The Independent Edition

Tony's Meat Market Owner: unknown Open:  2011-2023 Cooperative:  none Location:  124 Grove St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Tucked away into a neighborhood of southern Wilkes-Barre is this 4,000 square foot butcher shop/corner grocer that appears to have been in business for a very long time. Prior to 2011, it was the Grove Market, which was affiliated with AWI, a cooperative I discussed at length in yesterday's post . In 2011, it became Tony's Meat Market, which then earlier this year became the Grove Mart . Inside, we can tell that the store has been a grocery store for a very very long time. The store was Passeri's Cash Market from 1936 through at least 1974 (and later in its life called Passeri's Master Market), although founder Joseph Passeri retired in 1966. It appears in 1966, the store was sold to Benjamin Leggieri, who around the late 70s appears to have converted the store's name to Leggieri's. Leggieri's was in business un...

Schiel's Family Market Owner: Frank Schiel Opened:  2000 Cooperative:  ShurSave Location:  30 Hanover St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Photographed:  August 12, 2020 Here in the southern part of Wilkes-Barre we find a Schiel's Family Market, one of two in the city. The stores are affiliated with ShurSave and currently supplied by C&S. While I can't find much on the history of ShurSave, it was originally affiliated with Reading, PA-based Associated Wholesalers Inc., or AWI, which declared bankruptcy and was mostly acquired by C&S in 2014 (following a merger with Carteret, NJ-based White Rose in 2006). At the time of the merger in 2006, AWI supplied upwards of 800 stores, although it's not clear how many of those were ShurSave stores. 20 years ago, there were 30 ShurSave stores, and today, there are just 12. This building was built in the 1960s as a Food Fair, then closed around 1970 and was turned into a Giant Market location (that is, the local chain from the Binghamt...

Plymouth Hometown Market Owner:  Christopher Kubishin Opened:  2012 Cooperative:  none Location:  500 W Main St, Plymouth, PA Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Welcome to the Plymouth Hometown Market! We're directly across the street from Friday's ACME for this independent grocery store, which has made its home in a former A&P, later Fetch's Market. Here's a shot of the transition between Fetch's and Plymouth Hometown Market. While Fetch's was ShurSave-affiliated, PHM is an independent supplied by C&S. Does the logo look familiar? Yes, this is under the same owners of the White Haven Market . The former A&P centennial style store has been expanded in nearly every direction to come to its current total of around 18,000 square feet. The grand aisle is on the left side of the store in one of the expansions, with bakery at the front and produce behind it. I don't know if there's an in-store bakery, but the bakery isn't set up as a service de...

Carone's ShurSave Owner: Frank Carone Opened:  1996 Cooperative:  ShurSave Location:  101 S Mountain Blvd, Mountain Top, PA Photographed:  December 22, 2018 We saw the Carone's in Freeland, PA , not too long ago, and now we're here just to the south of the Wyoming Valley to see their other location. The locations are only about ten miles apart. This one is also part of the ShurSave cooperative, and opened in 1996 in a former ACME. The store is currently about 15,000 square feet, appearing to take up the ACME space and a roughly 3000 square foot space next door, although it's not clear whether Carone's or ACME was responsible for the expansion. Although the facade has had some cosmetic work done, it's still clearly the ACME Super Saver awning. The store is part of a small strip mall in what amounts to the main business district in Mountain Top, which also has a Weis just to the south. As we'll see, this store has been more recently updated than Freeland and...