Accord Market aisles are stocked with bulk food, zero-waste home goods, fresh produce, meat and dairy, dry goods, and craft beer. | Photos courtesy of Accord Market
Accord Market brings a fresh take on food shopping to the Rondout Valley via sustainably sourced groceries and hyperlocal treats.
On the otherwise quiet main street of the secluded hamlet of Accord, one shop is especially bustling: Accord Market. With its towering brick façade and picnic tables out front, the space has become a welcome new hub for community, conversation, and locally and sustainably sourced groceries and home goods since opening last August.
Founders Emily Haas-Godsil and Henry Rich, who previously worked in the television and restaurant industries respectively, saw a need for an easily accessible, healthy grocery store for residents of the highly rural surrounding area. Until now, the 3.4-square-mile hamlet has only had three small food stores, with limited selections of local products. As an Accord resident, Rich missed having a spot to run into his neighbors throughout the course of the pandemic—he also resented having to drive over an hour round-trip to the nearest big-chain grocery store.
“Over the years, there have been various initiatives to revitalize the beautiful historic hamlet of Accord. It’s a great community, and we wanted to have this full grocery store that was price accessible and supported local farms [in the Rondout Valley]. We feel very lucky to have the regulars that we do come together in the space,” says Rich.
Accord Market aisles are stocked with bulk food, zero-waste home goods, fresh produce, meat and dairy, dry goods, and craft beer. Shoppers are treated to uber-local items from Harney & Sons (Millerton), Bread Alone (multiple locations), Tree Juice Maple Syrup (Arkville), and much more. In addition to supporting local food and farms, the market strives for carbon neutrality (by using 100 percent renewable energy) and invests in sequestration, which captures and stores carbon dioxide.
Visitors to their website can meet the market team through photos and bios before taking the trip in person, which reflects Accord Market’s human-centric culture. “Our employees are the heart of the market, they are the faces that people see every day, putting in the effort day in and day out. We want [our business] to be something they can be proud of just as much as we are,” says Haas-Godsil.
When you stop in, you might even be able to participate in a tasting event with a local purveyor. The market has already served as the center for Accord’s 2021 Heritage Day and held a coat drive over the holidays last year, but keep your eyes out for a more expansive community-centered programming schedule to come after Covid is in the rearview.
Accord Market
21 Main Street, Accord
Sun–Thurs, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Fri – Sat, 10 a.m.– 8 p.m.
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