know you're getting fresh product.Our bakery department bakes every loaf of bread and every roll with careful precision, and the quality is second-to-none. Although we won't claim to bake every single item we sell in-store, we do bake the majority of our products fresh daily, and it makes a genuine difference in flavor and freshness. Our take-out food is the best in the area - we get people from neighboring towns coming in just to grab dinner because our quality and flavor are by far the best around!

Our People

At Ashburnham Market Place, we believe that our people are our most important asset. Whether you're just running in for a gallon of milk or doing a whole week's grocery shopping, you'll be greeted with a smile and a friendly "hi there!" from our helpful staff. Our cashiers, stock clerks, and deli clerks have all been trained to be as helpful and friendly as possible. Please don't ever hesitate to ask anyone you see working for assistance if you need help - that's what we're here for! We think you'll enjoy the experience of shopping at Ashburnham Market Place, and if you ever have a problem with one of our staff, or you just want to let us know when someone has been particularly helpful, we always want to hear from you. Please give us a call any time!

The Patel family would like to welcome you to stop in and see us at any time. We thank you for your business and wish to assure our valued customers that we look forward to working with you to ensure that Ashburnham Market Place continues the great tradition of service to Ashburnham. You will notice a few new faces in the store now, but the regular staff you've enjoyed for years are still here to serve you. We are proud to be part of this community.

Darshan Patel - Owner & Manager
Dinesh Patel - Owner & Manager
Jay - General Manager
Janice Roy - Produce Manager
Tacia Arsenault - Deli/Bakery Manager Food Safety Supervisor
Tammi - Ann Bartley - Head Cashier
Nick P. - Meat Dept Lead

Our Past

From it's beginnings as a small market on the shores of Lake Winnekeag, to its current incarnation as Ashburnham's only full-service supermarket, Ashburnham Market Place has been where Ashburnham shops since 1952. Here are some historical photos to take you down memory lane! Our first location, then known as the Mt. Vernon Food Mart, was located on the shores of Lake Winnekeag on Route 101. This location was opened by Maurice Couturier in 1952. When Maurice opened his market, it was one of 11 grocery stores in Ashburnham! Our second location (closer view below) was located in this long-removed block of stores on Main Street (that's the Creative Connections building you can see in the background - we are the last store in the block next to Creative Connections). Our Main Street location, sometime in the late 1950's. By then, we were members of the Independent Grocers Association (IGA), and would be known as the Ashburnham IGA for close to 25 years! As a growing market, it was fast becoming obvious that we needed both more sales space as well as better parking. Towards that in, in 1962, we built a new building behind our previous location on Main Street. This photo shows the store during a typical 1960's winter. Can you believe how much snow we had back then? And look at all the cool classic cars! In 1984, we turned a corner on our store's history, abandoning IGA and becoming a Star Market location. Still independently owned, we were able to leverage Star Market's buying power and market dominance to grow the store beyond what IGA was able to offer. With the change to Star Market behind us, in 1988 and 1989 we took another leap forward, putting on a nearly 5000-square-food addition which just about doubled the size of our store. This expansion project put us on solid footing to serve Ashburnham's needs well into the future! In 1998, after 14 years as a Star Market, we again turned a corner in history. With Star Market being absorbed by a larger international grocery chain, we turned to Associated Grocers of New England. Hoping to recapture our roots as Ashburnham's only remaining grocery store, while trying to convey that we truly are a full-service supermarket, we chose to re-name our store Ashburnham Market Place. Why did we put this history page on our web site? Because we wanted to remind you, our valued customer, that we've been here for you for over 55 years, and we hope to be here 55 years from now - servicing the people of Ashburnham as best we know how, as neighborhood supermarket.