Then and Now: Champion's Choice

In this Then photo, taken in 1918, we have The Buck Bros Grocers store, a country store in North Wilmington. The location of the store is right near the North Wilmington commuter rail stop.

Before it was the Bucks brothers' store, the building was used as the North Wilminton train depot, which was sold in 1903 to Sidney and George Buck. The building burned down just one year later and was rebuilt.

In 1956, John C. Elia, Jr. bought the store from Walter Buck and the Buck Brothers' store became Elia's Country Store. Besides the regular groceries inside the store, Elia's was also the telephone switchboard for the area (until the phones became direct dial in the 60s). In September 2000, Elia's moved into the new building where it stands today, right next to the original building and up on the hill at 381 Middlesex Ave.

You can also see the Post Office building on the left-hand side of the Buck Brothers' building at the time in this photo, which has since relocated to the 18 Church Street building.

The building is now the Champion's Choice building who supply sports uniforms and equipment to such colleges and prep schools as Bates, Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Norwich University, BB&N, Rivers and Kimball Union Academy.

Historical information provided by Paul Chalifour, Melissa Elia, and Adele Passmore's 250th Anniversary of Wilmington, Mass. book.