Our Hometown
Nashua | Jeannotte's Market
Clip | 4m 56sVideo has Closed Captions
"Give the customer what he wants." It's as true now as it was back in the early days.
"Give the customer what he wants." It's as true now as it was back in the early days.
Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS
Our Hometown
Nashua | Jeannotte's Market
Clip | 4m 56sVideo has Closed Captions
"Give the customer what he wants." It's as true now as it was back in the early days.
How to Watch Our Hometown
Our Hometown is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
So I was born and raised in Nashua and my first job was at Jeannotte's when I was 16 in high school.
And I never thought I was going to make a career out of it.
So I graduated high school, went off to college, I got a degree in finance, and I was going into banking.
Like my father, he was a, you know, lifetime banker.
I was in banking for a year.
Didn't really like it that much.
Came back to the store.
You know, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do and I worked it for another five years or so.
And I said to myself, I can't do this for the rest of my life.
So I got to do something else.
I went back to school, got my master's in education.
I was going to teach.
I was student teaching at Merrimack High School when I got a call from the current owner, the then owner of Jeannotte's.
And he wanted me to come visit him.
And we talked and he's you know, he was older and he said he was thinking about getting out.
And before he went to find somebody to buy the store or to come back to work for him, he wanted to know if I had any interest in coming back to work with the caveat that I would buy the store from him down the road at some point.
So we worked out an agreement.
I never did teach.
I went back to the store and I've been there ever since.
So Jeannotte's has a lot of history.
Started in 1899 by Henry Jeannotte.
And not in its current location.
It was on the corner of Chestnut and West Pearl Street, a building that no longer exists.
So Henry ran it till the early forties, and his son Norman took it over.
I believe Henry was sick and he couldn't run the store anymore.
So his son Norman was working in the store and took the store over.
The current location was purchased in 1941 by Norman.
So at one point he had three stores going in Nashua.
And the people in my generation and the younger generation, people who are older than me, they all remember Norman Jeannotte.
And I actually worked for him when I started working in high school in 1980.
In 1981, I got the job.
He still own the store.
He was in he was...
He was 80 years old.
And then he sold it.
He ran it till he was 86.
So 1986, he sold the store to a man named Michael Fair.
Now, Michael Fair had worked for Mr. Jeannotte for kind of like I'm doing now.
He worked for him forever and he bought the store from him.
He ran it from 1986 to 2000.
That's when he sold it to me.
So I'm only the fourth person to own the store and, you know, almost 125 years.
So it's kind of cool.
Norman Jeannotte was all about customer service and give the customer whatever they want.
Mike Fair carried on that same tradition.
I've carried on that same tradition.
You know, you're there, you're running this local landmark.
You're trying to do the right thing.
Obviously, you want to be financially successful as well.
But Mr. Jeannotte was, you know, he he always had that view of if I lose a little money on this deal right now, I know that customers are going to keep coming back.
We'll make it up in the long run.
So.
So that's how we've always approach it.
But yeah, the business has completely changed.
When I first started there, it was a big it was meat.
It was all meat.
Now, granted, this is back before all the restaurants and a lot of the supermarkets, um, lots and lots of meat.
I learned how to cut meat from from Mr. Fair and it was that way for a long time.
But as they opened up the big supermarkets, you know, that business started to shrink a little bit and the deli end of it started to grow a little bit, you know, with sliced meats and those types of things.
And then in the late nineties, we started making the sandwiches to order, um, and that just took off.
And that's, that's the driving force of the business now.
So it's more of a deli than it is a meat market.
But back in the day I was always known for its meats.
