From the E-Mailbag #8: Manhattan Market

1955 Food Fair roster including Manhattan market

Back in December of last year, one of the commenters on my post on the Gel-Pak Building asked if I had any information about Manhattan Market.

I was aware that it had been a small grocery store on Broadway, but didn't know much more than that. So I dug around in the city directories a little bit.

It appears that Manhattan Market first appeared in the Lorain City Directory around 1946 or 1947. Its initial location, 1152 Broadway, used to be occupied by a previous grocer, Vincent McHenry.

Manhattan Market was part of the Food Fair chain of grocery stores for a while.

Around 1964, the grocery store moved south to 1820 Broadway. It remained there until about 1975, when Manhattan Market disappeared from the listings and the address went vacant.

Here's a 1960's view of the store, courtesy of the Black River Historical Society. (Click on it for a larger view.)

The store is flanked by the Lorain Fire Department Station No. 2 on one side, and the The Squire Shop, (which featured men's clothing) on the other. A few doors down from that is the Lorain Post 451 Veterans of Foreign Wars, with its distinctive sign jutting out from the building at an angle.

It's interesting that at the time of the photo, Manhattan Market was apparently part of the Sparkle chain.

Here's the 'today' view of the same block, now dominated by Fligner's, another formerly small family grocery store. I believe the building that presently houses El Kefon can be seen in the 1960s photo.