Edwards Brothers Supermarket to reopen shuttered Searsport store
By Sasha Ray, Bangor Daily News Staff
SEARSPORT — A small Maine grocery store chain will reopen the former Tozier’s Family Market in Searsport after it closed down earlier this summer.
The buyer, Edwards Brothers Supermarkets, currently has other locations in Unity, Trenton, and Dover-Foxcroft, according to its website.
The Edwards brothers — Jeremy and Jason — are business partners and second-generation retailers, whose operation has been growing since they purchased their first store, a former Shop & Save in Unity, in 2015.
In an interview, Jeremy Edwards said he expects to reopen the Searsport store Nov. 22.
CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP — Mary-Jo and Dale Tozier, longtime owners of Tozier’s Family Market in Searsport, at left, have sold the now-closed business to Edwards Brothers Supermarkets, owned by Jeremy (shaking Tozier’s hand) and Jason Edwards (at far right). The Edwards brothers plan to reopen the store in November.
“It’s a pretty ambitious goal; it’s only 12 weeks, but we’re confident we can get it done,” Edwards said. “It’s important to us that the community get their store back as soon as possible. We want to try to have a sense of normalcy back in Searsport.”
Searsport officials had previously announced that the former Tozier’s Family Market was expected to change hands, but the buyer was not made public until Thursday. Minor renovations have been taking place there for the last few weeks.
Bigger changes to the interior will include updated flooring, shelving and the main entrance.
The Searsport store had abruptly closed on July 3, after 23 years in business. A week later, a second location of Tozier’s Family Market closed in Brewer, though the Edwards brothers did not indicate any plans to reopen that store.
Former owner Dale Tozier, who joined the Edwards brothers at the store on Aug. 29, said the closure was influenced by disruptions to the business from a lengthy renovation of Searsport’s downtown sidewalks, which required a lengthy detour and made it harder for shoppers to access the storefront. He said sales were down 90 percent during parts of the project.
The resulting financial hit made it hard to keep both the Searsport and Brewer locations, Tozier said.
“I think it’s time I retired,” Tozier said. He had been working as a business owner since 1967, when he got his start alongside his father.
The closure caught many Searsport-area residents off-guard.
“We recognize that supermarkets are typically the hub of a community. As we’ve seen and we’ve heard from comments from various customers and people in Searsport, they miss this place so much,” Edwards said.
The Toziers and Edwards declined to share the purchase price for the market.
The Edwards Brothers will have a similar approach to business as Tozier’s did, with an emphasis on community outreach and support.
“We often say that we’re big enough to serve you and small enough to know you,” Edwards said. “We’re looking forward to doing that here. To be able to provide that hub for the community again is huge for us.”
Dale Tozier and his wife, Mary-Jo, said they feel good about the deal.
“They’re very good operators. They’re very community-friendly,” Dale Tozier said. “To be truthful, we wouldn’t have sold it to them without knowing that.”