Weis Markets
Opened: 1954
Previous Tenants: none
Location: 135-147 Market St, Sunbury, PA
Photographed: August 15, 2022
Welcome to our first store in the North Central Pennsylvania area! When I was driving from Harrisburg to near Williamsport last summer, I knew I had to make a stop in Sunbury to check out this store! At 13,000 square feet, this is the smallest Weis out there and also the oldest operating one, I believe, having opened in 1954. Weis later opened a much larger, newer store at
1100 N 4th St to the north of the downtown area. But right in downtown Sunbury, Weis operates this wonderful classic store complete with its original neon Weis Markets sign!
Weis also calls Sunbury home, as Sunbury is the location of the first Weis back in 1912, and the company's corporate headquarters and manufacturing/distribution facilities are also located in town.
And that, I assume, is why Weis has maintained this little store in such pristine condition all these years.
We're headed inside to check out the nicely-updated but very very small interior, but first, the outside is in beautiful shape. The huge windows look great, the neon sign is in excellent shape, and the stonework around the tower and storefront is beautiful.
Here's a look at the main entrance/exit area. The door on the left side of the storefront, seen above, is now (I believe) just an emergency exit. Three registers and customer service desk! And we can also see what I assume is the original terrazzo floor inside.
We enter by going around the customer service desk to produce in the first aisle. Frozen foods take up the rest of the first aisle, with deli and meat on the back wall. Dairy and ice cream are in the last aisle on the left side. Seven aisles in total, and a little HABA alcove in the front left corner.
As we can see, the interior has been updated very nicely with the fresh market-era decor, and with the exception of a few burnt-out lights here and there maintenance is perfect inside too, a nice treat for this old store.
How many other big-chain supermarkets maintain their 1950s-era store in their hometown with the beautiful original exterior and a great updated interior?
Deli and meat on the back wall of the store. It's very much the full Weis setup, just scaled way down.
I would also suspect that the ceiling is original, like the floor. There's no drop ceiling, it's just a flat plaster ceiling. That's something that wasn't uncommon in 1950s supermarkets, but was of course replaced later with the more common drop ceiling setup.
Does anybody know what decor packages this store would've had previously? I wonder if it got all of the renovations throughout Weis's history, or if this was the big revitalization for the store.
As we see, it's a very small store and I don't believe the footprint has changed since it opened. It's small, but it feels large enough, especially since there's the larger store outside of town. I don't think either of these stores have gotten Weis's latest decor package yet.
Notice the promotion for Valu Time, one of several Topco-related storebrands Weis sells. Weis also uses their own name on a lot of products, including their own organic line and the Weis Simply Great brand for household items (like cleaning products).
The small HABA department in the front corner has a nice large set of windows bringing in a lot of light.
Here's one more look up the last aisle.
I think one of the store's best features is the huge windows across the front, along with the few additional windows on the right side. They all let in a lot of light, making it feel a lot more open and airy than it would otherwise.
And don't forget to notice the stone tower on the side of the front-end. Looking good on the inside too! Don't forget that Sunbury is just about 25 miles north of
Millersburg, along the Susquehanna River. We're going to cross the river to the north, in the Y where the Susquehanna River intersects its West Branch, which turns west, for a store in Northumberland on
The Independent Edition tomorrow!
There was once a site called the Weis Project that had lots of information on the chain. I don't think it exists anymore, but maybe can be found in the archives somehow?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I remember from that site was that they had several versions of their logos on the store.
The original one as you mention, a second version in that sign atop the tower, and at one point they had cloud logos that they used to use on their store branded items by/over the doors (which look to be gone now?).
I also remember it saying that they sort of used this store as a museum, which seems less so with the newer redone interior (though the outside still is to some degree).
Here's the archived Weis Project site you mention: https://web.archive.org/web/20060511212148/http://www.weisproject.com/store_detail.php?store=21
DeleteUnfortunately, they don't have any pictures of the interior, though they describe it as "a pink motif complete with semi-circular treatments on the walls and hanging from the ceilings". The post is from 2003, so I don't know how much longer they kept whatever that decor was. They did have some exterior pictures which show the old logos.
Thanks for finding that.
DeleteDidn't remember exactly what was on the posting, but at least it does show the cloud logos on the front windows, and give some information about what it did look like (which sounds like it could have been there for quite some time by 2003, as that pink color palette was likely quite some time earlier - in fact I remember reading about such a color scheme for the original Food Town, now Food Lion which was also in the 1950's, so it may not have been updated at all prior to the current design).
Thanks for all these details and the links to the Weis Project!
DeleteIt is absolutely amazing that a store like this would still be in operation in 2023. Much kudos to Weis for keeping this store open and for doing a great job giving the store its second-most recent decor package.
DeleteThe exact opening date of this Weis location was October 5, 1954. While I could not find any photos of the supermarket from 1954, there was an artist's rendering of the store in a Weis advertisement in the Sunbury Daily Item newspaper. Going by that artist's rendering, the only change to the store's exterior since opening day was the Weis signage atop the tower. I honestly thought the stonework on portions of the building's exterior was a more recent addition (in an attempt to alter/modernize the exterior facade) and was amazed to learn that it was there from day one.
If I were to venture a guess, there probably is an even older supermarket still in operation that is part of a large chain. Yet any such stores may have been expanded and/or had their original exteriors altered beyond recognition. Thus, I sincerely wonder if this particular Weis is the oldest supermarket still in operation that meets all of the following criteria: (1) is part of a large chain, (2) has never been expanded, and (3) has a virtually unaltered exterior (compared to how it looked on day one). Any insights that anybody could provide would be much appreciated.
Interestingly, this Weis is older than the oldest A&P that was in operation at the time of that company's liquidation. That is because I am quite certain the oldest operating A&P in 2015 was the Little Silver, NJ supermarket, which opened on November 14, 1956. As many here know, the Little Silver A&P opened as a barrel roof store, having been built just before the first Centennials opened. (As far as I am aware, the first Centennials opened in 1957.) Of course, the Little Silver A&P was expanded and had a Centennial front that covered up the store's original exterior facade. That expansion and exterior alteration took place circa 1971 (at the tail end of the Centennial Era).
Thanks for your thoughts here! I really have no idea on the history of other older chain stores, but this is definitely up there I would say.
Delete