Watertown Neighborhood Grocery Stores – Gotham St Market

The Gotham St Market, shown below, had a long run at its location, the only neighborhood grocery store on Gotham Street for quite some time. It would have many owners over the course of the years, one of the longest stints of ownership belonging to George W. Maxon. In 1910, Mr. Maxon purchased the store and operated it until 1951, selling it to the Kissel family, who had one of the shortest stints of two years running it until 1953.

The store would then pass to the Pucia family, who would operate the store for another 26 years, making it a true family affair. From NNY Biz Magazine’s March 2013 edition* –

The store, open seven days a week, became a “Family Affair,” Gary Puccia said, with the three boys assigned responsibilities according to their ages.

“Joe Jr. was cashier. Anthony was responsible for stocking the shelves and keeping the coolers full of beverages. In later years, he learned how to butcher. I was the youngest and delegated to sorting, the thousands of returnable beer and soda bottles in the cellar, and stocking shelves.”

It was during the Joseph Puccia Years that the business became the Gotham Street Market. And as the building had for previous owners, it also provided a home for the Puccias.

The store would change ownership one last time, to Vincent Cavallario, who operated it until 1982 before closing shop for good. At the time, many of the old neighborhood grocery stores had closed. The few remaining, such as Habeeb’s Red & White, a Mill Street mainstay for nearly 50 years at that point, would close within the next few years as owners retired with a grocery shopping landscape vastly different from the times they began their careers.

*The NNY Biz Magazine piece, ‘Mom-and-pop’ Market Memories, originally appeared in the Watertown Daily Times on Feb. 22, 2009, as Dave Shampine’s “Times Gone By” column.

Watertown Neighborhood Grocery Stores

According to the Watertown Daily Times, as many as 87 neighborhood grocery stores were operating in the city in 1907 (a list from 1908 can be found here).  While there will always be a place for chains – some of them serving up a number of fond memories themselves, such as the much-beloved Mohican, there’s something about the neighborhood stores and their place within our communities, and particularly our childhood memories, that made them endearing.

Over the years, more and more large grocery stores infiltrated the area, offering more competitive pricing and larger varieties of goods. A&P, Weston, Super Duper, P&C, and many others have come and gone through the years, and while the neighborhood grocery stores are (very) few and far between, if you look around, you still might see a little mom-and-pop store… somewhere.

In an ever-evolving world, chain stores face stiff competition from large conglomerates such as Sam’s Club, Walmart, or Amazon.com. While some of them may boast even more offerings and deeper discounts, they’ll never aspire to be, and thus never match, the quaintness of the old neighborhood grocery stores.

As one astute commenter, Lee Crandall, wrote on the You Haven’t Lived in Watertown, NY if— Facebook page,

In most American cities our zoning laws have put this type of store out of business. So now we miss out on the interaction with neighbors, drive miles to a big box store, get less exercise, and waste fossil fuels to get the stuff that used to be at the corner store.

A list of neighborhood grocery stores in Watertown over the years includes the following below:

Aboud & Bahou

Academy St Market

Ashkar’s

Bach’s Market

Bajally’s

Boora’s Soda Shop

Breen Avenue Market

Calendar’s Market on Factory

California Fruit Market

Capone Grocery

Cheese Store

Clay Street Market

Cooper Street Market

Crescent’s Market

Derrigo’s Fruit Stand

Dorr’s Market

Elk Horn Markets

Evans Groceries

Eveleigh’s Market

Fobert’s Market

Fred Fuess

French’s

Gayle Street Market

General Store, Coffeen Street

Gorri’s Market

Gotham Street Market

Greico’s Produce

Guardino’s Fruit Market

Guardino’s Grocery

Habeeb Bros. Red & White

Hickey’s Grocery Store

High Street Market

Highway Market

Holcomb Street Market

Horning’s Grocery

Jenkins Market

Jim & Andy’s Coffeen St.

Johnnie’s Fruit Stand

Kilburn’s 531 W. Main St

Landon & Smithers

LeRay Street Market

Marra’s Grocery

Major’s Market

Meadow Street Market

Mathar’s Market

One-Way Market

Parkview Market

Renzi Grocery (J. Renzi)

Rocky’s Fruit Stand

Ruth’s Market

Rutland St. Market

Sowans on State and High St.

Tony’s Fruit Stand