The Market Report

Original Grocery Tenant: unknown Address: 501 N 6th St, Allentown, PA Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Kim's Market (closed 2019) Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Here's a grocery store in a mostly residential neighborhood of northern Center City that didn't make it. As we'll see, it's not the store, it's the building that didn't work. This is another one I'm sure has been a grocery store for many decades but was most recently Kim's Market, which closed in 2019. If we look at the notice on the front door, it warns that the structure is unsafe and needs to be razed or repaired. Admittedly walking under the front overhang and looking in the windows freaked me out just a little bit, but no building fell on me, so I'm fine. Classic corner grocer entrance door here. The store seemed to have the opportunity to vacate, leaving behind all the fixtures and a lot of signage, but taking all merchandise out... ...and we see that there had be...

Happy Dairy Market Owner: Charles Yun Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  201 N 6th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Today's post is a quick look at the Happy Dairy Market in Allentown! I admit that I regret not going in but for whatever reason I skipped this one. The store might be only a little over 20 feet wide, but it goes way back bringing its size to around 1700 square feet. We've seen a lot of these small grocers, but tomorrow we're headed a few blocks north to one that has closed on Grocery Archaeology!

J&J Spanish American Grocery Owner: Jose Rosario Opened:  2010 Cooperative:  none Location:  249 N 7th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 A great building for today's corner grocer! As you can probably see, the architecture in Allentown is wonderful and there's a lot of preserved historical buildings. This building used to have bland white siding across all of it until it was refurbished and restored in 2011. This store is around 1400 square feet and has been open as a grocer probably for many decades but under its current ownership only since 2010. Tomorrow we're headed around two blocks east and a block south for our next stop in Center City!

8th Street Food Market Owner: Ramon Evangelista Opened:  1999 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  247 N 8th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We've seen several historically preserved small corner grocers lacking a lot of updates, but the 8th Street Food Market -- at just 2000 square feet -- has in fact gotten some pretty substantial renovation and, despite the size, actually has a full butcher, deli, and hot food bar inside with a table or two to sit and eat at. This store looks a little different from the other ones we've seen here in Allentown, with a hefty if tiny grocery department, and a full dairy case rather than just a gallon or two of milk. Not to mention that this store is supplied by Krasdale Foods, rather than just a collection of itesm from random wholesalers and wholesale clubs like BJ's. In the back of the store, which I couldn't photograph because there were too many people, was the butcher, deli, and hot food bar, pl...

Stop N Shop Food Market Owner: Wagby Ibrahim Opened:  2001 Cooperative:  none Location:  302 N 14th St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Stop & Shop? No, this Stop N Shop Food Market appears to be a longtime fixture in northwestern Center City Allentown. It's located in one of the historic residential/commercial low-rise buildings of this neighborhood and looks like it doesn't quite reach 1000 square feet. There are two aisles in the front, one with grocery items and one with beverages, dairy, and a small deli. There's another little alcove in the back, if I'm not mistaken, for nonfood products. I love tiny stores like this because they're a well-preserved snapshot of what grocery shopping was like a century ago, or maybe not quite that long but regardless. But some of these longtime grocery stores have been more updated than others. Tomorrow's store, which is right near the center of the city, has gotten a big renovation recently. ...

Turner Street Market & Deli Owner: unknown Opened:  ca. 2015 Cooperative:  none Location:  1401 W Turner St, Center City, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 Another little grocery store here in Allentown is the Turner Street Market & Deli. This is an interesting one because the 2800 square foot store appears to be a combination of two existing storefronts with a wall down the middle (visible in the picture below, which is only half of the store). One side has the deli and cases for things like beverages and dairy, and then the other side feels a bit more like a dollar store with some simple groceries and home goods/nonfoods. Up until around 2015, this store was the Dayoub Brothers Market. It's not unlike Monday's store, which is located just three blocks north. Come back on Monday to check it out!