A small Tarentum mini-mart which drew generations of residents for cigarettes, milk and lottery tickets, has closed its doors.
Asay’s News Stand, at 328 E. Sixth Ave., was sold May 1 — just four years shy of marking 100 years in the borough.
“I will miss a lot of the people,” said Kevin Bertocki, a councilman who bought the store in 2006.
“Chances are, if you’re a resident, I’ve met you along the way.”
Historian Cindy Homburg said the business has a storied history, first started along Corbet Street by Aubrey Snyder.
He moved it to the present site, across from the railroad tracks at JG’s Tarentum Station Grille, where Snyder and his wife ran the store for years, Homburg said.
Old-timers will remember it sandwiched between Spudnut’s Coffee and Ice Cream Shop and the massive People’s National Bank at the corner.
When the store changed hands and was sold to Harold Hughan, most people referred to it as “Boomie’s,” the nickname of Hughan’s wife.
The couple sold it 35 years later to Denny Asay, a principal at the former Terrace Elementary School in New Kensington. As the store added to its racks of magazines and penny candy, it became a staple for mill workers at Allegheny Ludlum who stopped for a coffee and a newspaper.
Bertocki chose to keep the Asay’s moniker when he took over, and said he expanded the inventory to include household essentials like an old-fashioned corner store.
“It wasn’t much of an offering before, just some magazines and cigarettes,” he said. “They didn’t even have an operating cash register when I took over.
“They worked out of a cigar box.”
The Lower Burrell native wasn’t looking to own a retail market but “sort of fell into it.”
“I used to come over and hang out at Tully’s (a former bar along East Sixth Avenue), and I noticed the ‘For Sale’ sign,” he said. “The next thing I knew, I was signing papers.”
Bertocki collected a strong following over his nearly 20 years.
He’s had several ups and downs — including the sale of a winning Powerball ticket worth $100,000 in 2021 and an armed robbery allegedly staged by a former employee in 2023.
Carrie Fox, longtime borough resident and president of the recreation board, said the change is exciting but comes with a tinge of sadness.
She remembers well stopping in to “Boomie’s” and Asay’s through the years.
The building is expected to continue to serve residents when it reopens this month as Horizon Market, the borough’s first full-serve grocery store in decades. New owner Cameron Yockey already has crews there to replace the exterior sign and start renovations inside.
“It’s sad but also exciting to see some good come to Tarentum,” Fox said.
“I love to see investment in this borough, and the grocery store is much-needed.”
Bertocki said his packed schedule left little room for the business, which was starting to demand too much of his time.
In addition to serving on council, he recently signed on as general manager of South Pike Cinemas after his uncle reopened the Buffalo Township movie theater in October.
And, Bertocki owns a second Tarentum building, along East Fourth Avenue where the former Hometown Diner was, where he is hoping to attract a casual eatery.
“There’s just so many hours in a day,” he said. “I really want to turn my attention to getting some kind of restaurant open in my other building.”
“I made a lot of nice friendships,” Bertocki added. “There’s just not enough time to do everything. I want to open time up to enjoy life.”