Category:Pantry Pride, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Pantry Pride was a supermarket chain which had several locations in Allentown. The chain was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the late 1920s. The chain was the first large self=service market in which numerous departments sold various products, with separate bakeries, meat, groceries, produce, dairy, along with greeting cards, floral and non-food items. After World War II, the term "Supermarket" came into use to differentiate Giant and other similar chain markets from the family-owned corner grocery market, which they largely replaced by the 1970s.

The first store under the name of the "Giant Quality Food Price Cutter" opened at 913-919 Walnut Street in November 1934. It was actually the fifth store in the chain's existance. A second store opened in August 1937 at 620 North Seventh Street which was called "The Giant", and a third store in February 1938 at 1306 Liberty Street. In the late 1930s, Friedland changed the name of the firm to "The Giant Food Fair, Inc.", and in 1940 had phased out the Giant name all together and renamed the stores as "Food Fair". In 1950, the store on North Seventh Street was rebuilt and modernized and reopened on March 30th. It included such innovations as a self-service meat, dairy and delicatessen.

In 1953, Food Far opened a 4th store in Allentown, at 1501 Lehigh Street. This store would, in 1959 become an anchor for the new Parkway Shopping Center, the first modern shopping center in the city. A fifth store, opened in April 1956 at 15th and Allen Street, would also become the anchor for the 15th Street Shopping Center in 1959; the second Allentown Shopping Center. In February 1958, the first Giant Supermarket store on Walnut street burned down in a large multi-alarm fire. No definite cause for the fire was ever determined. Also in 1958, the older store at Liberty and Madison Street was closed on 31 October.

During the 1960s, Food Fair enjoyed great success, with the opening of another new store at the new Crest Plaza in July 1960. This meant that all four stores in Allentown became anchors of drive-up shopping centers. However, the most significant purchase for the Friedland Company was that of a small Philadelphia chain called Best Markets. Best's private label brand was called Pantry Pride. When Best Markets launched a chain of no-frills discount grocery stores in mid-decade, it used the name Pantry Pride. The stores that were under the "Pantry Pride" logo eventually became more popular than the "Food Fair" brand. By 1970, Food Fair had converted its stores to the Pantry Pride banner.

In 1977, Pantry Pride fell victim to financial problems and was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The stores were purchased by supermarket veteran Grant Gentry. Gentry began streamlining the company, and sold the Allentown stores, thus ending the presence of the Giant/Food Fair/Pantry Pride chain in the area. The store at the Parkway Shopping Center on Lehigh Street closed in February, 1979 and was sold to a non-supermarket business. The Seventh Street along with the 15th and Allen street stores was taken over by IGA; the Seventh Street becoming "Little Apple IGA" in August 1979, and the 15th Street store becoming "Tom and Terry's IGA" in November, 1979. The Crest Plaza store was also taken over by IGA in December 1979

Note: The current "Giant" supermarkets in the Allentown area bear no relationship to those in the Pantry Pride lineage of companies.