The Breen’s Palmyra SHOP ’n SAVE market at the intersection of Route 31 and 21 in the Village of Palmyra is closing. The announcement was revealed on their social media Facebook site:

To our valued customers,

For the past 114 years Breen’s Markets has been a part of the Palmyra community. Unfortunately the time has come where we will be selling the Palmyra store. This decision was not an easy one for our family to make. We are incredibly thankful for the generations of loyal customers who have supported us for over a century. In this transition time we will have shorted store hours and limited selections in some categories.  

 Sincerely 

The Breen Family

The company started in 1909 with a Market Street Palmyra location, with gas lanterns and a room filled with ice and free delivery by horse and wagon.

Over the years, several moves and expansions provided a family business that would be passed down through a total of four generations to the current day. Stores in Palmyra, Macedon, Williamson and Newark followed over the decades.

The current Palmyra location opened in 1967, when second generation Louis  Breen cut the ribbon.

The era of family-based, smaller chains evaporated over the years as larger corporations, diverse stores and the Internet took a toll. The days of dollar stores and pharmacies adding food to their line-up heralded a new type of food market reality

Dan Breen stated that co-op supplier changes extended the Palmyra store’s future, but the decision to end came in years of financial struggle in a very competitive marketplace. 

The COVID fight that began two years ago saw another drop in patronage and employees, and in the end,  a 30% drop of “out-of-stock” supplies proved too much. “You can’t cut out 30% of your sales and survive,” said Dan.

“Unfortunately, I had to let somebody go today that worked for decades in this store. It has been a lot of hard work to keep the place going. We just can’t afford to operate anymore.”

The Williamson location of the Breen’s SHOP ’n SAVE is profitable and will remain open, along with the Newark Stop & Shop.  Dan anticipates the Palmyra store will be open for another two weeks as stock dwindles down. 

Attempts at selling the location as a food operation found no takers. Dan hopes the building can find a food use, if not, a broker will be enlisted.

Members of the family still operate the Williamson and Newark stores. As for the Palmyra’s 35 employees, Dan stated that the labor market is prime for employment.

Dan said the current family members, including himself, will try to be absorbed by the other locations, but only if the stores can afford them. If not, like other past and current Breen family members, retirement, or job seeking will be a reality.