Original Grocery Tenant: ACME Markets Address: 400 S Main St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Opened: 1966 Closed: 1995 Later Tenants: Insalaco's (1995-1999) > BiLo (1999-after 2003) Photographed: December 22, 2018 Happy October! ACME had a presence in Wilkes-Barre going back at least as far as 1937 when they opened a store at 693-695 Hazle Street, now a parking lot for a neighboring funeral home. But in 1966, ACME constructed a 19,000 square foot pitched-roof store as part of a new mall on Main Street, later expanding that store to around 27,000 square feet. It became a Super Saver in the 1970s, then back to ACME, then Insalaco's in 1995 when Penn Traffic acquired ACME's northeastern PA stores, then BiLo in 1999 before closing at some point between 2003 and 2008. Following BiLo's closure, Volunteers of America moved in and turned the space into a thrift store. I visited the store in 2018 when Volunteers of America was still there. The thrift store closed in May 2020, and has
Original Grocery Tenant: Harry's Market Address: 645 Hazle St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Opened: 1945 Closed: 2018 Later Tenants: vacant Photographed: December 22, 2018 Harry's Market was in business in Wilkes-Barre's southwestern area for 73 years, having opened in 1945 and finally closing in 2018 -- just days before I visited the store, unfortunately. A local TV station has a piece on the store's closure , which I would recommend taking a look at. The former owner had, at the time, gone over to the Gerrity's in West Pittston, about eight miles to the north. We'll be touring that store soon enough. But for now, we can take a look inside the wonderful classic grocery store/butcher shop interior of the 2200 square foot store... I so wish I was able to check out the store before it closed, but this isn't bad either, that I got to see it very shortly after closing. As far as I know, the space remains vacant. Tomorrow we're headed a bit north to check out an in