Vista Foods to open new grocery in early March

Construction and renovation work is proceeding rapidly at the former Butson's on South Main Street with the opening date for a new supermarket set for the first of March.

"We want to deliver a top quality supermarket to downtown Laconia," said Mike Bourgoine, Chief Operating Officer of Associated Grocers of New England (AG), which plans to open the new store. "We're making a significant investment in renovating the building and equipping it to meet Laconia's needs."

According to Bourgoine, AG is investing well over $1 million in improvements alone in the forty-three year-old building, which the firm has under lease for nine years. "We're currently in the process of renegotiating the lease that would, with options, extend over 25 years," Bourgoine said.

AG is cooperative owned by its members which include many of its customers. Primarily a grocery wholesaler, the firm does have a retail grocery subsidiary — Vista Foods — which successfully operates three other supermarkets in New Hampshire.

With sales that exceed $250 million and over 600 employees in its combined retail and wholesale operations, the Manchester based firm serves customers throughout New England and in New York State. That business clout is what's enabling the company to make the investment in Laconia.

Mark Guinasso and Joe DaSilva, owners of Walter's Market on Court Street in Laconia, and members and stockholders in AG, had announced in December their intention to renovate and operate the former Butson's store, with the hope of opening in January.

"The scope of the project is much larger than we originally anticipated," Guinasso said yesterday, referring to the costs of building improvements and replacing virtually all of the equipment in the store. "We're still interested in owning and operating the store and we're vigorously looking at options to make it work for us, but it has to make business sense."

Bourgoine acknowledged that AG is still negotiating with the two local entrepreneurs. "We're going to continue to work with Mark and Joe to see if we can work out an arrangement that's advantageous to everyone," Bourgoine said. "But while that's in process it's important that we move forward with getting the store opened."

Though Bourgoine couldn't say precisely when hiring would begin, he did indicate that it should be within a couple of weeks. "March is coming up fast, so we have to move on it," he said. "Should Mark and Joe take over operations later, they'll simply assume the employees."

For both Bourgoine and the owners of Walter's Market, the stepped-up pace of activity to get the store opened is a good sign. "The important thing is the City of Laconia is going to have a new grocery store downtown," Bourgoine said. "Who ends up operating it is secondary."