Popular Landmark in Andover Closes After 44 Years of Service!

Andover Market Basket closed after 44 years of service! A popular landmark in Andover, it was one of the only Supermarkets in Andover. It closed June 26 which isn’t new news but, when I recently visited the Shawsheen Village Plaza it was an eerie and sad sight. I remember going to that market as a child with my mom and was recently in there not too long ago which brought back lots of memories.

As I stood in the empty parking lot, two cars pulled up and the peoples expression was priceless. They were unaware that it had closed. The reason why it closed was pretty simple. The building is owned by Stop & Shop and they didn’t renew their lease. This brought a pretty interesting point to me. I’m not sure if 44 years ago it might of been possible to have bought that building or a lease option with the possibility to own but that might have saved them from closing this location. Most of the time when it involves commercial real estate it’s the only option you’ll have, especially in key locations. But, this brings up a great debate in the rent / lease vs. own questions on which is better? I would say that right now it has never been a better time to own in decades. The $64,000 question is whether or not the American people feel that way.