The Independent Edition

8th Street Food Market Owner: Ramon Evangelista Opened:  1999 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  247 N 8th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We've seen several historically preserved small corner grocers lacking a lot of updates, but the 8th Street Food Market -- at just 2000 square feet -- has in fact gotten some pretty substantial renovation and, despite the size, actually has a full butcher, deli, and hot food bar inside with a table or two to sit and eat at. This store looks a little different from the other ones we've seen here in Allentown, with a hefty if tiny grocery department, and a full dairy case rather than just a gallon or two of milk. Not to mention that this store is supplied by Krasdale Foods, rather than just a collection of itesm from random wholesalers and wholesale clubs like BJ's. In the back of the store, which I couldn't photograph because there were too many people, was the butcher, deli, and hot food bar, pl...

Stop N Shop Food Market Owner: Wagby Ibrahim Opened:  2001 Cooperative:  none Location:  302 N 14th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Stop & Shop? No, this Stop N Shop Food Market appears to be a longtime fixture in northwestern Center City Allentown. It's located in one of the historic residential/commercial low-rise buildings of this neighborhood and looks like it doesn't quite reach 1000 square feet. There are two aisles in the front, one with grocery items and one with beverages, dairy, and a small deli. There's another little alcove in the back, if I'm not mistaken, for nonfood products. I love tiny stores like this because they're a well-preserved snapshot of what grocery shopping was like a century ago, or maybe not quite that long but regardless. But some of these longtime grocery stores have been more updated than others. Tomorrow's store, which is right near the center of the city, has gotten a big renovation recently. ...

Turner Street Market & Deli Owner: unknown Opened:  ca. 2015 Cooperative:  none Location:  1401 W Turner St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Another little grocery store here in Allentown is the Turner Street Market & Deli. This is an interesting one because the 2800 square foot store appears to be a combination of two existing storefronts with a wall down the middle (visible in the picture below, which is only half of the store). One side has the deli and cases for things like beverages and dairy, and then the other side feels a bit more like a dollar store with some simple groceries and home goods/nonfoods. Up until around 2015, this store was the Dayoub Brothers Market. It's not unlike Monday's store, which is located just three blocks north. Come back on Monday to check it out!

Hersh's Super Market Owner: unknown Opened:  1959 under previous ownership, 2008 or later under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  129 S 17th St, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Today is our first of several small independent grocers in the Lehigh Valley. These stores might only be a few aisles and many of them are just little corner stores, but many of them have also been operating as grocers for several generations. This grocery store was bought by the Hersh family in 1959, then sold to Elizabeth and Rob Price in 2008. It may or may not have been sold again, I can't tell. The 3400 square foot store is about four aisles with a small deli in the back but still is more of a grocer than a convenience store. As we can see below, there's more staples than just snacks and grab-and-go beverages. Hersh's also had a store at the corner of N 19th and W Whitehall Streets in Allentown, which itself may have moved from what looks like a small storefr...

Superfood Fresh Supermarket Owner: unknown Opened:  2018 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  704 W Emmaus Ave, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We're here at the Superfood Fresh Supermarket in Allentown -- one of two that started as Superfood Marketplace stores, then appear to have been sold to the owners of Twin City and other supermarkets, and rebranded Superfood Fresh. When we were here last, it was a Superfood Marketplace . Not much has changed, but I wanted to get a few updated interior pictures nonetheless. As we can see, maintenance at this store has been excellent. It's extremely clean and well-stocked. And even with the high ceiling, no lights were burnt out. Speaking of that, here's a few better and newer pictures of the high pitched-roof ceiling. And a picture of the mural on the front wall, which still has the poorly-added Superfood Marketplace logo over what used to say Valley Farm Market. Worth mentioning that the other remaining ...

Welcome to the Lehigh Valley! This region encompasses Easton, Bethlehem, and Allentown of Pennsylvania, and into the Phillipsburg area of New Jersey. We are going to be on the Pennsylvania side this time around, working our way west to east. We'll be seeing a few places in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, along with some of the smaller towns and areas like Center Valley, Whitehall, Hellertown, and Fountain Hill. This time around (and we've  been here before , back in ancient history) we'll be focusing on some of the smaller corner stores, neighborhood markets, and former supermarkets rather than the chain supermarkets. Really the only big chains with any significant presence here are GIANT and Weis, and we'll be seeing one of each but a lot of the other, more interesting (to me at least) stuff this time through. We begin tomorrow with a former supermarket on  Grocery Archaeology ! But wait, there's more. Here's today's special reports! Special Report: Stop ...

HL Supermarket Owner: John Lin Opened:  October 2022 Cooperative:  none Location:  2380 Hylan Blvd, New Dorp, Staten Island, NY Photographed:  January 13, 2023 While Asian Food Markets was working on building its new store in the northwestern corner of Staten Island, five miles southeast near the eastern coast of the island, it was announced that a Brooklyn-based Chinese supermarket would be taking over a 30,000 square foot vacant former banquet hall . After extensive renovation, HL Supermarket opened their New Dorp store in November 2022. All the grandeur of the Excelsior Grand may have been removed from the front wall, but the wall now displays murals of food items. A slightly strange layout, but it ends up working fine -- the main parking lot and entrance are in the rear of the store. But driving down busy Hylan Boulevard, you can't miss this massive signage. And as we head to the back, as usual, the rear entrance is less exciting than the front. For ease of navi...

Asian Food Markets Owner: Jon Chen Opened:  2022 Cooperative:  none Location:  2343 Forest Ave, Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, NY Photographed:  January 13, 2023 We'll be seeing two new Asian supermarkets on Staten Island today, which by the way are also the only two Asian supermarkets on the island. This is the smaller of the two, a 12,000 square foot store in a newly-built strip mall that opened in 2022. Asian Food Markets, whose stores we've seen in New Jersey, moved from an older but much larger 30,000 square foot store in a remote strip mall at 1801 South Avenue . That store actually closed way back in 2018 , so there was quite a gap between its closure and this store's opening. While the store is beautiful and has the same decor package as Plainsboro, we can feel how small it is. I was not expecting it to be this small, especially since the last one I visited was Plainsboro, and was shocked that this was all there was to it. Hot food is on the left side, wit...