Martin's Country Store

What Martin's Country Store does

Martin's Country Store is a privately held, family-owned regional retailer founded in November 2002 by Justus Martin and his wife Martha, operating three brick-and-mortar locations across upstate New York in Brushton, Philadelphia, and Moira. The business originated in a 16x40 storage barn on Route 11, grew through community support into an old Moira building, and in 2025 completed a "full-circle" expansion by acquiring the North Country Store building in Philadelphia, where the founder previously worked. The company serves four overlapping customer segments: local upstate NY families doing weekly grocery and deli shopping, nationwide individual consumers purchasing nostalgic snacks and candy online, regional farmers and animal owners sourcing locally milled feed, and wholesale buyers reached via the Faire marketplace.

The core product mix spans four categories: (1) Snacks & Candy — 300+ nostalgic SKUs including cookies, dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, snack mixes, chocolate, gummies, hard candy, licorice, and taffy, sold nationwide; (2) Animal Feed — locally milled cattle, poultry, corn, grain, and hog feed available for pickup or delivery within 30 miles of Moira; (3) Deli — subs, wraps, paninis, party platters, meats, and cheeses available for online pre-order and in-store pickup at Brushton and Philadelphia; and (4) Meat Department — fresh, cut-in-store meats with periodic bulk sales promoted via email and Facebook. Pricing is unit-based at $3.99-$15.99 for snack SKUs; shipping is $7.99 standard or free over $35.

The technology stack is deliberately lean: a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront, an email newsletter, Facebook/Instagram social pages, and a foodbooking.com integration for deli pre-orders. Marketing is community-led — organic social, email, and review solicitation — with no paid acquisition, no app, no AI features, and no public-facing API. Revenue mechanics are pure one-time retail transactions (in-store, online snack/candy, feed, wholesale) with no subscription or recurring contract layer. The sole external capital event on record is a $155,750 USDA grant dated June 2024, and the company operates with 11-50 employees and no institutional investors or parent company.

Name

Martin's Country Store

Legal name

Martin's Country Store

Website

https://martinscountrystore.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Family-owned upstate New York retailer operating three brick-and-mortar grocery, deli, and animal-feed stores plus a nationwide Shopify e-commerce storefront shipping 300+ nostalgic snacks and candy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Grocery Retail

NAICS

Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers) (44511)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411)

akta.pro primary industry

Value-Oriented Traditional Supermarkets (Non-Club) (CRAHAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Neighborhood Essentials & Fill-in Shopping Discount Stores (CRAEAJAH)

Keywords

• Independent grocery retail
• Rural grocery stores
• Nostalgic candy snacks
• Locally milled animal feed
• Deli pickup service

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales (In-Store): Brick-and-mortar retail sales of groceries, deli items, and meat at three physical store locations in upstate New York. In-store shopping for bulk groceries, fresh deli items, and quality meats cut fresh.
2. E-commerce Product Sales (Shipping): Nationwide shipping of nostalgic snacks and candy through online store. 300+ product options available. Free shipping on orders over $35, otherwise $7.99 standard shipping.
3. Animal Feed Sales: Fresh, locally milled animal feed available for pickup or local delivery within 30 miles of Moira store. Products include cattle feed, poultry feed, grains, corn, and hog feed.
4. Bulk Meat Sales: Bulk fresh meat sales with monthly or more frequent promotions. Orders placed through Facebook or email notifications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Martin's Country Store is a family-owned independent retailer that operates three physical grocery, deli, and meat stores in upstate New York (Brushton, Philadelphia, Moira) and a Shopify-based e-commerce site that ships over 300 nostalgic snack and candy SKUs nationwide. It also sells locally milled animal feed for pickup or local delivery within 30 miles of the Moira store, and offers online deli ordering with in-store pickup at two locations.

