TOUR: Gerrity's ShurSave - Moosic, PA

Gerrity's ShurSave

Owner: Joyce Fasula

Opened: before 1998 - 2022

Previous Tenants: Giant Market (1961-ca. 1970) > Warehouse Foods (opened 1973) > Bargains Galore (1980-after 1984)

Later Tenants: Gerrity's The Fresh Grocer (2022- )

Cooperative: ShurSave

Location: 4015 Birney Ave, Moosic, PA

Photographed: August 12, 2020

Welcome to Moosic, our first town in the Scranton area in the northern part of the Wyoming Valley (or, as I defined it the other day, to the northeast of interstate 476)! These days, the store is a Gerrity's Fresh Grocer, and was previously a Gerrity's ShurSave from the 1990s to 2022 when the store was converted. Prior to Gerrity's the store was a Giant Market, later Warehouse Foods and then a Bargains Galore discount supermarket, with other locations at 1101 Moosic St in Scranton (now a CVS), where the Luzerne Gerrity's is now, somewhere in the Narrows Shopping Center in Edwardsville, and somewhere around 41-53 Spring St in Wilkes-Barre.

The store is around 40,000 square feet, and feels on the smaller side, possibly because it appears to have been expanded a few times. We enter to a beautiful if a bit cramped grand aisle, with bakery and produce on the left side, and prepared foods/deli and seafood on the right side.

As we can tell, this is much more updated decor than the West Pittston location had when I visited.

Until very recently, there were no other supermarkets in the immediate area. In around 2018-19, a ShopRite owner from the Poconos, Bill's Supermarkets, announced they were taking over a vacant Kmart down the street from this store. Interestingly enough, Bill's was previously a ShurSave owner and joined Wakefern around 2005. Gerrity's was a ShurSave owner that joined Wakefern in 2022, although possibly because their stores tend to be smaller, they are The Fresh Grocer instead of ShopRite.

I don't know how that ShopRite has affected this store's business, nor do I know what the internal politics of Wakefern are like when these two stores, competing and with different owners, are so close to each other (but one was announced before the other joined Wakefern). Anyway, I really like this store's interior and I think the decor package looks great here.

A small but attractive seafood department at the back of the grand aisle. The meat department and cold cuts continue along the back wall...

It feels like this store was renovated not too long before I visited, at least cosmetically. Everything looks very new and shiny. It's possible, too, that they renovated in anticipation of the ShopRite opening.

In aisle 1, we find a double-wide aisle with international foods in the middle, I believe. It's a nice touch, and the front half is beer and wine...

There's also a cafe with refrigerated beer at the front of the store on the front wall. I assume this was all installed in the recent renovation.

I'm not sure if the outside of this location has been redone yet, or if it will be. As of May, there was just a Fresh Grocer banner next to the Gerrity's sign.

For better or for worse, this store is around half the size of the ShopRite (which is about 78,000 square feet). Hard to say if that's an advantage or a disadvantage, although it might be both to different target customers. I wouldn't be surprised if Gerrity's doesn't last too long here, now that the ShopRite is open so nearby (and that they are Wakefern, so there's not necessarily a reason to shop Gerrity's over ShopRite since the product mix is mostly the same).

Frozen foods are in the last aisle, with cards and seasonal items between frozen and the front-end.

And interestingly enough, the dairy department is in the second-to-last aisle as we see here. I love this flooring!

Here we can see that this store is definitely on the newer side of the Gerrity's we've visited so far, at least as far as renovation goes.

And a look across the front-end before we move on...

We'll be heading down the street to near where the ShopRite is, but not there just yet. Check out a former supermarket right next to that tomorrow on Grocery Archaeology!