With the new vibe of fresh market produce and local homegrown pride that the Park Place Market will bring into our area, I can’t help but think about the shopping experience here in Niagara Falls and what I’ve grown accustomed to over the years. For those in the 716 area code, you must be one of two things – a Wegmans shopper or a Tops shopper… that is it, no other choice. It’s like Coke versus Pepsi, Ali versus Frasier, Pop versus Soda. While looking through the images in the Local History Department, I’ve seen many of the names and faces of local markets from yesteryear, but only one truly strikes that nostalgic chord for me – Tops Friendly Market!
In the background of my life, Tops has always been there. My mother worked there when I was a kid, my sister was a cashier there, and I eventually stood behind the cash register, too, when I turned 16 (“Will that be paper or plastic?”). During the mid to late 70s, when malls and department store chains were eating up the little guys and big time “supermarkets” were gobbling up the mom n’ pop grocery stores, Tops was naturally right there in the mix (although it was once just a little guy itself). I grew up when Tops was already a steadfast entity… in fact, the only entity worth its weight in Bulk Food. So while some of you Dear Readers may harbor disdain for this local market because it eventually smushed the corner grocer into oblivion, I veer towards the place that never stops saving me more, the place where the deli workers always threw me a slice of bologna to try while I rode underneath in my Mom’s cart on grocery shopping day circa 1980. [Wait, what? Wegmans you say? Wegmans schmegmans! Super Duper? Bells? Nahhh… ]
R.Gerbasi’s Meat & Groceries (circa 1925) – On the corner of Frontier Avenue and Cayuga Drive in LaSalle.
So, what brought up this small flicker of nostalgia and admission of allegiance? Reading this BuffaloNews.com article and the realization that, holy shit, they make BANK. Even with the losses due to debt and blah blah blah, my friendly hometown grocer is pulling it in! The article puts in perspective how large Tops has become over the past few decades. Is there risk of it imploding with the scattering remains once again becoming your neighborhood cheese shops and spice stores and butchers and fish market, etc? Or will the Canadian influx (along with the need for local residents to have a one stop shop) keep sales humming along for another 50 years and beyond? I have great hope that while the lights of Tops and Wegmans twinkle in the distance, hometowners and tourists alike still yearn for the homegrown and the homespun (The Park Place Market!).
[Sidenote: However the direction of grocery getting evolves, I hope someone or something smushes the “Dollar Generals” into the forgettable past. Yuuuuck… the absolute pits! Clean up your act!]
Where do you shop? Where is the best and worst places to pick up the family’s groceries? Please submit your feedback in the comment section below:
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