Original Grocery Tenant: Village ShopRite
Address: 51 N 3rd St, Stroudsburg, PA
Photographed: November 29, 2019
I grew up largely shopping at ShopRites owned by Village Super Market, whose stores we've seen around the Union, Essex, and Morris county areas of New Jersey, so coming to visit a store that looks and feels a lot like what I was used to growing up -- but all the way out here in Stroudsburg -- was a little strange, but pleasantly nostalgic.
This ShopRite opened in the 1960s and, I believe, was owned by Village Super Market for its whole life. It was expanded out to around 47,000 square feet, with its latest renovation happening probably around 2000, and closed in 2019 when it was replaced by a store just outside of town constructed in a former Bon-Ton in the Stroud Mall.
You can see a former department store at the back of this strip mall, too.
Looking in through the windows here had the same feeling as Morris Plains, mostly because these stores were not that different. This store did have a different decor package, which we'll see some glimpses of shortly, but similar styles overall. Here's the entrance on the right side of the store.
And the exit, looking at the registers. I was here right after the store closed and the new one opened, so nearly everything was still inside.
I estimate that the store was last renovated around 2000 because of the decor we can see inside here. It's somewhere between the decor of Elizabeth (prior to the renovation) and Bernardsville, as an example. Note the checkerboard pattern and lettering which looks like Elizabeth, but the colors are different. So either it was a transitional decor package between Elizabeth (opened 1991) and Bernardsville (renovated around 2005), or it was the decor package of Elizabeth that was painted around 2005-2010 to resemble the newer decor package. (See Millburn, where the 1970s decor package was painted and lightly freshened up around that time.)
The checkout lane markers, visible here, are consistent with the 2005-era decor package.
I'm not entirely sure what has become of this space, since I had heard of a few different redevelopment ideas but I haven't seen anything concrete yet, and I haven't been back myself. The last I heard, the space was still vacant.
Address: 51 N 3rd St, Stroudsburg, PA
Opened: 1960s
Closed: 2019
Later Tenants: vacantPhotographed: November 29, 2019
We'll see the new ShopRite in a few days, but first, we have to pass by two other grocery stores to get there. See all three on The Market Report the next few days!
This ShopRite did not open in the 1960s. Instead, an A&P Centennial supermarket opened on this site on June 23, 1964 as a replacement for two smaller A&Ps, one of which was in Stroudsburg and the other of which was in East Stroudsburg. (There is a great photo of the Centennial A&P in the 6/20/64 edition of The Pocono Record, which was known as The Daily Record back in 1964.) Sadly, the store was destroyed by fire early in the morning on May 5, 1977. I was surprised that A&P chose not to subsequently build a larger supermarket on the site, since there was clearly room for one. For whatever reason, that did not happen, and this ShopRite opened by 1981.
ReplyDeleteThese are some great photos which you uploaded. I agree that this ShopRite is a bit reminiscent of the former Morris Plains location. The ShopRite signage (specifically the font used for the word "ShopRite") seems to be virtually identical to the signage the Morris Plains store had, although I do not believe the Morris Plains store ever sported the 2002-present ShopRite circular logo. And of course, both stores were replaced by gigantic, state-of-the-art supermarkets.
I am replying to my own post because there is something interesting I noticed in the last photo you uploaded in your blog post about the current Stroudsburg ShopRite. If you magnify the image and look at a particular portion of the photo, you will see that the words "ShopRite of STROUDSBURG Est. 1980" are painted on one of the walls. Though the appearance of such a statement does not necessarily mean it is true, I think there is a high likelihood that 1980 was the year the older store opened, especially when combined with these other bits of data:
Delete*A 12/3/78 ShopRite ad in the Hartford (CT) Courant listed all of the chain's locations, and the Stroudsburg store was not listed.
*A post-wedding announcement appearing in the 1/8/81 edition of The Morning Press (a Bloomsburg, PA newspaper) mentioned that the bride was working at the Stroudsburg ShopRite (at the time).
*The 1981 historic aerial view shows cars in the parking lot, thus indicating that the ShopRite was open when the photo was taken.
Great history, thanks so much for sharing and setting the record straight!
DeleteI remember visiting this store once in the mid-90s. We were staying for a week at my aunt and uncle's house in the Poconos while they were away and my mom did not care for the local Mr. Z's, so it was an hour trip to ShopRite. I recall it had an interior reminiscent of an A&P Futurestore. I also remember that cashiers had to ring a bell every time someone paid by check.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the history you remember here!
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