The Market Report

Ideal Food Basket Owner: Juan Diaz Opened:  April 28, 2023 Previous Tenants:  Food Fair (closed 1979) > Food Lane (1979-2001) > Ahart's Market (2001-2021) Cooperative:  America's Food Basket Location:  410 Montclair Ave, South Side, Bethlehem, PA Photographed:  April 10, 2023 Contributor:  Lucas Finzi The Ideal Food Basket in the former Bethlehem Ahart's opened yesterday. Our friend Lucas was on-site a few weeks ago to check out the store in its final phases of preparation right before it opened, and we see that Ideal did a major renovation on the place, inside and out. While I haven't gotten to the store since my recent coverage, I'm hoping to check it out this summer. In the meantime, you can see a few pictures from WFMZ from Allentown, and Lucas might be able to return to get some interior photos before I can! As you can see, the entire property has been transformed, and if you look at the WFMZ pictures, you can see absolutely nothing is left o...

Original Grocery Tenant: Kinsley's Market Address: 1471 US-209, Brodheadsville, PA Opened:  1990s Closed:  1998 Later Tenants:  Kinsley's ShopRite (1998-2012) Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Kinsley's Market was a longtime supermarket in the small town of Broadheadsville, PA (population 1700), dating back to the 1950s around the area. Check out this history from the Pocono Record. By the 1990s, this 50,000 square foot barn-themed market was constructed, joining the Wakefern co-op in 1998 and becoming a ShopRite. The store closed in 2012 when a massive 95,000 square foot store was constructed just around the corner from this one. Here's a look at the store before it closed. Josh says there the store became a ShopRite in 2001, but Wakefern itself says that the store joined in 1998. These days the store is an outdoors/sports supply store. A 70,000 square foot Weis is also directly across the street from this store, a relatively new construction having opened as a ...

Weis Markets Opened: 2009 Previous Tenants:  Insalaco's (1994-1996) > Bi-Lo (1996-1999) > Mr. Z's (2000-2009) Location:  2836 PA-611, Tannersville, PA Photographed:  January 15, 2021 Tannersville is a small town, but it does have a large supermarket -- this Weis, which has been expanded to around 63,000 square feet, from an original 45,000 square foot or so store which opened in 1994 as an Insalaco's, later Bi-Lo and then Mr. Z's, which along with all of the other Mr. Z's was ultimately converted to Weis in 2009. More recently, the outside has been remodeled, but used to look much more like the 90s Insalaco's. The interior was renovated with a simple and early of the Fresh Market decor, likely when the store was switched from Mr. Z's to Weis. We can tell the store is older, partially by the low ceiling and the older fixtures, but it's been fixed up a bit. Although it is definitely an older Weis, it's in very good shape and looks clean and bri...

GIANT Food Stores Opened: 2009 Previous Tenants:  none Location:  65 PA-611, Bartonsville, PA Photographed:  January 15, 2021 It's time for another GIANT! This is a relatively newly-renovated store and I must say, in my opinion one of the more attractive stores with this decor package. As we'll see, this is a more deluxe remodel than Hellertown received, but to me this decor package is still too boring. The layout is fairly standard, beginning with the beer & wine department in the front right corner of the store. Produce is in the first aisle with deli/prepared foods at the back of the produce department. Meat and seafood are on the back wall with dairy/frozen at the far left side and bakery in the front left corner. I would say the backlit signs really work, but we need something more. The decor is far too monochromatic around the store. Especially since this store's renovation involved basically painting what was already there, it looks sloppy in departments that...