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Michael, Raymond and Rocky Chanatry immigrated to the United
States. in 1912 fleeing from persecution and oppression of the Ottoman Empire.
This was a time when the Ottoman's had domain over Aleppo, Syria, seizing
Christian and Jewish men off the streets and forcing them into Military Service.
In the U.S., the streets were paved in gold and these young immigrants
fashioned a new life for their families. They started selling produce and foods
from push carts until they could open a store front. Soon Chanatry's opened on
Bleecker Street. Hard work allowed the business to prosper and soon they
occupied larger quarters.
 In 1938 plans were made to build a 6,000 square foot "Super Food Market". It was one of the
nation's first Supermarket, although the word had not yet become common place. It was Utica's first such food store and involved drastic
changes in a way a grocery store was organized.
Raymond Chanatry, acknowledged as a man ahead of his time by others in his business, trusted his instincts. Accordingly
Raymond became a consultant for other grocers who wished to follow.
In the mid 1940's the trend to make supermarkets completely self-service affected the produce and meat departments. And by the 1950's major regional and national food grocery chains became
dominant in the food business. Independent Grocers like Chanatry's needed something that would set themselves apart from their
challengers. Chanatry's took a firm hold on the competition by continuing to provide personal customer service and customer choice in it's meats and produce departments
and of course quality, always quality.
In the Mid 1950's, Urban Renewal was forcing the relocation for Bleecker
Street businesses. Elias Chanatrys (Big Louie), Rocky's son was a key manager
and partner in the Bleecker Street Business. Age and circumstances gave reason
for him to retire, selling his interest to Edward, Nellie and Bill with George
Chanatrys as a key manager. There interesting enough was another Chanatry's
Market also affected by Urban Renewal. It made good sense at that time to open
two supermarkets simultaneously. One in East Utica and one at French Road,
Utica, the current location. The East Utica store, now closed was managed by
Louis Chanatry(Little Louie), Raymond's son and his brothers while French Road was managed by
Michael's son Edward and George Chanatry. In 1975, due to illness,
Edward and Nellie sold their interests to John, Louis and George Jweid and Pierre and Joe Kawam with Bill Chanatry as president of the business. Although the names are not all Chanatry,
it still remains a family business. All owners were either brothers or
brother-in-laws. In 1988, Chanatry's built a brand new 30,000 square foot Supermarket next to it's previous store on French Road. With this store was added a scratch in store Bakery Department, largely expanded meat and produce and a largely expanded deli with hot foods. The new superstore continued to give quality personal service and grew
 Chanatry's
reputation for it's great meats and produce. Sales continued to almost double
year after year. The store was soon in need of expansion to accommodate the
rising volume. In 1998 Bill Chanatry bought all of the partners' interests and
with his son, Mark, now president, started on an improvement program. They
expanded the store to 50,000 square feet and 100 percent remodeled the store
inside and out with all new state of the art fixtures. This new renovation turned the store into a Plaza. Chanatry's has been voted #1 grocery store by consumers in the Mohawk Valley
year after year. The new French Road store has kept a dominant stake in Utica's grocery business against larger grocery chain stores in the area. Chanatry's is
now considered "the David among the Goliaths". We take great pride in our store,
as we believe our founders and predecessors would also be proud of the business they toiled for
and loved. |
