505 Pleasant St, Worcester, MA

Original Grocery Tenant: Finast
Address: 505 Pleasant St, Main Middle, Worcester, MA

Opened: bet. 1937 and 1943

Closed: bet. 1949 and 1952

Later Tenants: Economy Food Stores (opened bet. 1952 and 1957, closed 1985 and 1991)

Photographed: February 10, 2019

Happy October! In this part of the city, Park Avenue separates the more suburban Tatnuck/Newton Square/Columbus Park areas to the northwest from the more urban Main Middle and Main South neighborhoods to the southeast. Right at the corner of Pleasant and Park is this 6,000 square foot building, today housing a program of local nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation but originally built around 1940 as a Finast. By 1957, it had become Economy Food Stores, which made it all the way to the late 1980s. (I'm not clear if this was related to the earlier chain called Worcester Economy Stores.) It was also once the headquarters of the Iandolis' Honey Farms chain. Pleasant Street has several small grocers along it (including Eddie's Super Plaza), so for the next two days, let's take a look inside two of them!