Mad Gab's, a woman-owned lip and body care company headquartered in Yarmouth, Maine, has expanded its retail presence to 56 Shaw's supermarket locations across New England. The rollout, completed in September 2026, places six varieties of the company's lip balms on shelves in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island as the business celebrates its 35th anniversary.
The expansion gives the brand a larger footprint in the region where it was founded. Mad Gab's began in Massachusetts in 1991, when founder Gabrielle Melchionda made her first batch of lip balm in her mother's kitchen using beeswax from a neighbor. She initially sold products to natural food stores from the trunk of her car, eventually building the business into a nationally distributed brand now based in Maine.
"Being on the shelves at Shaw's is an incredible milestone as we celebrate our 35th anniversary," Melchionda said. "New England is where this whole adventure started, so having our products available to more families here feels pretty special. I never imagined when I started Mad Gab's that we'd come this far."
The Shaw's assortment spans two product lines. The USDA Certified Organic Moose Smooch Lip Balms are offered in Blueberry, Vanilla and Watermelon Ice varieties. The SPF 15 Lip Balms are available in Minty Mint, Strawberry and Lemonade. According to the company, the Organic Moose Smooch balms are made with organic olive oil and beeswax to help moisturize dry lips without leaving a greasy or waxy feeling, while the SPF 15 line combines moisturizing ingredients with sun protection. Both lines feature colorful packaging and playful flavors that have become part of the brand's identity.
The six varieties are sold on Lip Care Power Panels at participating Shaw's locations, with placement varying by store. The arrangement means availability may differ from one supermarket to another, so shoppers in the region may need to check individual locations for the full selection.
For consumers, the move adds a locally rooted, woman-owned brand to the mainstream grocery channel, making products that were previously associated with natural food stores easier to find during routine shopping trips. For the broader consumer packaged goods industry, the placement illustrates how small, independent brands can scale through regional grocery partnerships while retaining their founding identity and New England ties.
Beyond its products, Mad Gab's supports the next generation of entrepreneurs through its Incubating Innovators program. Working with local schools and a farmers market, Melchionda helps teens develop business ideas, create products, learn marketing and experience selling to customers. The program reflects her own hands-on introduction to entrepreneurship and her commitment to helping young people explore business ownership.
The Shaw's rollout also carries significance for the New England retail landscape, where regional supermarket chains increasingly compete for shoppers by stocking distinctive local brands. For Mad Gab's, the anniversary-year expansion represents both a commercial milestone and a homecoming of sorts, bringing a business born in a Massachusetts kitchen to more families across the region that shaped it.
