Keeping a market going 'for the town's ’sake'

KENT — It’s been only a few short weeks since the Kent Market closed (in November) and then reopened as the Kent Grocery Store.

The new owners are Theresa Drentwett and Caralee Rochovansky. The new store, they explained, is a merger of the old Kent Market and Drentwett’s former store, the Organic Pantry, which used to be in the Kent Green building.

“When the market shut down, the lease got thrown back to Caralee,� Drentwett said. “We wanted to merge the old and the new and make a modern kind of grocery store.�

In addition to edible essentials there will be health-food items including vegetarian and gluten-free and nut-free foods; there will be fresh-baked Bantam Breads; and a deli counter will take orders for Boar’s Head sandwiches,  smoothies and more.

“Customers really won’t see any major changes,� Drentwett said of the shop’s interior. “The only thing we did was just put some paint on the walls. If you make too many changes it would take away the country flavor of the location.�

The paint is remarkable, though, a good-enough-to-eat tomato soup red.

“The shopping carts that we use are the same ones from the old supermarket,� she said. “The shelves are the same. It was so devastating to residents when the Kent Market shut down in November.�

Shoppers can still visit the IGA for supplies. But, Drentwett said,
“We want to keep a store like this open for the town’s sake.�

Forty years ago, she noted, the building was home to an A&P grocery store.

The Kent Market is at 12 North Main St. and is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, just stop in the store.

“We don’t have a phone number yet,� Drentwett said. “We’re working on it.