Gerrity’s Supermarkets, the largest independent supermarket retailer in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA area, has agreed to join Wakefern Food Corp., the nation’s largest grocery co-op, whose retail arm includes ShopRite, Price Rite and Fresh Grocer and is the dominant merchant in the Delaware Valley and New York Metro markets.
“Our family is excited to join the Wakefern cooperative which is committed to helping family-owned businesses like ours gain a competitive edge in a rapidly changing and challenging industry. Wakefern will help us save our customers money and provide an enhanced assortment of products to our customers, including high-quality, on-trend private label foods, and increased buying power of a cooperative,” said Joe Fasula who along with his mother, Joyce “Mom” Fasula, owns the 10-store retailer which operates stores in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania.
When the conversion process is completed (likely later this year), the Gerrity’s stores will fly Wakefern’s The Fresh Grocer banner. Gerrity’s becomes the Keasbey, NJ-based co-op’s 48th member and first since late 2020 when Madison Foods (the Slawsby family) left Save A Lot to join Wakefern. Madison Foods operates four Price Rite stores in the Boston area. Prior to that, in 2020, Nicholas Markets (the Maniaci family) left Allegiance to join the co-op. Its four New Jersey stores all trade as The Fresh Grocer. Gerrity’s was formerly with C&S which continued to supply Gerrity’s when it acquired AWI in 2014. In November 2021, the Scranton-based independent acquired Valley Farm Market, a single store independent based in Bethlehem, PA.
“The Fasulas are a strong addition to our cooperative and another family-owned business that provides an exceptional experience and quality fresh foods for its customers and a great place to work for its associates,” said Joseph Colalillo, Wakefern’s chairman and CEO. “Membership in our cooperative allows independent operators like the Fasulas to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit while benefiting from the scale and services Wakefern offers. We look forward to welcoming the Fasula family to Wakefern.”
Gerrity’s is the largest family-owned supermarket business in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Along with its 10 supermarkets, it also owns three Ace Hardware stores. The company was founded in 1895 by William Gerrity as a small meat market in West Scranton and became a supermarket in 1980 under the leadership of Joyce and her late husband Neal Fasula. Gerrity’s currently employs more than 1,300 people.