Chelsea State Bank ad

Chelsea Update focus on business: Polly’s Country Market

pollys-3By Lisa Carolin

(Chelsea Update is running a series on businesses in Chelsea beginning with those that belong to the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce. This week’s featured business is Polly’s Country Market.)

Polly’s Country Market is a family-owned, independent supermarket chain that has a long history. It began in 1934 in Jackson, when Frank A. Kennedy opened the first Polly’s.

His great grandson, Corey Kennedy, now runs the Polly’s Market in Chelsea, which he has done for the last six years.

Courtesy photo. A scene inside Polly's Country Market.
Courtesy photo. A scene inside Polly’s Country Market.

“We chose to become a member of the Chamber of Commerce because we feel it is important to be actively involved in each community that we do business in,” said Corey Kennedy.

“We are also highly active in donations with Chelsea schools, athletics, local churches, St. Louis Center, and much more. We believe that businesses should help support the communities that support us,” he said.

The family owns grocery stores in eight locations.

“We specialize in a full service meat department, bakery, deli, produce, beer, wine, liquor, dairy, and frozen grocery items, and our Chelsea location also has a pharmacy,” said Kennedy.

Courtesy photo. Corey Kennedy.
Courtesy photo. Corey Kennedy.

“We continue to expand on our organic, specialty, and natural food selection. We also have brought in many Michigan made products,” he said.

Kennedy has worked in grocery stores for most of his adult life. He lives in Leoni Township, just west of Grass Lake, and has two children, one of whom works at the family grocery store in Jackson.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

5 thoughts on “Chelsea Update focus on business: Polly’s Country Market”

  1. The Kennedys are GREAT people. From Frank all the way to the newest of Kennedys. Polly’s is an excellent example of their dedication to our community (as well as others). Thank you Polly’s for supporting us, we will support you for years to come.

  2. It’s impossible not to notice how dirty the entire store is, and the lack of attention to consistent standards of basic cleanliness. The bathrooms are not properly cleaned and need remodeling. Management has resisted customer complaints for many years. It’s sad, I’d love to keep shopping locally, but any other area grocery store is far cleaner and more attractive. Please everyone, ask them to take serious steps to improve, because we all deserve better, including the store employees also.

  3. I worked for the Kennedy’s for 15 years when they expanded the first store in Chelsea to add the Deli and increased the original size of the store until 1991. They were a great group of people to work for, treated the employees decently and I enjoyed working for them during that period. I agree the store needs improvement in several areas. I was the Deli/Bakery-Manager for about 7 years and the quality of the product back then compared to the quality now is disappointing. I purchased a large quantity of chicken for a football banquet for the Manchester 7-9 boys team two years ago and was greatly dissatisfied in the product. I did not check each large pan of chicken before I left the store however, when we were serving the chicken it was dry and appeared to be buried in breading. Needless to say I have not and will probably never again purchase anything from their deli department. Some of the guys took the chicken home, otherwise I was going to throw it in the trash. It appeared to have sat for hours before I picked up the order. I would have been embarrassed to send an order out in that condition back in my day.

    I do still shop the store when I am in Chelsea. They have a great meat department and always have. Their prices are a little higher than bigger chain stores but, not that much depending on what you buy. I don’t think any of the people that I worked with are still there, which says a lot about today’s employment market.

    I am glad they continue to support the local community and provide a food store source for the area which is greatly needed.

  4. Some of these comments are laughable. This store is clean in comparison to places like Wal-mart and Meijer. They also almost always have more lanes open instead of forcing me to a U-scan like Meijers does. It’s definitely a better option than the other two small stores in the area (Franks in Grass Lake and the Manchester Market). It’s also better than the only other options in Chelsea. I like their deli and meat departments. They have pretty much everything I need and actually carry some things I have a hard time finding anywhere else. Their deli also has Boar’s Head meats and cheeses which is the brand that I prefer. I enjoy shopping at Polly’s. Thanks for serving our community all of these years.

Comments are closed.