Joseph E. Grosberg, Supermarket Pioneer of Schenectady

Joseph E. Grosberg, Supermarket Pioneer of Schenectady

Joseph E. Grosberg (1883-1971) was a Jewish businessman who took an active role in civic and religious organizations around Schenectady, New York. Best known for being one of the original founders of Central Markets, the predecessor of Price Chopper Supermarkets and Market 32, Grosberg helped establish many Jewish organizations in and around the Schenectady area in the 1920s through the 1940s. Born in Russia in 1883, Grosberg came to the United States as a toddler. From an early age, Grosberg worked in the grocery retail business then in wholesale groceries, both in Schenectady and Amsterdam, NY, before helping to establish a chain of supermarkets in the upstate New York area. Grosberg was active in early supermarket organizations, including the Super Market Institute, known today as The Food Marketing Institute, and the Seaboard Food Service, a national wholesale buying organization. Jewish causes were of special interest to Grosberg, and he was instrumental in starting up a number of Jewish organizations around Schenectady, including the Young Men's Hebrew Association which eventually evolved into the Schenectady Jewish Community Center. Grosberg was also a real estate investor, purchasing such notable Schenectady properties as the Imperial Building, the former G.E. Emmons' house once located at 1227 Wendell Avenue, the former C.S. Smith and Company Wholesale Grocers building on Erie Blvd (renamed the Grosberg Building up until the 1960s), and the Fuller Street Car Barn from the bankrupt Schenectady Railway Company, as well as many others. In addition to showcasing Grosberg's life and work, the book contains Grosberg's family history and introduces the reader to other members of the Grosberg family from Schenectady and Detroit, Michigan. A list of references is included at the end of the book to aid others who are doing their own research into any of the topics included in this book.