Local History: Scranton store owner rebuilds after devastating fire in 1980

Jun. 16--John Granito sat on the steps of a city ladder truck and watched his life's work go up in smoke.

It was Oct. 17, 1980, and Granito's Moosic Street shop was a casualty of what was deemed to be arson at a neighboring business, Fabrio Furniture Co.

Granito's shop, White House Market at 524-526 Moosic St., offered fine meats, cheeses, produce and sandwiches -- including the largest hoagie available in Scranton proper, if not the county.

The shop had been in his family since it opened in 1913.

Before Granito's father constructed the Moosic Street building sometime in the late 1920s or '30s, the shop had done business in a small white frame building across from the former Lackawanna Iron and Steel Works for decades.

But the early morning fire in 1980 damaged the popular shop and the six-unit apartment building, including the apartment Granito lived in.

"My whole life is in there," Granito whispered as he watched firefighters dump thousands of gallons of water onto the building, according to an Oct. 19, 1980, Scranton Times story.

At first, firefighters hoped to contain the blaze to Fabrio Furniture. Granito passed out cold sodas to the crews, as four of his tenants watched from across the street as the flames rushed closer to their home. But the fire spread too quickly, and the flames, plus smoke and water, ruined Granito's building.

City champion

Granito had always been dedicated to beautifying the city.

His shop boasted three large flagpoles and two flower barrels, a welcome wagon of sorts to motorists coming into the city from Interstate 81, according to a June 8, 1969, Scranton Times story. In addition, the businessman purchased a large trash receptacle for a sidewalk near his store. He painted it a cheery red, white and blue and added slogans encouraging passersby to help keep America beautiful.

He also raised money to improve the city, from placing benches along city streets to beautifying to Nay Aug Park.

So it came as no surprise to those who knew him that Granito wasted no time in rebuilding after the 1980 fire.

"For Granito, rebuilding his destroyed store is no more nor less than thinking that if his arm broke, he would have it fixed," a Feb. 22, 1981, Scranton Times story reported. "Both are so much a part of him that no lengthier explanations are necessary for either case."

He explained his drive to rebuild as just a way of being civic-minded.

"For me, it's a matter of pride. Not only in myself, but in this community and the people in it," he said in that article. "Somebody has got to set an example ... to show what a citizen is supposed to do."

Granito credited his father's craftsmanship for the building holding up against the fire, smoke and water as well as it did. All the same, it took a tremendous effort by Granito and several skilled crews to restore the building.

"Then, on Valentine's Day, Granito's Market reopened for business," the Feb. 22, 1981, article reported. "John, 35 pounds lighter from the work put into it, stood beaming as hordes of his old friends and customers came in such numbers that he ran out of many items of new stock."

He continued to live in the same building as the store.

Unfortunately, Granito didn't get to enjoy too many more years tending the family store. He died Oct. 10, 1987. At the time, he lived at Laurel Hill Nursing Home in Dunmore, according to his obituary. He left behind a brother and a sister, as well as several nieces and nephews. He is buried at St. Catherine's Cemetery.

Granito's store remained open until 1995. The building was sold in 2006; Cosmos Cheesesteaks operates there now.

ERIN L. NISSLEY is an assistant metro editor at The Times-Tribune. She's lived in the area for more than a decade.

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