Bossy on Chain Stores

It's fair to say Andrew "Bossy" Gillis wouldn't think much of today's downtown. At the very least he'd be more than a little perterbed that urban renewal ripped down his gas station in Market Square.

But he might be inclined to stand and fight for the proposed chain store ban that supposedly would save our downtown. Jean Foley Doyle's book pulled this out of The Liberator, Bossy's second newspaper and a far less famous relation than The Asbestos.

"Stupor Stores" are the latest things in sweat shops ... all erection of "Stupor Stores" by "Chain-Gang Corporations" have ever meant to any community are elimination of jobs, ruination of the neighborhood and creation of a price-jacking monopoly.

I don't know which Supermarket he was decrying. Around the same time--the 1940s--John Marquand cut the ribbon on a new A&P Supermarket at 88 State Street, which puts it near the library. Imagine, a chain store downtown.

His comments surely resonated with folks but did the miss the mark? I'm willing to accept jobs were eliminated when the many neighborhood markets closed. It's reasonable to assume the supermarkets--like chain or big box stores--require fewer employees per square foot than smaller ones.

But were the neighborhoods ruined? He might think so and perhaps some long-time Newburyporters would agree. Reading Life in Newburyport: 1900-1950 really does demonstrate a time when the South End, North End and downtown were invidual and vital communities. That exists to some extent today but not to the degree spelled out in the book. As I pass through neighborhoods I try to imagine which homes might have been The Corner Stores of the time, the centers of commerce for each street and neighborhood.

However, I can't say the neighborhoods that I walk through each morning to work are ruined. To my eyes they're quite special. I still shake my head some days in disbelief that I live here.

As for the price-jacking monopoly, whose to say? They are largely the only game in town. But you can find options if you look hard enough and, perhaps, spend a bit more for quality. I'm a Tendercrop guy. Folks in Amesbury might explore Vermette's (which I was pleased to see is still around even after the arrival of Stop & Shop.)

So maybe Bossy was wrong on this one. But the excerpt is a Grade A example of why I'm enjoying the book. History does indeed repeat itself.

It also teaches us something. Too often we equate the ownership of our commercial enterprises with being the "heart and soul" of our community. The former should be considered a part of the latter, but only part. We can be a rich, robust community whether or not there's a Gap downtown, an A&P on State Street or a Market Basket on Storey Ave.