Note: This article I wrote for the Monitor isn’t a typical Granite Geek piece, but as rich white men who are afraid of competition whip up us-vs-them sentiment, a handy distraction while they rob us blind, it’s a reminder that America was built by waves of immigrants succeeding each other.
The imminent handover of South Street Market to new owners – the Bashios’ last day is Super Bowl Sunday – marks the latest departure from the days when the city was full of small grocery stores started by Greek immigrants.
“We were all great friends. We went to church together. It was like a clique,” said South Street Market co-owner Jim Bashios, who was born in an apartment above the store and grew up two blocks away. He ticked off the list of Greek markets that existed in the city streets when he was young: Ideal Market, Clinton Street Market, Concord Street Market, West Street Market, Filides Market, Superior Market, Laurel Street Market – and maybe some others.
It wasn’t just Greeks: A 1950 city director lists no fewer than 68 grocery stores throughout Concord. Some were as big as the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, a.k.a. A&P, but mostly they were neighborhood stores. These often reflected local communities, including Quebecois and Italian, while six had “Cash Market” in their name to head off any idea of running a tab.
“There wasn’t any Walmart (or) big stores. Everybody made money back then, you could make a good living,” Jim Bashios said of the business. But it
wasn’t easy, he added: The market was open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week, holidays included.
Greek stores flourished in Concord and much of New England along with the Greek population. The New England Historical Society describes how waves of immigrants came from Greece starting in the 1890s to work in mills then, after a pause caused by the country temporarily shutting its doors, other waves arrived, often spurred by World War II. This led, the society said, to “the golden age of Greek diners in America” as well as the construction of many Greek churches and markets.
Among the immigrants was Spiro Bashios, who started South Street Market, at the corner of South and Thorndike streets, shortly before World War II. For decades it was run by his son, the late Peter Bashios, until Jim and his wife Robyn took over in the 1980s.
There are still plenty of people of Greek descent in Concord and other parts of New Hampshire, especially Manchester, but in a story that has often been repeated in the U.S., the tight-knit neighborhoods have dispersed. South Street Market still has Greek products – “We have fresh philo (dough), not frozen” and it’s not unknown to get an order for 100 pounds of feta cheese, Jim Bashios said – but the focus on ethnic foods has also dispersed.
In another common U.S. story, South Street Market is about to see a hand-off from one immigrant community to another, in this case South Asian. The new owner, Hitesh Patel, is from India. He has owned Dodge’s Country Store in New Boston for three years.
“This will be the same, a grocery store, and we will start a deli soon,” Patel said of the Concord market. The name will stay, he said, but with a slight twist: It will become South Street Mart.
Memories galore
You don’t operate as a neighborhood store for eight decades without producing a lot of memories.
“I remember seeing Jim’s grandfather sitting on this stool when I walked to Sacred Heart school,” said Jim Little, a former city councilor and state representative who has been a South Street Market customer for as long as he can remember. Back then the stool, which now faces the counter, was outdoors; the store was enlarged slightly before Jim Bashios was born.
Little said he would miss the market, although he added, “I’m going to save a lot of money on sweeps tickets.”
Ever since news got out in the Monitor that the store was for sale, they said, people have been coming by.
“People have been coming in, with hugs, memories,” said Robyn.
“People we haven’t seen in years: Grandmothers with their kids and their grandchildren,” said Jim, who knew some of those grandparents when they were children.
Jim Bashios’ memories of the store are endless. Like many children whose parents own small businesses, he helped out from his earliest days. Back then it was more of a full-fledged grocery store, selling produce and with a meat counter, and the work was endless.
The family moved a couple blocks away to Spring Street, so he was close enough that he could run down when his parents called. No excuses there.
“He missed a lot of events – family, in school – because he had to be here,” said Robyn.
There were compensations, however. At Concord High School, having access to the goodies in a grocery store was a bonus. “My friends, we were a real group, we’d come by and get supplies,” Jim recalled.
“Then they’d jump the fence and go swimming in the city pool,” added Robyn.
The Bashios own the entire building, with four apartments. They were married in 1989, and expanded into one apartment so they’d have more room for their sons, Alex and Christian, who ran around the store and helped out, just like their dad had.
Neither son is interested in taking over South Street Market, as they made clear after graduating from Plymouth State University. “They said we learned ‘work smarter, not harder’,” said Jim. Working hard is necessary because Jim and Robyn run the store by themselves. That’s partly because they’ve had too many bad experiences with employees stealing from the store, Jim said.
And although Jim and Robyn weren’t as rigorous as the earlier generation had been, even closing the store early to attend kids’ sporting events or events like graduations, the work could wear you down. Jim, 63, said they decided to sell after attending too many funerals. “I’d look in the box and see the guy was my age!” he said.
They won’t be lollygagging around after the sale goes through; they own three buildings and will be able to focus more on being landlords.
Nonetheless, Robyn, who handles the bulk of the store’s paperwork, ordering and the endless details necessary for any retailer, said she’s looking forward to slowing down.
“Instead of running everywhere all the time, I want to jog. Or maybe just walk,” she said.
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