As you might already know, the Portland Greengrocer shut its doors in December of 2004. They would be renovating, a sign said, and, due to the loss of the use of a rear door, would not be able to offer their signature small-market produce upon reopening. People began to talk.

It was an upsetting move for more than a few. Folks living in the Old Port, island dwellers, ambulatory residents of both the East and West ends would now have to find another way to locate fresh lettuces, carrots, fruits, and herbs. The nightly stop on the way home would now be a trip to Wild Oats, Whole Grocer, or Hannaford. A simple walk might now turn into a taxi ride or a wait for a bus. Older patrons would have to think back 14 years to when the Greengrocer didn’t exist and remember how things were done back then.

People began to get frustrated.

To understand the move, you have to understand Nick and Annie Witte’s passion for what they do. Seeing the specialty ingredients, the carefully selected wines, the beautifully presented cheeses presents a glimmering, gourmet front to be sure, but it belies years of hauling and inspecting thousands of pounds of product every week. You have to have an almost unnatural obsession to own a grocery like they do; it’s that preoccupation with the idea of fresh produce that led them to open the Portland Greengrocer on Market Street in 1991.

Portland’s response was enthusiastic enough that they had to seek out bigger digs in October of 1994. That November, they introduced Commercial Street to what would become one of its most popular tenants for the next 10 years.

Then came the back-door situation.

When the Dunham Group (a commercial real estate brokerage company) bought old-time and family-owned Chase Levitt & Co. out of their 10 Dana Street location, Nick and Annie could smell a change coming. The handshake agreement that they had with the former owners to ensure use of the back door for early morning deliveries, late-night trash-outings, and general deliveries was bumped to accommodate the Dunham Group’s renovations. All this was perfectly legal, almost expected. They needed to bring the buildings up to code to make them Class A office space, and wanted a functional, sleeker look. The fact that the Portland Greengrocer might suffer was, clearly, of no consequence to them.

What kept that agreement in place so long was the family-oriented, local, small-business ethic that once lorded over much of Portland. Those days are — if you’ve been living in a hole — over. "I pointed out that that was bad news for us," says Nick, "and it would impact our business. They didn’t really acknowledge it. They just sort of said, ‘These are our plans.’ And so they went ahead and did it."

Along with that came an opportunity for in-house baker Scott Anderson and manager John Nailer to try their hand at their own grocery, this one out of the Old Port. Partners for nine years, the four of them split up. Nick and Annie weren’t done trying to sell produce yet, though. "After we lost the back door, we tried to figure out some way to reconfigure the alley back there to make it work." Nick says they tried everything they could. "We thought of bringing stuff in off of Wharf Street, past Cinque Terre. But that wasn’t going to work, especially in this kind of weather and considering the volume that comes in and out. Then we started looking for a new space, thinking that the writing was on the wall, and we’d have to get out of here if we wanted to do produce." They tried to look in the East End, but with the Ocean Gate project looming over India Street and beyond, owners were loath to sell their spaces.

Still, they tried to keep the greens in the Greengrocer, even taking shipments in through the front door. Annie shakes her head when she remembers trying to receive product directly off of Commercial Street in July. "Absolutely crazy. You try to shuffle together offloading trucks, neighbors walking by, customers walking in . . . it was unbelievable."

It was clear that the writing was on the wall, and that a change had to be made. So, in a forced choice they made after all other possibilities had run their courses, the Portland Greengrocer followed what could be the second mantra of the food service industry, only second to that one about the customer being right: When big business pushes, sometimes you have to bend to avoid breaking.

What stings the pair the most is the perceived notion that they closed down the produce side in an effort to maximize profit, or because they wanted to work less. The truth is, believe it or not, you make more money selling onions than wine. "If we wanted to work less and make money," Nick says, "we would have just sold the place!"

The pair is optimistic about their new operation. What you see now doesn’t reflect what they will have in the future — it takes a while to build back into your inventory, including more select produce items, more wine and cheese, olive oils — and they’re going to focus more on selling local products and ready-to-eat lunch and dinner items. Nick knows that it will be a different shopping experience, but also that they are filling another niche.

"It won’t be the type of place you build you entire shopping trip around," he says, "but if it’s here, you know it’s going to be good."

That’s what made them successful in the first place.

Andy King can be reached at dinnerwithandy@yahoo.com