The Market Report

Tony's Meat Market Owner: unknown Open:  2011-2023 Cooperative:  none Location:  124 Grove St, Wilkes-Barre, PA Photographed:  December 22, 2018 Tucked away into a neighborhood of southern Wilkes-Barre is this 4,000 square foot butcher shop/corner grocer that appears to have been in business for a very long time. Prior to 2011, it was the Grove Market, which was affiliated with AWI, a cooperative I discussed at length in yesterday's post . In 2011, it became Tony's Meat Market, which then earlier this year became the Grove Mart . Inside, we can tell that the store has been a grocery store for a very very long time. The store was Passeri's Cash Market from 1936 through at least 1974 (and later in its life called Passeri's Master Market), although founder Joseph Passeri retired in 1966. It appears in 1966, the store was sold to Benjamin Leggieri, who around the late 70s appears to have converted the store's name to Leggieri's. Leggieri's was in business un...

Thomas' Foodtown Owner: Tom Baseski Opened:  2006-2020 Previous Tenants:  ACME Markets (ca. 1960-1995) > Insalaco's (1995-1998) > Thomas' Family Markets (1998-2006) Later Tenants:  Key Food Supermarkets (2020- ) Cooperative:  Allegiance Retail Services Location:  1061 N Church St, Hazleton, PA Photographed:  November 19, 2019 We're here in the far northern part of Hazleton to tour the Foodtown of Hazleton! The roughly 22,000 square foot store was built as part of a combination indoor mall/strip mall just outside the city by ACME Markets in the 1960s before closing in 1995 and being sold to Insalaco's. Insalaco's closed in 1998, when Thomas' Family Markets moved in. In 2006, the store became a Foodtown, although ownership didn't change. Foodtown then closed in 2020, with Key Food moving in subsequently. Key Food now also has a second location in Hazleton, a Food Universe Marketplace in a former Save-A-Lot . That store was also built as an ACME. I...