Andes is home to Delaware County’s newest community-centric, mom-and-pop market.
Husband-and-wife Harry Benson and Sara Sharpe launched Little Grocer at their 143 Main St. building earlier this year. Benson, from England, and Sharpe, Australian, moved to Andes by way of New York City.
“We moved full-time to the Catskills a couple years ago and we were very excited about initially opening Estro, the main business in the building, which is furniture and design,” Benson said, noting that Estro is Sharpe’s primary venture. “We bought the whole building and it had many units. One of the things we felt, and were told time and time again, is, Andes needs a grocery store and it hadn’t had one in over five years.
“So, it wasn’t necessarily our plan but, the more we explored, the more we got excited about it and knew it was needed for the town,” he continued. “We felt it was exciting and elevated for the weekenders, but also accessible for day-to-day locals and full-timers.”
Little Grocer opened July 4 after “many, many months renovating,” Benson said. The couple purchased the building in September 2024.
Benson said, from conception, the store’s inventory has been demand-driven.
“We have said, from Day 1, that we want to be a functional grocery store, so many of our shelves are stocked with what you’d need to make a meal or bake a cake,” he said. “We don’t anticipate being someone’s weekly trip to the grocery store, but it is very much there for what you would need to fill up for a weekend. There’s fresh produce from local farms, meat from local producers, Clark’s Milk and eggs — your basics — and we sell coffee to go and to purchase and we did some ice cream over the summer, which has been very popular. Clark’s Milk is something everyone brings up; it’s important for us to have that local representation and have the things people want. We’ve said, ‘What are all the things we’d love for a week or weekend upstate?’ and crammed it all in.”
Fresh-baked goods and upscale sandwiches, Benson said, have also proven popular.
“Succurro is a farm in East Meredith and we have their chicken and bread and scones,” he said. “And we just found the need for sandwiches, and they fly off the counter. People really wanted an easy grab-‘n’-go option, so we started that up and bought a meat slicer to get it fresher and started buying legs of prosciutto and slicing it ourselves, so it’s grown this whole thing. It’s a little different from what’s around, and we wanted a little European deli vibe, but it also very much pulls in the local suppliers.”
The response from customers, Benson said, has been “really great.”
“One of the things we discovered opening the grocery store is, it’s not just you, opening the business you want to open,” he said. “Because we were driven by more of a need, it meant that people were more receptive and very thankful. We feel overjoyed that we can bring something like this to the community, and we’ve employed multiple people over the summer.
“It has felt really special for us to be able to contribute in such a meaningful way to the community,” Benson continued. “And I’d like to hope it has made a difference. (People) don’t have to drive all the way (to surrounding towns); they can just pop in, grab what they need and grab a coffee and a snack. We really want to make it a little hub — a community spot where you can buy a freshly baked baguette from Succurro, a coffee and a couple things to take home, and that’s really satisfying for everyone.
Little Grocer’s clientele, Benson said, spans “people who are 9 to people who are 90.”
“It is everyone under the sun,” he said. “We get people who’ve never been to the Catskills before and we have people who are coming in almost every day and people coming in to ask for specific products.”
Benson said he plans to change offerings seasonally, while continuing to prioritize customer input.
“The thing we’re focused on right now is the holidays and Thanksgiving, so we’re working on getting all the supplies — turkey, chickens, hams — and we want to put together some kind of packs for sides or stuffings,” he said. “We’re very much trying to work on how to do online pre-orders and in-store pickup for that stuff and, in winter, segueing out of sandwiches and into hot soups and lunches, maybe a lentil dahl.
“We got Estro open first … which is imported furniture and typically by appointment only, but that will be back open on weekends,” Benson continued. “The building has five units … and needed extensive renovation. It’s a 1920s garage. The rest of the building has an architect and the grocery, which is open from Wednesday to Sunday, and the plan is, at the back of the building, I’m going to open a community wood-working shop. So, we do the grocery store as part of this big vision and offering of the building.”
For more information, follow @littlegrocerandes on Instagram.