Grocery Archaeology

Original Grocery Tenant: Kunec's Market Address: 302 Maffett St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Opened:  by 1946 Closed:  by 2017 Later Tenants:  vacant Photographed:  December 22, 2018 At the corner of Maffett and Hollenback Streets in northern Wilkes-Barre sits this 1800 square foot store. Unfortunately, Kunec's Market closed by 2017 after more than 70 years in business. The store was open by 1946. I think by the end, Kunec's was mostly a deli and butcher shop, but it appears it was once more of a full grocery store. The store closed by 2017 but then in 2018 was condemned. Despite that, by 2022, it was still standing but further deteriorated. It's possible that the apparently hand-painted Kunec's Market signage was original to the store's opening, if likely restored later. Like Harry's , I wish I could've gotten to this store when it was still open, but I'm glad I got there soon after it closed. All I can do is keep visiting grocery stores, especially interes...

Original Grocery Tenant: Big V ShopRite Address: 675 Kidder St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Opened:  1990s Closed:  2001 Later Tenants:  vacant, half now Ollie's Bargain Outlet Photographed:  December 22, 2018 I mentioned on one of our recent Gerrity's posts that Wakefern used to have a presence in the Wyoming Valley, actually as early as 1981 (not sure if they were here before that). I believe most of that presence was driven by member Big V, which also had a large presence in the Hudson Valley of New York. For a quick recap, they attempted to leave Wakefern around 2000, trying to simultaneously convince Wakefern they were going off on their own to avoid paying the penalty to leave while also having very public negotiations with Stop & Shop to sell the chain to them. Wakefern rejected their argument, required they pay the penalty to leave the coop, and that bankrupted Big V. Wakefern bought back most of Big V's assets (one store went to Stop & Shop), but some store...

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P Address: 500 Scott St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Opened:  by 1962 Closed:  1970s Later Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Today's snapshot is a not-particularly-good picture of a former A&P to the east of downtown Wilkes-Barre. The 12,000 square foot store was built between 1959 and 1962, making it one of the earlier centennials. It was definitely closed by 1985 but most likely by the previous decade. Here's a better look at the store. Interestingly, a little grocer called La Isla Fresh Market has opened in a tiny sliver of the old A&P (or actually maybe in what used to be a bank next to the A&P?). But tomorrow we have a much more in-depth look at a larger former supermarket very close to this store right here on Grocery Archaeology!

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 ...

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...

Original Grocery Tenant: ACME Markets Address: 501 W Main St, Plymouth, PA Opened:  1967 Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Family Dollar Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Today's snapshot is a quick look at the former ACME in Plymouth, PA! The 11,000 square foot store is now mostly occupied by a Family Dollar, and was built in 1967. It had closed by 1990 but I'm not sure of the exact year. As was frequently the case, ACME was located directly across the street from an A&P that was built probably slightly before the ACME was. That store is still a supermarket, and we're going to be touring it Monday on The Independent Edition !

Original Grocery Tenant: ACME Markets Address: 2456 Sans Souci Pkwy, Nanticoke, PA Opened:  1959 Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Gerrity's ShurSave > Tractor Supply Co. Photographed:  December 22, 2018 ACME used to have a very significant presence in the Wyoming Valley, but was out of the area by 1995 when the remaining stores were sold to Penn Traffic (except for one, I think -- didn't Edwardsville stay open for a while longer? I could be wrong but I seem to remember that being the case). Anyway, this store is around 30,000 square feet and was replaced by a Gerrity's ShurSave when it closed. That store later moved next door to the former Kmart in Hanover around 2002. Acme Style has posted on Flickr some beautiful old pictures of this store when it had the script logo, when it opened , and a later picture with the updated logo . There was also another ACME in Nanticoke , which was a pitched-roof store (see here for more). We'll be taking a look at the Gerrity...

    We're now back in the northeastern corner of the state of Pennsylvania, for the southern part of the Wyoming Valley! The valley roughly stretches 30 miles southwest to northeast, with Wilkes-Barre in the southwestern part of the valley and Scranton in the northeastern corner. We're going to look at the area around Wilkes-Barre first, starting in Mountain Top (which, yes as you can assume, is not actually  in  the valley) and then through Nanticoke, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre itself, Luzerne, Plains, Pittston, and Duryea. GIANT and Weis are the two big chains present in this area, although regional favorite Gerrity's is present too, as well as quite a few independents and former supermarkets that we'll be checking out! Tomorrow is our first store in Mountain Top on  The Independent Edition !