The Breen family has been a staple of Wayne County grocery stores since 1908. They once boasted several locations across the area, but this week the family announced the closure of their final store.

Newark Save A Lot, owned by the Breen family, announced via Facebook that it will they closing.

“It is with heavy hearts and wet eyes that we write this post,” the owners said. “Unfortunately, our time in Newark and the grocery world has come to an end. We have given everything we have to this business, but it’s time to let it go and start a new chapter. We want to thank all of our loyal customers over the years. Some of you are like family to us and we will miss you and wish you nothing but the best.

“To our staff, this is hard,” they continued. “The hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. To say we love you is an understatement. We have been blessed with the greatest, most loyal crew of all time. Hands down. We’ve been through it all together. We’ve grown up together and watched our families grow up together. We even survived covid together. Even though we won’t be together on a daily basis anymore, we will always be a team and more importantly, a family.”

The family’s Palmyra "Breens" closed in 2022, with their Williamson location closing just two years later. Palmyra was replaced with a Byrne Dairy and the Williamson Plaza is slated to become a Quickley’s convenience store.

Longtime customers and friends posted memories of the family’s businesses while lamenting the Newark store’s fate.

Newark still has a Wegmans location on one side of town and a Wal-Mart on the other, but local shoppers say they will still miss the store and its staff.