One final day: Wetzel's Market in Glen Rock closes after 33 years

The 1980s-era high-pitched beep of the product scanners at Wetzel's Markets in Glen Rock went silent on Sunday. Inside the old grocery store, aisle after aisle was barren and picked clean, save for a few remaining gallons of milk and tea near the front of the store. 

After 33 years serving the Glen Rock community, Wetzel's Markets closed its doors for the final time. 

“It’s been very tough,” Mike Wetzel, general manager at the store, said. “Knowing that this was coming the whole fall, it’s put a strain on me.”

In the video below, meet Mike Wetzel talking with customers on the last day open.  Wetzel describes what he believes the evolution of grocery shopping will be in 20 years. (story continues below video)

Wetzel's closed after several bridge closings in the area over the past two years, crippling the business and sending customers to other locations, Wetzel said. 

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The store is owned by Mike Wetzel’s father Charlie, who opened the store in April 1985 after owning several stores in the Hanover area where his family grew up. Mike and his brother Ben grew up in the family business and in 1991, Mike Wetzel became the store’s general manager.

The family also owns several CS Convenience stores in southern York County in Jefferson, Glen Rock and Codorus Township. Those stores will all remain open.

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The store held specials all day on Sunday, with 50 percent off all items remaining in the store.

For years, the store grew into something more than just a place to grab groceries — it was a community gathering center, a base for local donations and, more importantly, a business that did what it could to help nearby Glen Rock.

“We cannot survive without this town, and, as such, we do as much to help this town,” Wetzel said. “The [charity work] we’ve done for people that we’ve known for years...you just help those people out. That’s what anybody should do. It’s what we’ve always done.”

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Wetzel knows how the community feels about the store. It’s where he worked since 1991, and where his children worked as they grew up. He feels for the people who have lost jobs with the closure, but over the past month has helped find jobs for as many of them as possible.

“If I could make it not happen, I would,” Wetzel said. “This is without a doubt the most painful thing I’ve ever done.”

Anthony J. Machcinski is the food reporter for the York Daily Record. Follow him on Facebook, @ChinskiTweets on Twitter or email him at amachcinski@ydr.com.