Powers Market has a deep and rich history in Bennington, and for as long as it has been around, people have been going and coming back to reminisce. The market itself stands tall, the building the embodiment of traditional small-town culture, closely shrouded by neighborhoods and schools. This aura followed me as I walked just across the street from it into Pangaea Cafe.
On March 31st, the historic Powers Market closed its doors and transferred its ownership. Previous owners Lani DePonte-Disorda and Nick Disorda, who have owned the market for the past four years, also operate and own Pangaea Restaurant and Cafe. Before meeting with Lani DePonte-Disorda, there wasn’t much public information on why they had sold, or who they had sold it to, or when the market would be reopening. I had reached out to a Powers employee, and they had said: “We found out they were closing a couple days before they posted on Instagram…I think I worked two more shifts, and then I was out of a job. There was never any discussion about us working for the new owners.”
DePonte-Disorda began by telling me about Bill Scully, who was a Bennington alum and the founder of Pangaea Restaurant. DePonte-Disorda and her husband, who graduated from Bennington College in 2011, became partners with Bill Scully, then owner of Pangaea and Powers Market. Scully was getting ready to leave the businesses behind to work full-time on hydroelectric power, so he offered DePonte-Disorda and her husband the market and Pangaea in a bundle. They both thought: “That’s too much for us. We’re babies.” But another owner, Abigail Martin, took over the market until 2022, when she sold Powers due to struggles from the COVID-19 pandemic.
After this shift in ownership, the new building owner, Skye Thompson and Thompson Family Group, LLC, got in contact with Deponte-Disorda “to consult on what the space should be, and we were like, it’s really important that it be Powers, you know, the longest-running market [in Vermont].” To keep the market running, DePonte-Disorda tried to look for someone to run it, and when no one could be found, DePonte-Disorda and her husband decided to take on the market along with their business, Pangaea.
They began their era of Powers Market “with a one-foot-out-the-door mindset the whole time,” while making sure that it stayed Powers Market. While running Powers, Deponte Disorda said that she “had the same chicken recipe that Larry Powers had in there.” This is when the market would come alive with its history and tradition; Deponte-Disorda mentioned that people from the town would also bring nostalgic items to Powers.
Deponte-Disorda reminisced about her time owning the market. They were keeping Powers Market alive, but they “…were always kind of looking for someone else. But we were really specific about who we wanted to take over, because we wanted to make sure that it would carry on that same vision and history,” said Deponte-Disorda.
After four years under their ownership, they found someone they trusted with their vision of the market. Enter Sean Mitchell.
As I walked up to the market, all closed down and quiet, I approached the door and saw a sign that told wanderers the market is closed. The door opened to Sean and the remnants of the now Powers Market.
Originally from Shaftsbury, VT, Mitchell heavily embodies the Spirit of a Vermonter and of the spirit of continuity that the Bennington community holds. “I grew up fishing and playing around Lake Paran. So, naturally, being a native and kind of recreating around here, you end up in this shop. So I remember, you know, getting ice cream sandwiches and chocolate bars and stuff, really, since I can remember here, but also, sort of through my life,” said Mitchell to introduce himself and explain how the market has been a thread throughout his life.
Mitchell has vast experience in the world of kitchens and cuisine, having a lot of experience in Vermont. “I worked at Hunter’s. As a kid, my brother was a chef…It was my first job, and I just kind of fell in love with food. I just threw myself at the profession and ended up working at some really great places along the way. I worked at Mrs. London’s and Saratoga’s Brady’s when I was a kid. That really taught me a lot about the industry, working at a high level. It’s like very stressful. It can be very toxic. But I learned a lot there,” said Mitchell, expanding on why he prefers a smaller business after the experience he’s had.
He then moved to Albany, where he was able to apply his skills to different types of restaurants. “I worked at this really cool wine bar that I loved called The Wine Bar, on Marsh Creek. That was run by a guy that had some wonderful experience, and we got to make really special food without getting a ton of attention,” said Mitchell.
