A warm welcome in Menemsha

Radiant, smiling faces ordered at the counter and perused the aisles of a new general store and cafe in the historic fishing village of Menemsha today as the owners and operators opened their doors. 

The market, called Menemsha Store, opened at 7 am, and will remain open through the off-season. It’s now the only year-round food store in the town and the revival of a generational, family-run operation that was lost to the familiar fishing landscape in 2019 after a blaze destroyed the inside. 

The market is operated by Liz and Ken Oliver, with assistance from the Martha’s Vineyard Fisherman Preservation Trust. The Olivers are the former owners of a past version of the Menemsha Store, and on Wednesday, the couple opened newly painted, blue doors to the public. Many of the customers were owners of other businesses in Menemsha, who expressed excitement that their break for lunch would be just a few steps away. 

“We’ve seen so many familiar faces from that time, and it’s just been really heartwarming to see our old friends,” Oliver said. “It’s just nice because [we] feel like [we’re] part of the community, because we were for so long, and then it just stopped abruptly.” 

An iteration of the Menemsha Store was first opened in 1948 by Liz’s grandparents, Barbara and Bill Seward, and was called the Menemsha Market. It was located near the Menemsha Galley and included a post office and general store. The market was then run by Barbara and Bill’s sons, David and Doug, until they sold it in the 1980s to the Packer family. Several owners later, the Olivers took over the business, bringing it back into the family. 

Liz Oliver told The Times on Wednesday that the reopening of the general store came at the right time. 

“We have a rubbish business [Martha’s Vineyard Rubbish Disposal] … and our kids work for us,” Oliver said. “But we’re transitioning to selling it to them, the business, and this became available. John Keene called up Kevin, and said, ‘What do you think about running another store?’ And so here we are.”

The Preservation Trust and property owners Sarah Bernard and James Seppala are waiving rental fees for the Oliver couple, and putting those funds into the nonprofit and the working waterfront in Menemsha instead. And the Olivers, in turn, are donating 30 percent of all net sales to the Preservation Trust. 

Menemsha Store’s opening day was bustling, with families and business owners milling about. 

“This place is glorious,” Felix Holdsworth, the son of David Holdsworth and Meredith Sheldon, exclaimed as he walked through the aisles. “I didn’t know it would have all of my favorite foods in here.”

Betsy Larsen, owner of Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha, said she’s been “driving by here every day, every morning all summer long, looking, looking, and today is finally the day.” 

“We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting,” Kara Merry, owner of nearby clothing store Pandora’s Box, chimed in. 

The business owners said it meant a lot to them to have a food option close by, especially through the slower season. 

“I’m so excited for them. I really am. It’s so good to have them back in the neighborhood,” Larsen said. 

Members of the market team have been busy getting the store ready over the past few weeks; stocking shelves with produce and canned goods, purchasing ingredients for the cafe and lunch menu, and arranging the last bits and pieces. The result is an open space with large windows, wire shelves and wooden tables, and a variety of goods available for sale.  

“It’s incredible. It’s a whole team effort,” Sam Eddy, who worked the general store counter, said of the opening.

“All of the businesses complement each other, and I just think it’s going to be nice for there to be a place up-Island where you can come get a sandwich or a breakfast sandwich,” Oliver said. “That doesn’t really exist in the off-season.”