Zoning Board of Adjustments approves plans for grocery store
Former Rite Aid location will soon be Murray's Market
Murray’s Market, a planned kosher grocery store, is moving forward after a July 20 decision by the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustments.
The six-page decision granted a special exception to allow the former Rite Aid location on the corner of Forbes and Murray avenues in Squirrel Hill to operate as a grocery store with 23 on-site parking spaces.
The agreement specified several points including:
• The store will operate between the hours of approximately 8 a.m. and no later than 8 p.m.
• The customer seating area will be limited to no more than 10 seats.
• A dumpster will be located in the parking area and will be screened.
• Garbage collection will occur no more than four times a week and recyclable collection will occur no more than twice a week.
• A kitchen ventilation system will be installed.
In its applications, the store’s owners said the ventilation system would reduce odors from food preparation on nearby properties. They also proposed installing an accessible entrance on the side of the building, with access from the parking lot, and to create a parking space that’s compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In a November 2025 interview, store owner Isaac Glassner told the Chronicle that the store would be a “one-stop shop that has everything. 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.”
Glassner also said the store would include a deli featuring hot food, soups and even coffee.
The idea, he explained, is to eliminate the need to visit several different stores to complete a shopping trip.
Murray’s Market, he said, will also include a pharmacy and stock products found in most drug stores.
And while the store itself won’t be certified kosher, Glassner told the Chronicle that all the prepared food will be certified under the Vaad Harabonim of Pittsburgh. Prepackaged food will have its own certification from the manufacturer.
At the time, Glassner, who has spent more than a decade working at a surplus company doing logistics and close-out sales, said serving the community was an important motivating factor in opening the store.
“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.
An opening date for the store has not been announced. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.
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