TOUR: Peck's Market - Eldred, NY

Peck's Market

Owner: Lee Reimer

Opened: unknown

Cooperative: IGA
Location: 9 Proctor Rd, Eldred, NY

Photographed: February 3, 2021

Eldred, New York is probably not a town you've ever heard of. We're around 16 miles northwest of Port Jervis, 42 miles east of Scranton, and 43 miles west of Newburgh. And in this region, there are very few large towns, and very, very few supermarkets. Several of the supermarkets in this area, though, are part of the Peck's Market chain, which is affiliated with IGA.

I don't have much information on the history of the roughly 14,000 square foot building, but it was built before 1966 and expanded to its present size between 1995 and 2004 -- much later than I thought. Now here's where the history gets interesting. The original building was just 6,000 square feet, and only on the right side of the building (the expansion was out the left side, if we look at my exterior picture). That tiny space has a facade that strongly resembles an A&P centennial facade -- especially when it used to be exposed brick and especially when you can see the remnants of an overhang across the whole facade! That means, my friends, that we have just discovered what I believe to be the smallest known A&P centennial. Even the tiny Ravena store, up the Hudson near Albany, was 9,000 square feet. This is very exciting for me.

But let's check out what's going on at this store today! We enter in the middle of the storefront and turn right to enter produce in the front right corner. Dairy takes up the rest of the first aisle with meat on the back wall and deli in the back-left corner. Frozen foods line the last aisle (there are 8 total). It's not hard to tell where the original store ended -- check out the wall still visible below. That said, the expansion was well-hidden with what seems to have been a pretty extensive renovation around the late 90s.

This store these days is very clean and well-stocked, and has a pretty solid selection for a store that remains very small.

There are four Peck's Markets in this area, along with a fifth in a former Grand Union around 75 miles to the east (across the Hudson, near NY's border with MA and CT) -- which doesn't seem to be affiliated with the four near the PA border. Another store was located in Narrowsburg, NY, a little over ten miles northwest of here as the crow flies. That one was sold in 2012.

This store is supplied by Bozzuto's in Cheshire, CT, and uses IGA, LifeGoods/Life Every Day, and Seven Farms storebrand products.

Here's a look at the deli in the back and the bakery, which is mostly the self-serve bins for rolls, bread, and bagels on the right. Notice that there are also breads on the back shelving.

The store feels dated, but not neglected. It's all cosmetic things.

The frozen food department is in the last aisle, and takes us into an alcove in the front corner with soda...

Here's where the store's front wall originally was. The produce department, registers, and soda alcove are in an expansion out the front. If you go back to the first picture, you can see that very clearly.

That's about all for this Peck's, but we'll be seeing a few of the others too! First, we're headed to Narrowsburg to check out what used to be the Peck's there. That'll be tomorrow, right here on The Independent Edition!