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Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market kicks off today

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FORTY FORT &mdash; After acquiring the location of the former Maine&rsquo;s Food and Party Warehouse on Rutter Avenue five weeks ago, Schiff&rsquo;s Marketplace opened its doors to the public for the first time on Wednesday.
				The original Schiff&rsquo;s opened in Scranton back in 1945, and now the food-service company aims to make a mark in Luzerne County, as well.
				&ldquo;There were something like 50 people waiting outside when we opened up this morning,&rdquo; Schiff&rsquo;s Restaurant Service President Mark Reese said.
				According to Reese and scan operator Beth Ann Sorber, the store experienced a steady flow of customers all through the morning and into the afternoon.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been busy all day,&rdquo; Reese said.
				The transition from Maine&rsquo;s to Schiff&rsquo;s started back on May 17, when Schiff&rsquo;s formally announced their purchase of the Maine&rsquo;s location and began to remodel and refurbish the building ahead of Wednesday&rsquo;s reopening.
				In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this five-week period was also used to ensure that the building was cleaned thoroughly and safety guidelines could be put in place.
				&ldquo;We had some challenges with the pandemic, but we&rsquo;ve cleaned this place very thoroughly and we&rsquo;ve got guidelines in place to ensure everyone&rsquo;s safety,&rdquo; Reese said.
				Employees were masked and gloves, and customers also had masks on and tried to stick six feet away from one another. Checkout lines had markers on the floor to aid in the social distancing.
				Schiff&rsquo;s managed to retain roughly 40 employees from Maine&rsquo;s, including Sorber.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never worked for a nicer group of people,&rdquo; Sorber said.
				Around the store, customers had nothing but praise for Schiff&rsquo;s.
				&ldquo;The selection in here is so big,&rdquo; said Ruth Ann Huffman. Huffman was a frequent shopper at Maine&rsquo;s, and came all the way from Hunlock Creek with her sister to check out the new store.
				Jason Klus, from just down the road in Kingston, didn&rsquo;t expect the store to be much different than Maine&rsquo;s.
				&ldquo;I think they had a better produce selection than most grocery stores, so I hope it&rsquo;s similar here,&rdquo; Klus said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just nice to do something normal.&rdquo;

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