“It was this little, tiny, 20-seat restaurant in Albany that, you know, only people in Albany really knew about…The cool thing was that he [the owner] had worked at a bunch of Michelin-star restaurants and had all that Michelin-star experience. So I got to learn all that without having the kitchen of thirty cooks and all of the, you know, the abuse,” added Mitchell.
Then, in this journey back to Powers, to home, he said: “Emily and I got married, I decided that I really wanted to work at a nationally acclaimed restaurant, and being a super, super proud Vermonter, it’s like very much…it’s just very much part of who I am. It’s sort of inextricable between me and the Vermonter. And I’ve only ever fit in here.” And the best restaurant he could find “was the one that was in Vermont [Hen of the Wood]…and I ended up being a sous chef there for four years.” added Mitchell
Even though these culinary experiences have formed the chef that Mitchell is today, one of the reasons he wants to work for himself is to avoid this dark side that has lined all these experiences, the toxicity of the industry.
Mitchell moved away from Vermont for a while, but once he had returned, the little area of North Bennington came alive with memories again. “I met my wife across the street, and her best friend worked here [Powers Market]. We spent basically every afternoon here eating a sandwich and having a drink and talking with people as they came in, you know?” said Mitchell, asking us to draw on our own neighborhood experiences.
After his time as a sous chef, Mitchell and his wife “…bought a farm called Halfway Farm, a highly diversified vegetable farm.” But when the pandemic began, the farm, which relied on wholesaling to restaurants, had to close.
“So, I kind of concentrated on being a dad…and Nick and Lani ended up reaching out to me. Well, I actually reached out to them. I actually asked if they needed a dishwasher, because I just wanted something really simple and below status, so I could plan a farm, because my move was to start a flower farm this summer. But when I called them for a job, they said, boy do we have an opportunity for you.” Mitchell said with a bit of awe in his voice. “I sat down with Nick, and he said, I want to hand Powers over. And I cried, because I love this place. I’ve loved this building for 30 years. The idea, immediately, of running this place and doing it justice just filled me with one of the happiest moments in my life. I just immediately said yes to him.”
Now, Powers Market is under the stewardship of Sean Mitchell, where, under his lead, he said the market: “…is going to be definitely less of a grocery store. And more of a place where somebody can come in the morning and get a nice pastry. Made from scratch. A great cup of coffee. Also, a sandwich for lunch, and if they even want, they can get something from the freezer for dinner. It’s sort of like a one-stop shop in the morning; you can do it all. But really more about pre-made convenience, but all from scratch. So that kind of old-school Powers, where you could come in and get a sandwich, eggs, milk, and bread.”
Also, Mitchell plans for a flower farm, which will result in “a small portion of the shop as a flower shop… you’ll be able to come in and get floral designs for your house, or I can design like a table-sized or hand-sized bouquet for you.”
One question I felt I needed to ask, that had not come up about the transition from the Disorda’s ownership to Mitchell’s, was about staffing. According to Mitchell, staffing had to be cut because: “It’s a super small business, like there isn’t a lot of meat on the bones of the business.” Ultimately, the staff will consist of one Bennington alum, Mitchell’s wife, and a family friend. “But yeah, keeping a deep roster of folks that used to work here, it just isn’t sustainable, unfortunately. And we wrestled with that.” Although it seems that the transition of letting staff go was bumpy and came without much disclosure, it seems that Powers needs time before it can have more staff, as it’s rising from the ashes.
Ultimately, Mitchell knows that “…over the last, say, decade, close to a decade now, a lot of the communities lost trust with the shop. I think rebuilding that trust is a big part of my mission. People love this place.”
Mitchell leaves us all with this message: “I have wanted to run this shop, and there’s video evidence of this. I wanted to run this shop for, like, fifteen years. And I moved away, and I came back, and I used to talk to my wife on the porch over a beer about it like, wow, man. And I can’t believe I’m here. Yeah. I’m so excited.”
Sean Mitchell’s Powers’ Market is coming to you soon!
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