Sparkle expansion takes shape

Deli and hot-foods sections will double in size to meet shoppers' growing appetite for convenience items.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Westside Sparkle Market is a survivor -- one of the few remaining large grocery stores in Youngstown -- and owner Andy Jarosz says it's time to give it a face-lift.
Jarosz has begun a $600,000 interior and exterior renovation at the store, at 1912 Mahoning Ave. on the city's West Side.
Passers-by will notice a new steel, stucco and brick facade with a wide, four-door center entrance on the 41-year-old Sparkle store.
Inside, the owner plans to double the size of the hot foods and delicatessen departments. "Those are our biggest growth areas," he said, noting that home- style ethnic foods such as pirogis are especially popular.
He'll also expand the store's dairy, produce, alcoholic beverage and frozen food departments by half, and he's replacing all its refrigeration cases to allow for a greater selection storewide.
The plans, designed by Boardman architect Steve Berry, will add about 1,500 square feet to the store's display area, for a total of about 15,000 square feet.
Caventer Construction of North Lima is the general contractor.
Jarosz hopes to have the renovation completed by some time in December.
Westside Sparkle lost its only nearby competitor in the spring of 2001 when the owners of Pangio's Foodland closed their store in the Mahoning Plaza after 22 years in business. Jarosz said an IGA a few blocks west of his market also closed a few years ago.
Plans set in motion
His expansion plans have been in the works since a motorist crashed his car into the storefront about two years ago. "That was the catalyst. That's when we decided it was time," he said.
Construction began Friday, the 15th anniversary of the day Jarosz shelved a career as an industrial engineer and took ownership of the longtime area grocery store.
A 1973 Youngstown State University graduate with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, Jarosz held several engineering positions with area companies before deciding to make a major career switch. In 1987 he bought the Westside Sparkle store from a corporation that was selling 11 area stores.
"It felt like coming home," said Jarosz, whose parents owned a small, mom-and-pop grocery in Hillsville, Pa. "I grew up in a grocery store. I was running a cash register at the age of 7 when I was so short, I had to stand on a pop crate. This just seemed right."
The Sparkle building has served as a grocery store since it was built, probably in the 1950s, the owner said. It was a Loblaw's Century Food Mart at one time and opened as a Sparkle Market in July 1961, when a group of area grocery store owners formed a corporation to buy it.
The corporation disbanded in 1987 and sold 11 Sparkle stores.
Jarosz employs 35 at the West Side market, and three of them are original employees who started with him in 1987.
Carol Damore is a hot-food specialist, George Kordic is produce manager and Diane Peterson is head cashier.
vinarsky@vindy.com