Product overview

Martin's Country Store is a traditional brick-and-mortar regional retailer with three physical store locations (Brushton, Philadelphia, and Moira, NY) that also operates an e-commerce platform powered by Shopify. The company offers four core product lines: (1) Snacks & Candy shipped nationwide with over 300 options including cookies, dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, chocolate, gummies, hard candy, licorice, and novelty items; (2) Animal Feed sold for local pickup or delivery within 30 miles of the Moira store, including cattle feed, poultry feed, corn, grains, and hog feed; (3) Deli and Menu items available for in-store pickup at Brushton and Philadelphia locations with subs, wraps, paninis, party platters, deli meats, and cheeses; and (4) a Meat Department offering fresh, cut-in-store meats with periodic bulk sales. The company was founded in 2002 by Justus Martin and has expanded from a small storage barn to multiple locations, including acquiring the North Country Store building in Philadelphia in 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Snacks & Candy (Nationwide Shipping) A 300+ SKU catalog of nostalgic snacks and candy (cookies, dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, snack mixes, chocolate, gummies, hard candy, licorice, taffy, mints, and novelty items) shipped nationwide from the Shopify-powered online storefront to individual consumers, with free shipping on orders over $35 and $7.99 standard shipping otherwise.
• Animal Feed (Pickup and Local Delivery) Fresh, locally milled animal feed for cattle, poultry, hogs, and other farm animals, available for pickup at the Moira, NY store or for local delivery within 30 miles, targeting local farmers and animal owners.
• Deli and Menu (In-Store Pickup) Deli offerings including subs, wraps, paninis, party platters, deli meats, and cheeses available for online ordering with in-store pickup at the Brushton and Philadelphia, NY locations.
• Meat Department (In-Store) In-store meat department offering quality meats cut fresh at the store, with periodic bulk fresh meat sales promoted to customers via email notifications and Facebook announcements.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Faire: Wholesale marketplace platform where Martin's lists products for B2B distribution to other retailers. An enabling ecosystem partner rather than a competitor, but critical to Martin's wholesale growth strategy.

Direct peers

• Tops Friendly Markets: Regional supermarket chain headquartered in upstate New York with stores concentrated in the same geographic region as Martin's. Operates similar full-service grocery formats including deli, meat, and produce, making it a direct competitor for local grocery baskets.
• The Vermont Country Store: Multi-format rural retailer selling nostalgic goods, specialty foods, and traditional merchandise through both catalog/e-commerce and physical stores. Comparable to Martin's hybrid model of rural retail plus nationwide shipping of nostalgic snacks and candy.
• Price Chopper / Market 32: Regional supermarket chain serving upstate New York with full-service grocery, deli, and meat departments. Operates similar store formats to Martin's and competes directly for the same small-town and suburban customer base.
• Old Time Candy: Online specialty retailer of nostalgic and retro candy, directly comparable to Martin's e-commerce snack and candy catalog of 300+ SKUs shipped nationwide.
• Stewart's Shops: Family-owned convenience/grocery chain based in upstate New York with locations in small towns similar to Martin's footprint. Offers grocery, deli, and prepared food in a small-town setting, making it a comparable hybrid format peer.

Broad incumbents

• Walmart: National mass retailer with supercenter stores offering full-line grocery at scale. Operates locations within driving distance of upstate NY small towns, anchoring price competition for commodity goods.
• Hannaford: New England and New York supermarket chain operating full-service grocery stores including deli, meat, and produce departments. Larger and better-capitalized than Martin's but competes for the same regional grocery spending.
• Dollar General: Small-box discount retailer with deep penetration in rural communities like those served by Martin's. Carries packaged groceries and household essentials at lower prices, posing structural pressure on local grocery traffic.
• Aldi: Discount grocery chain with expanding presence in upstate New York. Competes directly with Martin's on price-sensitive commodity grocery items and pressures basket sizes for value-oriented customers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Martinsmain
• Instagraminstagram.com/martins_on_main
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/martins-country-store

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Martin's Country Store