Allen County, Indiana Places

Maloley's Bros. - Fine Foods

1950 Maloley Brothers grocery

Maloley Bros. photo May 23, 2022 post by The History Center on Facebook about local grocery storres shows Maloley Bros. grocery circa 1950. Most likely the original Broadway Avenue at Jefferson Boulevard store.

Started by brothers Al and Mike Maloley. At their peak employed 1,200 people in 18 supermarkets in northeast Indiana, a bakery and two M&M stamp stores. Their custom built stores were often a pale turqouise blue brick buidling still seen in a few locations around town. In 1933, the Maloley brothers used their father's insurance money to start the business according to Founder of Maloley’s supermarket dies at 100 by Frank Gray published March 21, 2014 in The Journal Gazette newspaper now on the Alfred “Al” Maloley memorial on Find A Grave.

A little notoriety, a lot of history Local prosecutor's free lecture to focus on the notable — and notorious — women of our city Monday, January 23rd, 2017 on Fort Wayne Magazine. The article is about the presentation ARCH Sin in the Summit City whose video is on our Mary Maloley People section. The end of the article states:

This will be Richards’ fourth lecture for ARCH, and she came up with ideas to focus on people other than white men once while taking a tour of Lindenwood Cemetery. That’s where she saw the graves of people like Maloley and George.

And while she may have been notorious at one point, Mary Maloley’s story didn’t end with the brothel — or brothels — she ran.

Instead, many historians point to her being behind — in some capacity, at least — the Maloley grocery stores that began popping up in Fort Wayne.

“How’s the saying go?” Richards asked. “Something about ugly furniture and old prostitutes — they always end up respectable if they’re around long enough.”

1970s Maloley's Fine Foods

Maloley's Fine Foods blue brick building at Maplewood Plaza circa 1970s posted April 24, 2010 on Facebook.

  1. Maloley's Finer Foods Alumni on Facebook:

  2. December 16, 2015 post by Indiana News 1 formerly the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook on Facebook:

    1968... Maloley's

  3. They built their first supermarket in 1956, and sold the business in 1980 to Super Value Stores. See several Maloley's Johnston Brothers signs on Indiana Album and Indiana Memory.
  4. Their colorful aunt Dago Mary Maloley lived in the Syrian community in Hartford City before coming to Fort Wayne and helping finance her nephews grocery store Maloley Brothers according to her biography on pages 191-194 in Strangers Among Us The Story of Blackford County Indiana Immigrants by the Blackford County Historical Society, AuthorHouse, 2011.

  5. November 4, 2010 on the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook:

    Maloley's Grocery Store fire corner of Broadway Ave. and West Jefferson Blvd. Fred Kreamelmeyer Jr. is at the left. Date 08/02/1962

    Photo is also seen in the newspaper article Aug. 2, 1962: Fire damages market, ruins stock Corey McMaken June 3, 2021 Updated Jun 6, 2022 History Journal archives of the Journal Gazette newspaper.

  6. February 18, 2019 post on Fort Wayne Memories on Facebook:

    Maloley's Grocery Store, Fort Wayne, Indiana, ca. 1960 At left edge of the image is a 1961 Chevrolet, Other cars parked at the curb include a 1953 Oldsmobile, a 1959 Rambler, and a 1956 Chevrolet.

     

    This is the same photo as Maloley's Grocery Store, Fort Wayne, Indiana, circa 1960 photo in the Johnson Brothers Sign Company Collection at The Indiana Album.

  7. SuperValu bought Maloley’s in 1980 and Rogers stores in multiple transactions in the early- to mid-1990s. From Local Scott's grocery era coming to a close Last store becoming Kroger, outreach remains by Sherry Slater published October 25, 2015 in The Journal Gazette newspaper now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. 
  8. 1970s M&M Gold Stamps

    Photo from a November 1, 2021 post for “Fabric of the Fort: Our Tapestry of Human Heritage” by The History Center on Facebook:

    Maloley’s Fine Foods, M&M Gold Stamp Book, c. 1970s. The Maloley family is among one of the many Lebanese-Syrian families that settled in Fort Wayne.

  9. Fort Wayne, IN chain grocery/supermarket locations, 1925-87. by Andrew T. 04 Aug 2018 on Groceteria.com.
  10. Fort Wayne Historical Chain Locations (Groceteria.com) spreadsheet lists several locations, although doesn't list Maplewood Plaza, New Haven downtown then New Haven Plaza, Riviera Plaza, West State Boulevard, or out of town stores like Kendallville:
  11. Women blue-greenish dress grocery uniform.

    January 21, 2022 post on Maloley's Finer Foods Alumni on Facebook. Women wore a blue-greenish dress grocery uniform.

  12. August 10, 2023 post on Maloley's Finer Foods Alumni on Facebook. When white dress shirts, leather shoes, dress pants with a belt were required for male workers.

    1. 3520 North Anthony Boulevard (1972-1980)
    2. 4317 South Anthony Boulevard as Store #5 (1956-1980)
    3. 1840 Bluffton Road was a Sav-a-Lot in 2005 (1980 formerly Marsh)
    4. 1101 Broadway Street as Store #4 (1951-1966 former Foodland)
    5. 2451 Broadway Street as Store #2 (1945-1956)
    6. 2547 Broadway Street (1940)
    7. 2728 South Calhoun Street (1945 - 1935 Jesse W Markley)
    8. 3918 South Calhoun Street (1980, in 1987 was a Tom's Super Valu
    9. 417 West Creighton Avenue as store #2 (1960-1980 former A & P) (415 - 1945-1956, 1966)
    10. 2825 Gateway Plaza as store #3 (1966-1975)
    11. 508 South Harrison as store #1 (1945-1951)
    12. 512 South Harrison (514 - 1935-1940)
    13. 631 West Jeffeson Boulevard (1956)
    14. 702 East Lewis (1940)
    15. 1806 West Main Street as store #3, former A & P (1951-1956)
    16. 1810 West Main Street (1940)
    17. 6721 Old Trail Road as store #1 "Old Trail Road and Lower Huntington Roads, Waynedale 1956-1960, (1956-1980)
    18. 3232 East Paulding Road (1980)
    19. Southtown Mall (1972)
    20. 3121 East State Boulevard as store #6 (1966-1980) then SuperValu Cook's

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