The Independent Edition

Mahatam Mini Mart Owner: Pravin Patel Opened:  1989 Cooperative:  none Location:  1002 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA Photographed:  August 14, 2022 This small grocer is only 1300 square feet, and although this particular business has been here since 1989, I'm not sure how long it's been a grocery store. Back in the late 1910s and early 1920s, it was a real estate office, but unfortunately I can't find any records between 1923 and 1989. Our trip to Harrisburg is relatively brief, and unfortunately this is the last stop in the city itself for us. But don't worry, we're going to spend a few days wandering around the suburbs too, so head over to The Market Report tomorrow to check out our first Harrisburg suburb store!

Radish & Rye Food Hub Owner: Dusty & Julia James Opened:  2018 in Broad Street Market, 2020 here Cooperative:  none Location:  1308 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA Photographed:  August 14, 2022 Today's stop is very different from yesterday's . The Radish & Rye Food Hub is a small grocery store collecting local and artisan food items along with locally grown produce. The business was previously located at the Broad Street Market, a public market diagonally across the street from this storefront, and this storefront opened shortly after the Broad Street Market location closed in the summer of 2020. This is the only store of its kind in this part of the city, but there's another small grocer about three blocks south into downtown that we'll be checking out tomorrow!

YC Sayford Supermarket Owner: Yong Kwon Opened:  2006 Cooperative:  none Location:  1307 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA Photographed:  August 14, 2022 The only supermarket or large grocery store in midtown Harrisburg is the YC Sayford Supermarket at N 3rd St and Calder St. The 6700 square foot store looks like it may have previously been more of a supermarket than it is now, as it's really more of a large bodega these days. The history of the building is a bit murky, as back in 1931 this address was a Harley-Davidson dealership. (And in 1889, there was a piano and organ dealer here, although I have to assume not in this building.) By 1946, however, there was a business called Lee's Delicatessen at 1307 N 3rd St, and I can't find any records after that. When we enter the Sayford Supermarket, we can tell it's been a grocery store for quite some time. It's seen better days, but there's still some grocery items to choose from here. The back wall of the store is covered b...

Universal Food Markets Owner: Vishnu Patel Opened:  2023 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  16-26 N Day St, City of Orange, NJ Photographed:  May 22, 2023 I reported on the removal of the CTown signage from the CTown-turned-Universal in Orange, NJ, and I have returned a few weeks later to see what, if anything, else has changed. The store appears to be getting some remodel, with flooring in the first two aisles torn up. A temporary Universal banner has been added near the street side of the store. While I'm glad to see some work going on here, this store needs a LOT of work. I'm not sure whether it'll get the full renovation it really needs or if it'll just be a quick refresh. The difference between this store and a similar one, for example the SuperFresh in Newark (also a Key Food affiliate that was previously a CTown) is shocking. This store is dirty, dingy, messy, expensive, and poorly stocked compared to that one which is very similar otherwise. It's ce...

Buckle up, we're headed to the state capital! Harrisburg and its surroundings are our next location to stop by, or about 35 miles west of Pine Grove where we saw the BG's and Berger's . It's not a particularly exhaustive look at the grocers in and around Harrisburg, but we will be seeing some very new and very old stores in the area. We're going to start by moving through the city north to south, then crossing the Susquehanna to the west to Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, and Enola, then one final stop about 16 miles north in Millersburg. (It doesn't make a lot of sense to group it with Harrisburg, but there's nowhere else I could really put it.) Once we're done here, we're back to the Coal Region, but there's a lot of fun stuff to see in this part of the state. Get ready and check out our first store on Monday on Grocery Archaeology !

Mahanoy City Food Store Owner: James Agosti Opened:  1990 under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  28 S Main St, Mahanoy City, PA Photographed:  November 29, 2019 Welcome to Mahanoy City! With a population of 3500, it's not exactly most people's idea of a city, but it's certainly not the smallest town in the area. And right near the middle of the town is the Mahanoy City Food Store, a grocer of around 5300 square feet that definitely leans more towards full grocery store than convenience store but is rather small. The outside has changed a bit in the last 30 years , but not too much. I'm not positive for just how long this store has been in business, but it's certainly an institution in Mahanoy City. On the website linked above, definitely check out the former pitched-roof ACME in Mahanoy City, too. Heading in, we see that the store is a bit like an oversized convenience store but has a pretty solid grocery selection too. Mahanoy City no longer has a f...

Berger's Market Owner: Paul Berger Opened:  1973-2021 Cooperative:  none Location:  30 Lovers Ln, Pine Grove, PA Photographed:  November 29, 2019 Welcome to Bergers Market! This supermarket is the larger of two in Pine Grove, although at just 29,000 square feet, it's not all that large. And I suppose I should stop talking about this store in the present tense -- after almost 50 years, the supermarket was sold in 2021 to Boyer's, whose stores we've seen around this area in Lansford and Tamaqua (with more in the next few days). Although this store had only been open for about 50 years, the history goes back farther than that. The Reading Eagle did an excellent piece on the store's history two years ago when it was sold. The store has also been expanded multiple times, most recently in the 1990s, which this website captured in its picture. We're going to tour the store as it was when I visited in late 2019, although I understand Boyer's has remodeled the s...