Market Basket Expands into Maine

Market Basket opened its first location in Maine on Sunday, to record-breaking crowds. According to local reports, customers began queuing at 5:45 a.m. – well in advance of the store’s 7 a.m. grand opening.

Located in Biddeford Crossing off Route 111 and Interstate 95, the 108,000-square-foot store is one of the largest in the state and features 60,000 SKUs.

The Tewksbury, Mass. -based grocery chain, operated by Demoulas Super Markets, operates 70 locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In an interview with a local television station, Market Basket manager Micum McIntire, said, “A lot of people I’m talking to today have been telling me that they’ve been going down to Rochester, Somersworth and our two Portsmouth (New Hampshire) stores to shop sometimes…I feel like they’re so excited that we’re actually here and they don’t have to travel the 30 miles.”

Market Basket brought approximately 430 new part-time jobs to the area. About 100 full-time management positions were filled by employees from other locations. The site had been vacant since Lowe's closed in 2011.