This story by Aaron Calvin was first published by the News & Citizen on Oct. 12.
Despite its initial optimism, Associated Grocers of New England has decided not to bring Sterling Market back to Johnson.
Though the grocer has backed out of plans to return to the location, which was destroyed in the Flood of 2023, property owner Ernie Pomerleau said he already has another grocer lined up that’s expressed interest in taking over the location.
“They are really interested,” said Pomerleau. “They’re throughout Vermont, and they know Johnson intimately, and they’ve done a project where they’ve had flood mitigation.”
While he wouldn’t divulge the name of the “national chain,” Pomerleau did reveal that the grocer is already a tenant of Pomerleau Real Estate and that he’s deep into the negotiating process. According to him, the grocery chain has already sent up a design team to assess the former Sterling Market building.
“I’m absolutely enthused and pleasantly surprised that within a week (of Associated Grocers declining to return), I had another supermarket in the hopper,” Pomerleau said.
Pomerleau, along with Associated Grocers CEO Mike Violette, legislators, representatives of the state, developers and concerned Johnson residents met at the liquor store attached to Sterling Market in late August as Pomerleau promised to fortify the building with further flood mitigation measures and Associated Grocers promised to return.
But at a meeting of the co-op board that governs the regional grocery chain in September, the decision was made to abandon the Sterling Market location, which is located on the banks of the Gihon River and has flooded repeatedly over the years.
“We’re a cooperative owned by our membership, and it was just, unfortunately, just a really high degree of risk for us to take on,” Violette said. “It’s been a very difficult decision. We certainly understand the pain of the people of Johnson and what they’re going through.”
Violette pointed to the cost of insuring the building in a location that is all but guaranteed to flood again and other liability costs they would face.
“The Pomerleau group came up with a good plan, should flooding occur again, but there’s still, unfortunately, just a high risk of loss in future flooding. It’s just unfortunate,” he said.
After the Grand Union grocery store closed after flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, it took several years and financial assistance from residents to bring in its replacement. The withdrawal of Associated Grocers seemed to foreclose the location as a grocery store, but Pomerleau is determined.
Meanwhile, after discussing the matter at an Oct. 2 meeting, the Johnson Selectboard directed its newly hired economic development director, Randall Szott, to both continue to work with Pomerleau on potentially replacing Sterling Market at the former location while the town keeps its options open.
“It is definitely sad that Sterling Market won’t be the market that’s coming back, because we all very much loved Sterling Market, but there’s a network of folks who really support the community and support food security,” said board chair Beth Foy. “There are many people who have an interest in Johnson having a grocery store, and we are beginning to engage with those folks.”
Seth Jensen, deputy director at the Lamoille County Planning Commission, had previously pledged assistance in seeking grants and other potential funding sources to facilitate the return of Sterling Market, and he’s still on board to help the town in whatever way possible to bring a grocer to Johnson.
“It’s a big gap, not having a grocery store really anywhere between Jericho and Morrisville with Sterling Market closed now,” he said.
