NAHANT — Residents will no longer have to travel across the causeway to get a carton of eggs and a gallon of milk.
Turnstone Market recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony after being in business for about a week. The cozy store is filled with local, high-quality products ranging from meats to seafood, as well as fresh vegetables and handmade pasta.
Store owner Leslie Intoppa also has curated items made by local residents, as well as spices and herb mixes made by Intoppa herself.
“I sort of want to encourage people to cook,” she said. “I love cooking, and I want people to come in here and if they want an idea of what to make for dinner I can help them. I want to be sort of like a friendly, more interactive place to come and shop.”
Intoppa described the store as a place where customers can go to grab things for dinner and also talk about food.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton said that small businesses were on everyone’s mind, so it was great to see Intoppa open up her market in the community.
“The town of Nahant has not many food options, so this is certainly something that I think a lot of people will take advantage of,” he said. “It’s great to see businesses not only surviving (and) fighting through the pandemic, but also new businesses now opening.”
Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said that it was nice to see Turnstone open since it’s rare that new businesses come to Nahant.
“We’re just so happy and pleased that Leslie’s decided to open her doors here in Nahant, (and) provide a local place for top-quality products for residents and visitors to stop in and grab groceries,” Barletta said. “It’s a great option for all of us.”
Intoppa says that the support she has received from the town and community members has been incredible.
“When people come in here and tell me how happy they are to have this and look around and say how wonderful it looks, I get emotional thinking about it,” she said, “because I put a lot of effort into it and it’s nice that people appreciate it.”