Video has Closed Captions
Dan Salzer and Jonathon Picard talk about Pemi Baker TV. (3m 15s)
Video has Closed Captions
Maryann Barnsley tells us about a childhood dream. (3m)
Video has Closed Captions
Katharina Kelsey and her husband made a list, Plymouth checked all the boxes, and so much more. (2m 1s)
Plymouth | The Happiness Quest
Video has Closed Captions
Dr. Marie Sanders relates what can happen when an entire town works together to discover happiness. (2m 34s)
Plymouth | Memories, Stories and Cake
Video has Closed Captions
Patricia Hoyt came to Plymouth for college, launched her career here. (5m 41s)
Plymouth | Memories of Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Louise McCormick is a townie. She grew up in Plymouth, and has spent most of her life here. (1m 55s)
Plymouth | Local Foods Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Marianna Evans talks about Local Foods Plymouth, and how the pandemic helped to create a model. (3m 23s)
Video has Closed Captions
Carol Dunn tells about how this amazing town bonded together to save her business on Main Street. (2m 21s)
Plymouth | From Minsk to Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Jim Lurie tells us how in 1917, his grandfather travelled from Minsk, Russia, across Siberia. (3m 41s)
Video has Closed Captions
Bob Gannett speaks about an interesting story unfolding as he was on the radio. (1m 34s)
Video has Closed Captions
Terry Fifield has lived in a lot of places, but found that the Plymouth area to be the best. (4m)
Plymouth | Community... on Wheels
Video has Closed Captions
Mike Currier talks about the roots of the Plymouth Skate Park. (6m 14s)
Video has Closed Captions
Bill Clark talks about, even with growth and progress, Plymouth is a special town. (1m 45s)
Video has Closed Captions
Suzan Gannett talks about Artistic Roots, and the programs and passions that it has inspired. (4m 19s)
Video has Closed Captions
John Scheinman shares how the skills needed in successfully coaching can be used. (2m 31s)
Plymouth | A Commitment of Caring
Video has Closed Captions
Jessica Dutille talks about re-building community, after the pandemic changed the world. (5m 1s)
Video has Closed Captions
Yvonne recalls growing up in Berlin, and speaking two languages in school. (4m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
Andre speaks to us about growing up in Berlin. (6m 41s)
Video has Closed Captions
Walter tells us about Berlin's Skier/Soldier, Paul Petersen, and a love story. (12m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
Roland talks about working in every aspect of the paper industry, over 4+ decades. (3m 36s)
Video has Closed Captions
Renney tells a couple of great stories about growing up in Berlin. (4m 19s)
Video has Closed Captions
Berlin has a language all its own, and Rachelle decided to compile a dictionary of words. (5m 37s)
Video has Closed Captions
Olive speaks about growing up in Berlin, in a family that owned Bisson's Sugar House. (4m 24s)
Video has Closed Captions
Lorna recalls heading into Berlin on Friday nights, for shopping & meeting up with friends (3m 5s)
Video has Closed Captions
Moving to Berlin was a dream come true for Haven, as he loved working in the woods. (3m 54s)
Video has Closed Captions
Diane talks about going from a 45 year career in the banking industry. (2m 43s)
Video has Closed Captions
Dennis tells the story of the history of boy scouts in Berlin, NH. (6m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
speaks about growing up in Berlin, his paper route, and a creative way to make some money. (6m 12s)
Video has Closed Captions
Aime tells the story of his immigrant grandfather, Francois Bisson, migrating from Quebec. (7m 49s)
Video has Closed Captions
You can spend your life dreaming of visiting exotic places. Sometimes it's better to dream (53s)
Video has Closed Captions
Neil Davis says he probably shouldn't have an umbrella that nice, plus another fish story. (2m 42s)
Video has Closed Captions
A little yankee math makes the negotiation more fair (1m 9s)
Video has Closed Captions
What should be in the school's curriculum? Even spouses don't always agree. (57s)
Video has Closed Captions
Sometimes you have to think about what to put your faith in. (54s)
Video has Closed Captions
A true Downeaster doesn't use any more words than need be. (1m 21s)
Video has Closed Captions
You really have to keep an eye on what the neighbors are doing. (1m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
She has made it her mission to help other immigrants, arriving in Nashua. (3m)
Video has Closed Captions
He recalls how welcoming & helpful the people of Nashua were when he first arrived. (2m 51s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Tony Courounis
Video has Closed Captions
Tony Courounis edited by Jacob Whelan (2m)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Nathan Burns/Piper Burns
Video has Closed Captions
Nathan Burns edited by Piper Burns (3m 18s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Nathan Burns/Carolyn Byrn
Video has Closed Captions
Nathan Burns edited by Carolyn Byrne (3m 9s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Kendall Reyes
Video has Closed Captions
Kendall Reyes edited by Abigail Russell (1m 28s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: John Richard
Video has Closed Captions
John Richard edited by Jackson Torres (3m 22s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Gabriel Cadet
Video has Closed Captions
Gabriel Cadet edited by Austin Duponte (1m 31s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Ed Lecius/Torbio Blanco
Video has Closed Captions
Ed Lecius edited by Samira Torbio Blanco (2m 52s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Ed Lecius/Adam Breen
Video has Closed Captions
Ed Lecius edited by Adam Breen (2m 52s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Cathrine Poulin
Video has Closed Captions
Cathrine Poulin edited by Kylie Soucy (2m 31s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS