When the P & C Supermarket in Bradford suddenly closed its doors last February, Bradford residents were left without a major grocery store to shop at locally. Corinth resident Brenda Danielson said, "we were very anxious for something else to be here because if you need to run out and get something you don't want to drive 30 miles to a store."

P & C filed for bankruptcy and was bought by Tops Supermarkets who decided to close the doors in Bradford. In March Hannaford Supermarkets of Portland, Maine announced plans to open a chain in Bradford.

This past weekend Hannaford made its debut in the former P & C building with open arms from the community. According to Bob Molinario, the Bradford Hannaford store manager, "I can't even begin to explain how positively this community has accepted us, they've been without any type of offering for a few months now and the reception has been crazy, crazy good. We couldn't be happier contributing to this community." Hannaford is so happy with the support, that the store is being dedicated to the Bradford community.

Customers lined up for the grand opening to see what Hannaford had to offer their shopping carts.

Hannaford gets fresh products such as produce every day of the week. They also support the Close to Home initiative, a program that works to incorporate as many local products as possible. Hannaford has also brought 45 jobs to the community, many of which are filled by residents of the Bradford area and several former P & C employees.

The current building is around 12,000 square feet; however, plans are already underway to construct a new structure. In the meantime, residents such as Brenda Danielson are very happy to shop close to home again.

Previous stories on P & C and Hannaford:

New Supermarket for Bradford (March 17, 2010)

Bradford May Be Losing Its Only Grocery Store (December 7, 2009)