What will happen to Merrill & Hinckley?

Closed store on GSA land sparks questions of ownership and future occupancy.

Sept. 23, 2026

By Steele Hays

The storefront of Merrill & Hinckley. Photo by John Boit.

BLUE HILL– After more than two years of holding a “going out of business” sale, Blue Hill’s Merrill & Hinckley store finally closed its doors for good in September 2025. But, John Bannister, the building owner, says he has “no plans” for the building’s future use or sale. 

While Bannister still owns the building, he does not own the land it sits on – that belongs to George Stevens Academy. The school campus flanks the property at 23 Union Street on two sides. 

Bannister operated the store for decades under a lease from GSA, but the lease expired in 2013 and has not been renewed.

“I have no plans,” Bannister said Sept. 16 in an interview with The Rising Tide. “I don’t know what I am going to do.”

Bannister said he had been dealing with several health issues since closing the store a year ago, but that he is now recovering and plans to focus on deciding what to do next with the building. The former store is not currently for sale, he said.

“It’s pretty hard to sell a business when there is a question about who owns the land,” Bannister said. 

Shelly Schildroth, GSA’s head of school, in an email response to questions about the former Merrill & Hinckley store, said that GSA’s “priority is on the buildings that we currently own with students in them, but also note that we are exploring options with our lawyer.” 

When asked what GSA’s objectives are for the future of the Merrill & Hinckley building, Schildroth said that GSA’s director of operations, Mike Sealander, is in the process of completing a facilities assessment. 

“The facilities plan will dictate our next steps, and we will know more about what is needed here for the buildings that we own,” she said.  

A side of the Merrill & Hinckley store with vines growing over the window. As well as a sign reading “Parking for TENANT ONLY.” Photo by Steele Hays.

Bannister suggested that the ownership of the land was not a settled question. “That’s the [GSA] board’s position,” he said. “But there are a lot of positions.” 

Blue Hill’s real estate tax records list the 0.5-acre lot as being owned by GSA. The land is assessed at $171,000 in value and has a 2026 tax levy of $1,728. The land was donated to GSA in the early 1960s by Jerold M. Hinkley, who owned and ran the Merrill & Hinckley Store for many years before selling it to John Bannister’s father, Robert, in 1965. 

Schildroth also provided this written summary of the property's history: “I looked into the lease situation and the final lease agreement began in 1963, spanning 50 years and ended in 2013. That lease can be found in the Hancock Registry of Deeds in Book 946, Page 41. Throughout the lease, payments of $40 yearly were made.” Schildroth said that Bannister has paid the GSA property taxes every year, but that this year’s have not yet been paid. This year’s bill will be due on Oct. 15. 

Asked why there was no lease between GSA and Bannister for 13 years, Schildroth, who assumed her job in July, said she could not speak for previous administrators or board members, but that “my understanding is that while M&H was still running and John Bannister continued to pay the property taxes on the land where M&H sits, there was no rush to figure out next steps.” 

Schildroth emphasized that there is no conflict between the two parties. 

“We greatly respect John and Mikey [Mrs. Bannister] and are grateful for what they have done for GSA,” she said. 

The former store building shows peeling paint in multiple areas, including on the north side facing GSA.  There are several broken windows and several plastic bags filled with trash on a wooden porch facing the school. 

For more than 100 years, the Merrill & Hinckley Store was a landmark in Blue Hill and served as the town’s leading grocery store and one of its primary businesses. The three-story building with a mansard-style roof was built in 1880 by sea captain Melatiah Kimball Chase. He sold wares that he brought back from ports around the world – ranging from China to Ireland to Great Britain to Cuba, according to the Blue Hill Historical Society. The Chase Store was described as “the most elegant establishment in town.” 

In 1888, after Chase’s death, the building was rented to Frank Merrill, another Blue Hill grocer. By 1905, the business was sold to Max Merrill and Merrill P. Hinckley to become a general store with the motto, “Merrill & Hinckley: Almost Everything”. Jerold Hinckley was the last Hinckley descendant to own the store.