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Over the past century, the face and look of our hometowns have changed considerably. Likewise, the same has happened to one of our oldest hometown businesses.
In 1895, William Gerrity opened a small meat shop named Gerrity's Market. The original Gerrity's was located at 345 Railroad Ave. in the Bellevue section of West Scranton. A few years later, Joseph Hoban became a partner and the two men soon expanded the business to include two other stores. They worked together for several years to build their small local business until 1945, when Mr. Hoban decided to sell his half of the business to Mr. Gerrity in order to pursue other interests. Shortly after, in 1948, William passed it on to his three sons, Joseph, William Jr. and Thomas. By 1957, William Jr. had moved out of the area, and Thomas had passed away. Joseph Gerrity, now the sole owner, chose to continue his family's business.
At that time, Gerrity's delivered meat to customers all over Lakawanna County. Neal Fasula began his career with Gerrity's when he was hired as a delivery boy in 1964. Working his way through high school at West Scranton and college at the University of Scranton, Neal became familiar with every aspect of the business. After graduating in 1969 with a degree in accounting, Neal worked in New York City. However, shortly after leaving, Joseph Gerrity's shop burned down. Neal decided to return home and he and Joseph decided to open up another meat market as partners. A few years later, Mr. Gerrity retired and sold his half to Neal. Since then, the business has been in the Fasula family, but the one hundred year old Gerrity name has remained.
In 1980, Neal opened the first Gerrity's Supermarket. The new store was the first Gerrity's location to offer customers all of the products and services found in full service supermarkets. The building, which was originally a Giant, was located at 702 S. Main Ave. in West Scranton. In 1987, the store was remodeled and celebrated its Grand Re-opening. The store still stands at that same location today, and it is now the flagship of a nine-store business.
From the 1970's until 1993, Neal worked very hard with the help of his mother, "Aunt" Mary, his wife, Joyce, and his sisters, Doxie and Rosemary to grow their family business. In 1993, that small one-store operation became three when Neal added locations in Kingston and in the Keyser-Oak Shopping Center. The following year, Gerrity's again expanded with the addition of a store on Meadow Ave. in South Scranton. Things were pretty quiet for a few years until 1997, when Neal completed a deal to acquire five more stores. Gerrity's would now have locations in Hazleton, Luzerne, Edwardsville, Hanover Township and Moosic.
Unfortunately, shortly after the Hazleton store opened, Neal Fasula passed away. His wife and sons were left with the responsibility of running the family business. "If it wasn't for the help and support of the community, our employees, and our management staff, we never would have made it," Joyce Fasula said. "Neal built an excellent support staff, and a good reputation in the area, and that has carried us through."
Mrs. Fasula and her oldest son, Joseph now run the business with the support of everyone in the Gerrity's organization. The youngest son, Neal, is now in college at St. Joseph's University. He works in the stores when he is home from school.
However, that is not the end. In January of this year, Gerrity's was forced to close the Edwardsville location due to the termination of the lease. That same month, Gerrity's opened a store in Clarks Summit. In addition, the staff at Gerrity's has been working feverishly to prepare the new building in the Keyser-Oak Shopping Center for its Grand Re-opening early in May. "Everything worked out great," said Mrs. Fasula. "We kept all of our Edwardsville employees thanks to the Clarks Summit's opening, and we moved all of the equipment to the new Keyser-Oak building."
The Fasula family has every intention of continuing the business that began so long ago. Gerrity's stands today as one of the oldest and most well known local businesses. The Fasula family attributes their success to hard work of those faces from the past, and the support and loyalty that the community has for its hometown businesses.
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