The Market Report

Dublin IGA Owner: Mike Flagello Opened: as IGA 1982, as Great Valu 1990s, as Shop n Bag 2000s, again as IGA 2016-2021 Cooperative:  IGA Location:  161 N Main St, Dublin, PA Photographed:  July 22, 2021 Okay folks, let's get through some history before we really get into this store. This store opened as a new-build in 1982 under the IGA cooperative, then in the 1990s the owners switched to Great Valu Markets before changing to Shop n Bag the following decade. When the Thriftway/Shop n Bag cooperative dissolved in 2016, the store returned to IGA before closing in 2021. This charming small-town IGA was around 22,000 square feet, and as we'll see remained a lot of its old-fashioned character until the end although it had gotten a few small upgrades. The decor had been updated slightly with new signage as we see below, but the fixtures are clearly not updated. Despite its age, the Dublin IGA was a pleasant, well-maintained small-town grocery store. What appears to have done i...

DeKalb Supermarket Owner: Young Kim Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  IGA Location:  815 DeKalb St, Norristown, PA Photographed:  July 22, 2021 We arrive at the supermarket in downtown Norristown for a look around! This store was built in the 1950s as an A&P, which closed by the 1970s and became the Norristown Thriftway at some point. After that, it transitioned to the DeKalb Supermarket which was also affiliated with Thriftway/Shop n Bag (and branded with both logos). In 2016, when Thriftway/Shop n Bag dissolved, this store and most of the others joined IGA under the Retail Marketing Group. This store is under the same ownership as the Chelten Market , and interestingly enough, that store received a new fleet of carts shortly after it opened and that store's old carts were sent here to Norristown. As we see, they're all Pathmark carts, but some of them have been labeled with Chelten market stickers. The 21,000 square foot store appears to have been expanded out fr...

GIANT Food Stores Opened: 2006 Previous Tenants:  Penn Fruit (closed 1973) > Zallie's Shop n Bag (1974-1997) > Clemens (1997-2006) Location:  10 E Ridge Pk, Conshohocken, PA Photographed:  July 22, 2021 This GIANT doesn't look like such a remarkable store, right? Well, you're in for a surprise. This building was constructed in the 1950s or so as a Penn Fruit, and in the 1970s became a Zallie-owned Shop n Bag which was acquired by Clemens in the 90s. In 2006, Clemens was acquired by GIANT, which subsequently renovated the store. And from this view, where we're up at a slightly higher altitude, we can see the arched-roof Penn Fruit building remains! For an idea of the layout while we're father away here, we enter on the far left side of the storefront (see the second triangle to the left), to an expansion room holding produce on the left side, floral/pharmacy on the right side, and in the back, the beer/wine department with deli, bakery, and cheese. The meat an...