WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Michael Kotsch stood mostly quiet on Monday afternoon as he listened to each item in his meat market/grocery store being auctioned off.
For when a three-generation business draws to a sad close, expressive feelings are slow to bypass the lump in one’s throat.
“I first put on an apron and worked in my family's stores when I was 12,” Kotsch said. “I’ve never done anything else but this. Now, it's over. But it’s time.”
- Kotsch's Market in Whitehall Township has closed after 69 years
- An auction was held Monday to move inventory at the family operated business
- Owner Michael Kotsch cited his business's inability to compete on pricing with big-box stores as the reason for the closing
Unable to continue competing for business with big-box stores such as Sam’s Club and Redner’s, Kotch’s Market has closed its doors — 69 years after Ernest Kotsch Sr. bought an existing grocery store business on Third and Union streets in 1954 and stamped the family name on it.
“They’re able to undercut our prices,” Kotsch said of those bigger stores, his ink-black Ray-Ban Wayfarers doing little to mask his melancholy. “We need to move volume to be successful. But we just can’t do it anymore.”
Auctioneer John Pfeiffer Jr., of Slatington, sped through the cattle rattle, fielding bids on myriad items outside Kotsch’s on MacArthur Road.
Frying pans, old wall clocks, placards, old soda bottles, pencil sharpeners, plastic bins and trays and more.
“This is the right decision, but it's painful.”Melissa Brunst-Kotsch, of Kotsch Market
Later, inside, Pfeiffer would auction off complete lots of foods off the store shelves, as well as deli slicers, sausage machines, butcher blocks, freezers.
Anything and everything had to go.
Standing in the sunlight as dusk descended upon their business, Kotsch’s wife, Melissa Brunst-Kotsch, expressed her love and appreciation for many of their long-time employees.
“We have the best employees,” Brunst-Kotsch said. “Some have been with us for 37 and 40 years. They were here through COVID, taking orders on the phone, and then Michael would deliver the food to our customers.
"Having to close and how it affects our employees is where our sadness is now. This is the right decision, but it's painful.”
Not 'just a place to buy food'
James Rankel of Whitehall was a longtime customer. He said he viewed the Kotsch’s Market closing representative of what is happening to small, family-owned businesses.
“The big stores are forcing people like the Kotsches out,” Rankel said. “How can the little store compete with the big store? They can price them out of business. It’s a shame.”
The Kotsches for years served up the finest cuts of meat and grocery items to residents of Whitehall and surrounding communities.
“You came here and saw the same friendly faces. They knew the way you liked your meats cut, and they asked about your family. This wasn’t just a place to buy food. This is a sad day.”Longtime customer Shirley Jansen of Whitehall
Ernest Kotsch Sr.’s sons, Ernest Kotsch Jr. and David Kotsch, worked alongside their father for many years. Michael Kotsch, David’s son, began working there in 1985.
The market moved to its current location in 2018.
Kotsch said he's uncertain what he will do now that his business has closed — a feeling echoed by many of his customers.
“This place was like part of the family,” Shirley Jansen of Whitehall said. “You came here and saw the same friendly faces. They knew the way you liked your meats cuts, and they asked about your family.
"This wasn’t just a place to buy food. This is a sad day.”
