The Market Report

8th Street Food Market Owner: Ramon Evangelista Opened:  1999 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  247 N 8th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We've seen several historically preserved small corner grocers lacking a lot of updates, but the 8th Street Food Market -- at just 2000 square feet -- has in fact gotten some pretty substantial renovation and, despite the size, actually has a full butcher, deli, and hot food bar inside with a table or two to sit and eat at. This store looks a little different from the other ones we've seen here in Allentown, with a hefty if tiny grocery department, and a full dairy case rather than just a gallon or two of milk. Not to mention that this store is supplied by Krasdale Foods, rather than just a collection of itesm from random wholesalers and wholesale clubs like BJ's. In the back of the store, which I couldn't photograph because there were too many people, was the butcher, deli, and hot food bar, pl...

Stop N Shop Food Market Owner: Wagby Ibrahim Opened:  2001 Cooperative:  none Location:  302 N 14th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Stop & Shop? No, this Stop N Shop Food Market appears to be a longtime fixture in northwestern Center City Allentown. It's located in one of the historic residential/commercial low-rise buildings of this neighborhood and looks like it doesn't quite reach 1000 square feet. There are two aisles in the front, one with grocery items and one with beverages, dairy, and a small deli. There's another little alcove in the back, if I'm not mistaken, for nonfood products. I love tiny stores like this because they're a well-preserved snapshot of what grocery shopping was like a century ago, or maybe not quite that long but regardless. But some of these longtime grocery stores have been more updated than others. Tomorrow's store, which is right near the center of the city, has gotten a big renovation recently. ...

Turner Street Market & Deli Owner: unknown Opened:  ca. 2015 Cooperative:  none Location:  1401 W Turner St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Another little grocery store here in Allentown is the Turner Street Market & Deli. This is an interesting one because the 2800 square foot store appears to be a combination of two existing storefronts with a wall down the middle (visible in the picture below, which is only half of the store). One side has the deli and cases for things like beverages and dairy, and then the other side feels a bit more like a dollar store with some simple groceries and home goods/nonfoods. Up until around 2015, this store was the Dayoub Brothers Market. It's not unlike Monday's store, which is located just three blocks north. Come back on Monday to check it out!

Hersh's Super Market Owner: unknown Opened:  1959 under previous ownership, 2008 or later under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  129 S 17th St, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Today is our first of several small independent grocers in the Lehigh Valley. These stores might only be a few aisles and many of them are just little corner stores, but many of them have also been operating as grocers for several generations. This grocery store was bought by the Hersh family in 1959, then sold to Elizabeth and Rob Price in 2008. It may or may not have been sold again, I can't tell. The 3400 square foot store is about four aisles with a small deli in the back but still is more of a grocer than a convenience store. As we can see below, there's more staples than just snacks and grab-and-go beverages. Hersh's also had a store at the corner of N 19th and W Whitehall Streets in Allentown, which itself may have moved from what looks like a small storefr...

Price Rite Marketplace of Allentown Opened: 2001 Previous Tenants:  ACME Markets (1968-2000) Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  1720 S 4th St, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Our first Lehigh Valley store tour is here at the Price Rite of Allentown! We're about a mile and a half outside of downtown Allentown (or, as it's called in eastern Pennsylvania, center city rather than downtown). The 35,000 square foot store was built as an ACME in the late 1960s, and used to more strongly look like an ACME than it does now. ACME closed in 2000, and the store reopened in 2001 as one of the earliest Price Rite locations. Price Rite is the limited-assortment discount store end of Wakefern (ShopRite). Most recently, this store has gotten the latest decor package around 2020. Inside, Price Rite seems to have stripped most of the ACME attributes out, although there may be some remnants left. I'm not sure how ACME would've had the back wall area set up, but ...

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P Address: 1841 S 4th St, Allentown, PA Opened:  1956 Closed:  1982 Later Tenants:  Hersh's IGA (1982-1990) > subdivided Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Just around the corner from yesterday's Superfood is this former A&P. It was constructed in the 1960s as an A&P centennial, then closed in 1982 when it was sold to Hersh's IGA. In 1990, Hersh's merged with Traub's IGA which was in what is now the Superfood, and closed this location. Traub's later sold to Valley Farm Market and then they sold to Superfood. Here's my source on that history. Don't forget the name Hersh's, by the way, we'll be seeing more of them as we pass through Allentown. A&P and ACME were direct competitors for a very long time and this location was no different, with a former ACME just up the street. That one, however, is still a supermarket, and we're going to check it out tomorrow on The Market Report !

Superfood Fresh Supermarket Owner: unknown Opened:  2018 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  704 W Emmaus Ave, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We're here at the Superfood Fresh Supermarket in Allentown -- one of two that started as Superfood Marketplace stores, then appear to have been sold to the owners of Twin City and other supermarkets, and rebranded Superfood Fresh. When we were here last, it was a Superfood Marketplace . Not much has changed, but I wanted to get a few updated interior pictures nonetheless. As we can see, maintenance at this store has been excellent. It's extremely clean and well-stocked. And even with the high ceiling, no lights were burnt out. Speaking of that, here's a few better and newer pictures of the high pitched-roof ceiling. And a picture of the mural on the front wall, which still has the poorly-added Superfood Marketplace logo over what used to say Valley Farm Market. Worth mentioning that the other remaining ...

Original Grocery Tenant: Food Fair Address: 1501 Lehigh St, Allentown, PA Opened:  1959 Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants Photographed:  January 8, 2021 You can spot this former Food Fair a mile away with its still-intact tower! The 19,000 square foot building was originally the Food Fair of the Parkway Shopping Center, closing by the 1970s. The mall later had a different supermarket tenant , but the store was short-lived and the mall is now without any supermarket anchor -- or any anchor, really, for such a large strip mall. A Redner's and a GIANT remain in the area, along with an independent around a mile east where we're headed on Monday on The Independent Edition !

Original Grocery Tenant: Shop Fair Supermarket Address: 1587 Lehigh St, Allentown, PA Opened:  unknown Closed:  by 2008 Later Tenants:  NSA Supermarkets (ca. 2008-ca. 2012) Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Our next two days of posts are in the same strip mall! The Parkway Shopping Center here in Allentown was once home to a Food Fair, which we'll be checking out tomorrow, but more recently had the Shop Fair Supermarket (no relation to the current chain ) later replaced by the Food Saver Market, affiliated at the time with NSA Supermarkets. NSA was the precursor to what today is America's Food Basket, and their banner Ideal Food Basket is preparing to open a store over in Bethlehem. This 22,000 square foot space is now a medical facility. Tomorrow we're headed to the other end of the mall for a look at its original supermarket anchor!