Category: Businesses

Another market occupying the old "Phelps Store" building located at 3569 Latta Road. The North Greece Food Market existed in the late 1960's into the early 1970's. A portion of the electric sign for the DeMay Hotel can be seen on the left, 1970's.

Built in 1875, the old St. John the Evangelist Church has been utilized by a number of businesses since its use was discontinued in the 1970's after the parish relocated. Among some of the businesses, it has served as a Verizon Wireless store and a music store, as seen in this photo from the 1980's. As of 2019, it has been vacant for a number of years.

The Erie Insurance Group occupying the former Phelp's General Store building on the corner of Latta and North Greece Roads.

Located at 2672 Ridge Road, Empire Electric was established in 1971 and occupied the former house of Dr. George Sanders. The house was built in the 1850's. Empire Electric was a light fixture supply business and operated at this location until the 1990's. It was demolished in the 2010's.

Falco's Grocery & Delicatessen was located at 4542 Ridge Road, where the current Bob Johnson's Used Car dealership currently stands. It was also known as "Falco's Mini Mart" and was owned by the Falco family. At various times, it included a motorcycle shop, barber shop and other commercial enterprises. In 1986, a Spencerport couple purchased a winning lottery ticket at the store that paid a prize of $2 million.

W.T. Grant Co. and other storefronts in Ridgemont Plaza, 1966. Ridgemont Plaza was constructed in the late 1950's at a cost of $2 million. In 1960, the plaza was anchored by Wegmans Super Market, Woolworth's, Key Drugs and others.

An early 1920's Buckman's Dairy delivery truck. Buckman's Dairy was founded by Homer Buckman in 1911. A store was added in the 1930's and the company was purchased by Ralph DeStephano in the 1950's. Mr. DeStephano expanded the offerings to include donuts, ice cream and a commercial plaza that offered car wash and laundry services. Mr. DeStephano was a dedicated community activist for decades. The Buckman's store closed in the mid-2000's.

The VerHulst Bros. Farm Market was located at 1253 Ridge Road, near Mt. Read Blvd. It began as a roadside fruit stand run by Stephanie VerHulst in the 1930's. Eventually, brothers Cy, John, Charles and Joseph opened the market and sold fruits, vegetables, soil, plants and farming equipment. It closed in the 1990's. Members of the VerHulst family went on to open Cobble Creek Farm in Parma.

Schaller's restaurant on Edgemere Drive as it appeared in the 1950's. Brothers Ken and Joe Schaller opened it in 1956. A second location opened in Irondequoit in 1959 and a third in Brighton in 1996. A 2013 USA Today nationwide poll ranked Schaller's hot dogs fourth best in the country.

Topps discount department store was founded in 1957 by Fred Beckerman. The first store opened in Connecticut and Rochester stores began appearing in the early 1960's. The second Rochester Topps location opened in April 1967 and was located at 1250 Ridge Road West; the current Home Depot plaza. Topps closed in 1974 and the site served as United Skates of America roller rink in the mid 1970's and 1980's before becoming Home Depot.

Mr. Steak was a restaurant chain started in Colorado in 1962 by James Mather. At its peak, it operated nearly three hundred locations nationwide. The Greece location opened in 1967 and was located at 2700 Ridge Road West, near the corner of North Glen Drive. John Kendall and Richard LeBaer operated the Greece location as well as a location on Monroe Avenue in Rochester. The Greece location closed in the mid 1980's and the chain folded in the 1990's.

The west side of Sibley's in the Greece Towne Mall. Ground broke on construction of the mall in March 1966. Sibley, Lindsay and Curr were the leading developers of the mall. The Sibley's store was two levels and 116,000 square feet. Sibley's was a Rochester based department store chain that was purchased in the mid 1980's by May Department Stores. The May Company moved the store to the former McCurdy's location in the Long Ridge Mall and changed the name was eventually changed to Kaufmann's in 1990 and then Macy's in 2006.

The "On the Beach" sandcastle creation at Long Ridge Mall. It was located in the McCurdy's court area, July 1987.

Pictured is the Knobles family and an employee outside the Four Mile Grocery store around 1889. The Four Mile Grocery store was located on the canal at Ridgeway Avenue and Weiland Road beginning shortly after the Civil War. It was one of many stores that conducted business along the canal and was considered a "hard cider stop." It was called "Four Mile Grocery" because it was four miles outside the city. In 1904, thirty year old Frank Luitweiler of Greece mysteriously drowned in the canal just outside the store.

Woolworth's and W.T. Grant Co. stores in Ridgemont Plaza, 1966. Ridgemont Plaza was constructed in the late 1950's at a cost of $2 million. In 1960, the plaza was anchored by Wegmans Super Market, Woolworth's, Key Drugs and others.