Murray’s Market readying to welcome Pittsburgh’s kosher community — and beyond

Squirrel Hill will soon have a new grocery option.

Isaac Glassner is finalizing plans for Murray’s Market on the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues, in the former location of Rite Aid pharmacy which closed earlier this year.

“It’s going to be a one-stop shop that has everything,” Glassner said. “It’s going to be a gourmet kosher grocery store with fresh produce, a butcher, bakery, takeout, sushi created by a sushi master — everything that you can imagine.”

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Murray’s also will include a deli featuring hot food, soups — which Glassner plans to change out seasonally — and even coffee.

The idea, he explained, is to eliminate the need to visit several different stores to complete a shopping trip.

To that end, Murray’s Market will include a pharmacy that will not only fill prescriptions but also stock the types of products found in most drug stores.

Murray’s also will feature indoor seating for 12 to 16 people and will have an off-street parking lot with spaces for more than two dozen cars.

Eventually, online ordering and delivery will be available.

While the store won’t be certified kosher, all the prepared food will be certified under the Vaad Harabonim of Pittsburgh. Prepackaged food will have its own certification from the manufacturer.

Glassner said those who keep kosher will be able to fill most of their grocery needs in Murray’s, but he is thinking beyond the Jewish community. An analogue, he said, is Dunkin’ Donuts on Forbes Avenue, which attracts both the kosher and non-kosher communities seeking a sweet treat.

Research Glassner did before deciding to open Murray’s Market found that people from across the area shopped at the now closed Rite Aid to pick up basics. He believes those people will find their way back to the new grocery store. And he thinks other communities will find a home at the market, as well.

“I believe Muslims will shop here because of the similar dietary needs, so we’ll have the halal community, and we hope that 100% of the broader community will shop here,” he said.

Murray’s is the culmination of a dream for Glassner, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Pittsburgh when he married Shaina Herman. He spent more than a decade working at a surplus company doing logistics and close-out sales.

When he learned of Rite Aid’s plans to close, he leapt at the opportunity to open the store.

“I was looking for a new venture when this came up,” he said. “I was selling wholesale to retail. I have a real passion for retail. Customer satisfaction is important to me.”

Community, too, is something he values. He said he’s seen different groups of people organizing trips and deliveries for items they have trouble getting. He’s hoping Murray’s eliminates that need.

“There are some people scheduling deliveries twice a month. There are people going to Cleveland. There are people shopping in four different stores to get their needs met. They’ll be able to do everything here,” he said.

To ensure he’s meeting the needs of the entire community, Glassner is partnering with the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition for a town hall sometime in the next month, where he’ll seek feedback from those living in the neighborhood.

“We want to hear what the community wants and needs,” he said.

The meeting is part of Glassner’s deliberate plan to create a store that will fill more than a niche need.

Plans for the new store were originally announced in August in the Pittsburgh Business Times. Glassner has spent the summer finalizing his design for the market — he said he’s working with a local architect and a “world class national designer.”

When word of the new store first broke, Murray Avenue Kosher co-owner Aryeh Markovic told the Chronicle that the opening of any kosher establishment in the neighborhood would affect his store. At the same time, he noted, more kosher options could mean more people visiting Pittsburgh.

“Hopefully it will be good,” he said. “More kosher in town is better for the city.”

“It’s very exciting,” Glassner said. “I really want to create a nice customer experience. I think we’re going to do that at Murray’s.”

An opening date for the store has not been set. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.