White Haven Market began as an idea between two longtime friends – Chris Kubishin and Frank Pasdon. Frank was a career Grocer and Chris is a Business Owner in Hazleton. They also invited Chris’ business partner Franklin Ator and Mark Tokach to join them in this venture. Mark was brought on to be responsible for the day-to-day operations as Store Manager.
The adventure started by purchasing the White Haven Food Rite in White Haven, Pa. The store was renamed to White Haven Market and began serving the community of White Haven on September 19th, 2005. The store was remodeled while staying open and finally had its Grand Opening on April 2nd, 2006.
The next phase began when we purchased our second store – Fetch’s Shur-Save in Plymouth, Pa. The store was renamed to Plymouth Hometown Market and began serving the community of Plymouth on November 1st, 2010. This store was also remodeled while remaining open and had its Grand Opening on May 1st, 2011. Many improvement projects have been completed to the facility and we are committed to a program of ongoing improvement.
Sad times began when our partner and friend Frank Pasdon died on November 14th, 2012. We all miss Frank and wish he were here with us today. Frank was the one that taught us all about the grocery business and without Frank none of this would have been possible. Frank was both wise and funny. He always made us laugh. We are extremely proud to have been his partner and grateful that he was part of our lives.
We experienced challenging times again in 2014 when we lost our original wholesaler from whom we purchased the majority of our products. We struggled, but succeeded, to keep the stores full and continue to serve the communities in which we are located while also providing employment for our employees. We interviewed several new wholesalers and partnered with C&S Wholesale. Today, C&S supplies our stores with a wide variety of quality name brand products as well as providing our customers with value by offering our store brand “Best Yet” products.
As we emerged from trying times, we purchased the strip mall in which our White Haven store is located. The strip mall is an important part of the White Haven shopping district and is right in the middle of all the action being located at the entrance to the Lehigh Gorge State Park. We have made many improvements to the strip mall to date and are committed to further improvements. We are glad to serve our diverse group of tenants and the community.
The adventure continued when we purchased our third store Gould’s ShurSave in Sugarloaf, Pa. The store was renamed Valley Hometown Market and began serving the community on April 2nd, 2024. The store was remodeled and will have it’s Grand Opening sometime in the Spring of 2025.
Finally, we are grateful to our family of employees past and present that make both markets the friendly neighborhood stores that they are today. We currently employ around 200+ employees. We are committed to be a good neighbor in the communities in which our employees and customers live and work. We look forward to growing and improving as well as serving our customers, employees and tenants today and into the future.
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide our customers with the variety, quality, and service they expect at competitive prices with the feel of a “Neighborhood Market”. We are committed to being a good neighbor in the communities in which our employees and customers live and work. We will invest in our employees and technology to develop a culture of continuous improvement, while staying focused on sound business decisions to insure our continual success.