Gerrity's ShurSave
Owner: Joyce Fasula
Gerrity's moved into this 55,000 square foot former Kmart around 2002 from a neighboring former ACME, and around 20 years later, the store was converted from ShurSave to Wakefern's The Fresh Grocer banner. I visited while it was still a ShurSave, and I believe there have been some changes since then. But Gerrity's still owns the store, and the company is still run by "Mom," or Joyce Fasula. Her son Joe Fasula mostly runs the company these days, though.
I believe this is the largest Gerrity's. I don't know how it has changed since becoming The Fresh Grocer, although in a Google Street View we can see a Fresh Grocer banner up and a ShopRite promotional truck outside.
We enter to the grand aisle, which starts with a cafe and bakery at the front. I'm having some trouble remembering the exact layout, but the grand aisle has bakery, deli, and prepared foods on one side and produce on the other. Meat and seafood are on the back wall, with dairy/frozen on the far right side of the store. This is also one of only two Gerrity's that have pharmacies.
The grand aisle is very attractive, and we'll get very used to this decor package as we travel through the Wyoming Valley and see a bunch of Gerrity's that all look the same. This is the largest, though.
Aunt Mary also gets a shout-out in the prepared foods department, or Aunt Mary's Kitchen.
It's a nice deli department, by the way.
I like this decor, but I think it looks a little on the outdated side (even though it's intended to look a little bit old-fashioned). Newer decor looks a bit more modern, and much more Wakefern-inspired.
The first aisle has a massive bulk candy department, something I don't see in a lot of supermarkets. Nice!
The aisles are all named after local roads, which is a nice touch as Gerrity's tries to emphasize the fact that they're local while competing with Weis, GIANT, and Price Chopper/Market 32 in the Wyoming Valley. The latter has a surprisingly large presence here, although they don't have a whole lot of other Pennsylvania stores.
At the time I visited, the store was a ShurSave member using Best Yet and Full Circle storebrands from C&S. Gerrity's now uses Wakefern's Bowl & Basket, Paperbird, and Wholesome Pantry brands.
To be honest, I really don't remember the layout of the service departments too well. I'm guessing seafood is back by the grand aisle and butcher is next to it?
And it looks like this below is on the back wall. In my defense, I was in this store for a total of eight minutes five years ago.
On the right side of the store, we transition to frozen and dairy in the back corner which may be set up differently to accommodate a backroom space in the back right corner of the store.
The dairy department runs around the outside of this section, with frozen foods in the middle. This decor also looks different from what's in the grand aisle, and possibly older. Maybe it's just a result of the colder white color scheme rather than the warmer beige that's all over the grand aisle.
It's possible some fixtures, like those freezer cases on the right that look older than 2002, may have come with Gerrity's from the older store next door. Or they could have come in secondhand from elsewhere.
As we return to the main supermarket section, we pass the pharmacy and baby items alcove on the front wall.
Here's a look across the HABA department to the pharmacy, branded Gerrity's Corner Drug Store. The Price Cut Savings sign is a ShurSave promotional sign.
And the baby department is up next on the front wall. You can see the checkouts beginning just to the right of it.
And a look across the front-end, which appeared to be fairly busy when I visited.
My impression is that Gerrity's does a good business, and they're probably a strategic addition for Wakefern which has otherwise struggled to return to the Wyoming Valley, where they once had a significant if small presence.
Owner: Joyce Fasula
Opened: ca. 2002 - 2022
Previous Tenants: Grant City > Kmart
Later Tenants: Gerrity's The Fresh Grocer (2022- )
Cooperative: ShurSave
Location: 2280 Sans Souci Pkwy, Hanover, PA
Photographed: December 22, 2018
That's all for this Gerrity's, although we'll see plenty more as we stick around this area for a few weeks. Tomorrow we're headed about two and a half miles northeast to the town of Plymouth for a former supermarket on Grocery Archaeology!
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