It was years ago, after becoming addicted to their baked potato salad and determining that a fresh homemade pepperoni roll with cheese was going to become a weekly staple to my lunch excursions, I quickly realized that Food Fresh in Bridgeport was about to close up shop. The store that for so many was the quick and easy convenient stop in the Valley Hills Shopping Plaza was calling it quits.

 

The store closed in January of 2014 - essentially a decade ago.  I still remember my last visit inside.

 

My final trip was greeted by dwindling shelves and limited inventory yesterday morning. Parts of the store were closed off by sheets of plastic and a worker was on top of a freezer that wasn't plugged in doing some type of work. I was there that day to get some pix and do a story. I never had the heart to go back later in the day to get photos of things being moved out..

 

It would not be until the summer of 2016 when another full service grocery store came along Main Street in Shop 'n Save, which today is Price Cutter. Today, as then, therer are plenty of grocery options within a few miles, but for that two-plus year period there was not one in the city.

 

Perhaps many did not know this, and perhaps many do, but Bridgeport has been home to several major grocery story chains over the years. They also have been home to some of the best local stores as well.

 

Several of the stores I could recall myself. Several I wasn’t sure of. And others I needed the help of city officials and local resident to either rekindle or confirm a memory or let me know about one I had never heard about – either due to my own failing memory or the fact that I wasn’t born.

 

My favorite of the now extinct grocery stores was the Giant Eagle located at the Hills Plaza. Perhaps I’m wrong on this, but I always remember that place as being packed when it announced it was heading out to make way for a new grocery story. The grocery store that took its place – Save-A-Lot – didn’t really work-a-lot and eventually went by the wayside.

 

The actual footprint of that store today, which houses the massive Goodwill outlet, is much smaller than most Giant Eagles I’ve been to out of the area. And believe me, if you ever get a chance to head to the Giant Eagle in Washington, Pa., stop in. The deli makes you feel as if you’ve died and gone to heaven.

 

Another of my old favorites and one I totally forgot about was the Kroger’s that used to be located in Bridgeport. The store is where Big Lot’s is currently located and was there at least through the late 1980s, but I can’t remember when it departed. I do know I used to love trips to Kroger because we would get a few quarters and my brother and I would head down to the old Electric Playground.

 

At Valley Hills, I was told that an A&P was located there in the 1960s and I still remember when it housed a Foodland. I was also told about places such as C&H Market on East Main Street, Helmick’s Market on Philadelphia, Alkire’s Variety Store at the bottom of the Simpson Creek walking bridge and of course the old Handy Shop that I’ve seen pictured many times.

 

There were others, including the ever popular Pure Food Store at more than one location. The last of which was on Virginia Avenue and provided me – as I’ve blogged about before – the only an only production of ham salad that I not only tolerated, but loved. And there were a few in Clarksburg and elsewhere that I miss dearly. The WBOY location on Pike Street once was home to an A&P and the Nutter Fort Rite Aid site was once home to a Garden Fresh. One of those stores, I can't remember, used to give out the old S&H Green Stamps.

 

I’m sure I’ve left plenty of other stores – both local and perhaps even of the chain variety – off the list that have been part of the Bridgeport fabric for decades and you can add them in the comments section below. I know I did not mention the Dollar General, Menards, and Target that all have respectiable food sections, but this is more about grocery specific.

 

Even with the stores mentioned here a thing of the past, Bridgeport has survived just fine without them. At the same time, they do indeed make up a big part of what makes the community special and has provided good memories for so many.

 

I’m certain the same can be said for Food Freshand its deli (at least for me) and will for perhaps decades to come. All of those stores mentioned were good to this community.

 

Editor's Note: Photos are from the final days of Food Fresh.