The Hilltop Superette at the Corner of North  and Congress Streets is Transitioning into a Grocery and Liquore Store From a Convenience Store.

A Whiskey Displaye is Near the Entrance to the Hilltop Superette.

The Wine Wall at the HiIltop Superette, 135 Congress Street, Portland.

Long a popular go-to convenience store on Munjoy Hill, the current owner Sam Patel, is undertaking a transition to a grocery and liquor store  This is happening so Hill residents won’t have to go to Hannaford  Brothers to shop according to one employee.

The transition to groceries from a convenience store is pretty well completed.  New shelving has been installed and they are now packed with grocery items.  A candy and snack area has been consolidated into one section near the store entrance.  Previously, candy and snacks were spread throughout the store.

Most of the hard liquor has been moved to behind the front casher’s space.  That move was made according to one employee to reduce the number of liquor thefts the store was experiencing.   “There may be some additional surprises to come,” said another employee recently. But she would not elaborate on them to this blogger.

Patel, the new owner, has been making changes gradually to the Hilltop since his purchase of it  In fact, Patel is the third owner of this landmark spot on the Hill since a 2-alarm fire there ten years ago this month changed it forever.

In early March of 2013, a fire broke out just after 3:30 am   The two alarm fire displaced three famililes living above the store in rental units.  Fortunately, Engine 1 is located directly across the street resulting in a quick response to the blaze.

According to one of the displaced tenants in the building, an arsonist was responsible for the fire that started on the second floor.  An intruder who was turned away from the third floor tenant after getting a drink of water, set the fire in the hallway on the second floor on his way out of the three story building.  The alleged arsonist who appeared to have been drinking was taken into police custody in the stairwell of the old building as he was exiting it. There was one family living on the third floor and two families on the second floor in the rental units..  No one was injured.  But one dog, Sadie, and several cats lost their lives in the blaze.  The building was constructed in 1884.  At the time of the fire, it was called Colucci’s Market and was owned by Bridget & Tony Jacobsky.  It was a family business owned by several members of the Colucci family.

Following extensive rennovations that took many months to complete, leaving this blogger and others speculating that the store would never open agani.  The building was sold to then Hill resident Bill Simpson with financial backing from apartment building owner Tom Watson.  Simpson then sold the building to Greg Snyder, on January 3, 2019 for a reported very large amount of money.  Snyder who came from the Augusta area, commuted from up there most days to run the cash resiger at the renamed Hilltop Superette.  He was not shy about expressing his conservative political views to customers who were not interested in them!  He was an anti-vaxxer as well. Sam Patel purchased the buiiding and business from Snyder on June 4, 2021 and the changes have begun!

This blogger was a nearby tenant of the Jacobsky’s and witnessed the scary fire “close up and personally.”