Supermarket press statements aren’t usually high on our list of literary entertainments. But how could we not be intrigued by this gem from Market Basket spokeswoman Justine Griffin?
“As far as we know, all of our stores are ghost-free. But if there’s anything to it, she’s probably attracted to our Victorian-era prices.”
Top that, Price Chopper.
Are supernatural happenings afoot at a Wilmington, Massachusetts, grocery store? Photo Credit : Joe Bills
Griffin’s unusual statement was occasioned by a reported ghost sighting at the Massachusetts-based chain’s location in Wilmington on March 13. A 25-year-old bakery department employee named Christiana Bush says she had just finished inscribing a customized cake and was bringing it to the counter when she spied an old woman staring at her from farther down the aisle.
Later, in an interview with NBC’s Today show, Bush emphasized that it “wasn’t like something out of the corner of my eye. She was staring right at me. It must have been for a second and a half.”
Bush, a psychology major at UMass Lowell, might not have given the woman a second thought had it not been for her appearance: According to Bush, the woman was wearing an old-fashioned white dressing gown and cap, and she was not wearing shoes (a clear violation of Market Basket policy).
Bush looked away, then quickly turned back to confirm what she had just seen. The woman was gone.
The story might have ended there, had curiosity not gotten the better of Bush. She searched the aisles, concerned that the woman might need help. But she had vanished like a … well, you know.
When she went home that day, Bush fired off a message to a Wilmington-centric Facebook group: “This is going to sound really really strange … but has anyone seen a ghost in the Wilmington market basket?”
Her question generated hundreds of responses. Though some were dismissive, other people claimed to have had a similar experience. As the public weighed in, the details of the ghost in question became much clearer: She was old (or maybe young), with hair that was definitely curly (unless it was straight). She seemed sad (or possibly happy), and she may have been shopping for frozen peas (or maybe not).
We bravely investigated the Market Basket location in Rindge, New Hampshire, for a ghostly presence, but we found no one staring at us for anything other than legitimate reasons.
After Bush’s reported sighting picked up momentum on social media, Market Basket itself weighed in with the aforementioned press release, which cleverly used the company’s strange moment in the spotlight as an opportunity to trumpet its “Victorian-era prices.”
But while Market Basket reassured the public that there’s “nothing to see here,” the Wilmington Police Department released a video containing conclusive proof of ghostly goings-on.
Not to be outdone, Massachusetts U.S. Representative Seth Moulton tweeted, “Apparently a ghost is haunting the Wilmington Market Basket … I thought I only needed to worry about witches and ghouls in #Salem!”
Have you ever seen a ghost? How about a ghost at the grocery store? Let us know in the comments below!
Associate Editor Joe Bills is Yankee’s fact-checker, query reader and the writer of several recurring departments. When he is not at Yankee, he is the co-owner of Escape Hatch Books in Jaffrey, NH.
