Pittsburgh, PA is a large city but has surprisingly few supermarkets. The Oakland neighborhood (where I stayed on a recent trip to Pittsburgh), for instance, has a bustling main street --
Forbes Ave -- with plenty of shopping but no grocery stores! Of course, the Market on Forbes IGA opened in 2008 but
closed very recently in April 2017. The sign is intact, though, and I remember seeing it in business on a prior trip to Pittsburgh although I didn't go in.
I believe that the supermarket was actually on the second floor of this building.
It's a cool building and I like the way the IGA logo fits into the arch of the facade.
This is a pretty good head-on shot from sunset time.
After an (unexpectedly) long walking tour of Pittsburgh, I can say that much of the city must be food deserts. There are large, obviously lower-income, neighborhoods with only corner bodegas and convenience stores for food shopping. I wonder if there's any market for some of our small urban stores like Key Food or C-Town out there.
That part of town, on Forbes Av, had an A&P years ago a few blocks away from this former IGA. Pgh is a Giant Eagle town, and those folks in this area drive or ride the bus across the river five miles away to a Giant Eagle on Wharton Av on the South Side
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I was surprised how few stores I encountered around the city but I'm also coming from the NYC metro area where there are chain supermarkets in much smaller locations, like this IGA, in all of the urban areas. Poking around the city on Google Maps, I was also surprised to see the newly built Shop n Save that closed pretty quickly at Centre and Dinwiddie. I guess there isn't much room for more stores, despite the fact that there aren't too many.
DeleteThat Shop N Save location has had a troubled history. The following article is an update
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wtae.com/article/giant-eagle-ceo-answers-question-about-hill-district/32873491#
I really appreciate your interest in the Pittsburgh market food desert situation. The suburbs have much more competition with Aldi, Walmart and Whole Foods in the mix. There are also plenty of Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree locations in the area. Many small communities under 10,000 population have all three in one locale.
Again Giant Eagle and their Market District locations are prominent in the townships and large strip centers surrounding the city there as well.
Thanks for sharing the link. Makes sense, and I know what you mean about the city being loyal to Giant Eagle because it's kind of the hometown store. I think about ACME in Philadelphia or Price Chopper in Schenectady, NY as similar examples. I'll keep my eye on that location to see if Giant Eagle does end up taking it!
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