Ask longtime Kittery residents about Frisbee’s Market and they’ll tell you it’s gone.
But take a leisurely drive down Pepperrell Road in Kittery Point and there it is, plain as day.
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“Well,” the locals correct themselves, “it’s just not the same.”
That’s true enough.
Once billed as the oldest family-run store in the United States, the village gathering spot closed in early 2009, a victim of changing times, tough luck and a bad economy. Most locals now shop for groceries at supermarkets in Portsmouth, N.H., and elsewhere.
The block-letter sign on the building still says Frisbee’s Market, founded in 1828. Stenciled on the windows, however, is Enoteca, the name of the Italian specialty market that’s been operating inside for a year.
The market and nearby restaurant were auctioned in April 2009 as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Al D’Amico, a Massachusetts businessman, bought the properties. He leased the market building back to Frisbee family members and tried to help them make a go of it, but they bowed out a year ago, D’Amico said.
The restaurant, with picturesque views of Pepperrell Cove, is now Captain and Patty’s, operated by Neil and Patty Odams of Kittery Point. Enoteca, now managed by Terri Murchie and Bob Emery, is trying to win back the affection of longtime residents and entice others with a wider variety of specialty products. In addition to convenience items such as deli sandwiches, baked goods, health care products and locally grown vegetables, the market offers meats, cheeses, wines and beers brought in from Boston and New York.
“We’ve tried to make it more like what it was,” Murchie said. “We wanted to make it a community place again.”
Murchie and Emery also brought back a large table, where a group of locals used to drink coffee and chat every morning. The Frisbee family had removed the table several years ago. The coffee klatsch returned to the market in April.
“The new owner was happy to see us,” said Fred Blader, 77, a retired railroad consultant.
Soon, the market will sell lottery tickets for the first time.
“It’s a place where you can get just about anything,” Murchie said.
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