Dublin IGA
Owner: Mike Flagello
Opened: as IGA 1982, as Great Valu 1990s, as Shop n Bag 2000s, again as IGA 2016-2021
Cooperative: IGA
Location: 161 N Main St, Dublin, PA
Photographed: July 22, 2021
Okay folks, let's get through some history before we really get into this store. This store opened as a new-build in 1982 under the IGA cooperative, then in the 1990s the owners switched to Great Valu Markets before changing to Shop n Bag the following decade. When the Thriftway/Shop n Bag cooperative dissolved in 2016, the store returned to IGA before closing in 2021.
This charming small-town IGA was around 22,000 square feet, and as we'll see remained a lot of its old-fashioned character until the end although it had gotten a few small upgrades. The decor had been updated slightly with new signage as we see below, but the fixtures are clearly not updated.
Despite its age, the Dublin IGA was a pleasant, well-maintained small-town grocery store. What appears to have done it in is a big new Weis that opened a little under a mile away in Perkasie, which we'll be seeing tomorrow.
If you look carefully in the below picture, you can see what appears to be evidence of an expansion, where the ceiling tiles don't line up. There's actually still a wall there, which extends down that grocery aisle.
The store was very well-stocked for its size, but the new Weis is nearly three times the size of this store. Obviously, there's no way this store could even begin to match that store's selection.
There was a fair amount of nonfoods selection, though, where smaller stores like this sometimes can differentiate themselves. We'll also see futher attempts at differentiation, with a new wine cafe area.
And below we can see where I assume the store originally ended, with frozen foods. Today the store extends beyond that, with deli, bakery, dairy, and wine in the expansion. Also, I assume the frozen cases to the left were the store's original, with newer ones added on the right. Maybe dairy was originally where these newer cases are now.
And soda on the other side of that wall. Judging by the age of the soda bottles on that sign, I'm betting this expansion didn't happen all that recently.
Deli and bakery were in the back right corner of the store.
And opposite that is the dairy department.
It looks like the bakery department may have already been in the process of cutting back when I was there, with the chips in what look like bread cases.
Dairy then lines the last aisle.
And the new wine cafe was added in the front right corner, in what I believe may have been a floral department. Notice the flags hung in front of the decor that shows what would've been there previously.
And on the other side of that section is the greeting cards/magazine area.
Notice the Shop n Bag shelving below.
And a look at the front end before we head out.
Looks like this sign may have originally had the Shop n Bag logo.
Always sad to see an independent grocery store close, especially one as long-standing as this one. And tomorrow we're headed to the Weis on
The Market Report!
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