Massachusetts’s Favorite Grocery Chain Market Basket Expands to Rhode Island

Welcome back to AM Intel, a round-up of mini news bites to kick off the day.

Rhode Island Can Now Get More for Its Dollar

Massachusetts’s favorite grocery store, Market Basket, opens its first Rhode Island location on May 21 in Warwick (25 Pace Blvd.), with a second to follow soon in Johnston. The chain — which has its roots in a small grocerette in Lowell opened by Greek immigrants Athanasios and Efrosini Demoulas in 1917 and embraces the slogan “more for your dollar” — is beloved throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine for its affordable prices and fiercely loyal staff.

The new location will open its doors at 7 a.m. on the 21st, operating daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Senior shopping hours will be 6 to 7 a.m. daily.)

Boston Beer Company Is Getting Into the Cannabis Drink Game — But Not Here (Yet)

Boston Beer Company — the parent company behind Sam Adams, Dogfish Head, Twisted Tea, and more — is launching a Canada-based subsidiary to focus on developing non-alcoholic beverages infused with cannabis. The company intends to use Canada as a testing ground, as cannabis is legal and federally regulated there, in order to be ready to expand into the United States market if and when it makes sense from a legal and business standpoint.

In Other News...

• Wegmans self-serve stations are dead; long live Wegmans self-serve stations.
• Texas and Florida have made Covid-era laws allowing to-go cocktails permanent. Will Massachusetts, which temporarily legalized the practice in July 2020, follow suit?
• A North Shore pizzeria owner allegedly committed PPP fraud to open an alpaca farm.
• Needham-based pickle-and-more company Grillo’s Pickles has been acquired by the LA-based King’s Hawaiian bakery brand. In recent years, Grillo’s has added pickle-based salsa and pickle-infused vinegar drinks to its product lineup.

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