Wholey's , officially known as Robert Wholey & Co. Inc., is a prominent

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling Fish as food, fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between Fisherman, fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish ma ...

and

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

's historic Strip District neighborhood. The store is known for its vintage decor, that includes a suspended model train, a bronze pig, and several animatronics. It also is home to a sushi bar and a fast-food style kitchen, as well as a dining room. In addition to the retail store, Wholey's also delivers fresh/frozen seafood and meat items across the United States.

History

Robert L. Wholey opened the store in 1912 as a meat and live poultry shop located in the suburb of

McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania McKees Rocks, also known as "The Rocks", is a borough in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania, United States, along the south bank of the Ohio River. Part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, its population was 5,920 at the time of the 202 ...

, where it remained until 1948 when Robert L. Wholey's son, Robert C. Wholey moved it to Diamond Market, a market house in what is current day

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

. It remained in operation at the market until the city razed the building to convert the area into a park in 1959. This prompted Robert C. to move the store once again to its current and final location in the Strip District. Despite being known as a fishmonger, the business didn't offer any seafood until 1960, when it started importing fish from across the United States. In 1980, Robert Wholey & Co. purchased the Federal Cold Storage building on Penn Ave, where it continued to operate until 2007, when it was sold to a Michigan firm. Demolition on the building, along with its iconic neon fish sign, began in 2021. In 2012, Wholey's celebrated its 100th anniversary with a three–day celebration. Luke Wholey, a member of the Wholey family, opened a seafood restaurant called Wild Alaskan Grille.

Gallery

File:Wholeys fish sign.jpg, Wholey's famous fish sign, on the former Federal Cold Storage building File:Wholeys entrance.jpg, View of the entrance File:Wholeys pig parts.jpg, "Pig Parts" for sale at Wholey's File:Fish at Wholeys.jpg, Fish at Wholey's File:Bubba, the 22-lb. lobster (5476104).jpg, Bubba, a 22-pound lobster on display at the store

References

Companies based in Pittsburgh Culture of Pittsburgh Fish markets 1912 establishments in Pennsylvania Retail companies established in 1912 {{pittsburgh-stub