8–12 West Main Street

Now & Then Walking Tour

Now — 8–12 West Main Street

A few steps west of Webster’s Four Corners, this property tells a story of village shopping: jewelry, radios, refrigerators, televisions, and later vintage furniture and household treasures. Historically advertised as 8 West Main Street, Netzman’s appliance business eventually expanded its footprint to include 12 West Main Street. Today the property is identified as 8–12 West Main Street.

Look at the broad, two-story frontage, its light-colored brick facing, large ground-floor display windows, and projecting canopy. Then compare it with the older photograph of separate wood-sided storefronts. The photographs record a substantial change in appearance; the Market Basket family history dates Netzman’s decision to expand into the grocery-store space to 1949. The dates of the façade alterations have not yet been established.

 Later street view of the 8–12 West Main Street frontage. Compare the long canopy and upper-story windows with the older photographs. Image supplied as a Google Maps screenshot.

2012 and 2021 — The Garage Sale Store

By May 2012, The Garage Sale Store was advertising at 8 West Main Street. Its advertisement appeared among village merchants participating in a spring sidewalk sale. A December 2021 newspaper feature described vintage furniture, records, dinnerware, paintings, and other distinctive items for shoppers seeking an unusual gift.

The store brought another form of household shopping to a location long associated with appliances. In the sidewalk photograph, its hanging sign preserves the familiar “8 W. Main St.” address beneath the building’s canopy.

The Garage Sale Store’s hanging sign and sidewalk frontage at 8 West Main Street.

2008 — A view between retail eras

The photograph supplied with a May 12, 2008 filename shows the broad brick-faced frontage behind flowering street trees. A rental sign is visible in the display window beside the entrance marked “8.” The photograph records the building’s appearance at that point, but does not by itself establish when Netzman’s left or when the next business arrived.

 Frontage identified in the supplied filename as May 12, 2008. Note the brick facing, long canopy, entrance marked “8,” and rental sign in the window. Date based on filename.

1994 and 1991 — Netzman’s neighborhood appliance store

A January 1994 Webster Herald profile looked back on more than seven decades of Netzman’s. It reported that Jim Netzman founded the business in 1919 and later passed it to his son William. In 1988, William retired and sold the business to longtime employee Jim Hoffman.

The profile emphasized service before and after a sale, experienced employees, repeat customers, and a substantial parts inventory. A January 1991 village merchants directory listed Netzman Appliance & Entertainment Center at 8 West Main Street; the 1994 profile used that same address. These records show that “8 West Main” remained the business’s advertised address, even though its footprint eventually included the adjoining 12 West Main Street space.

1967 and 1963 — Televisions in the shop windows

Netzman’s advertisements trace changing household technology. In May 1963, the store promoted a 19-inch portable Zenith television. In September 1967, it advertised reduced prices on remaining 1967 Zenith color televisions. Both ads gave the address as 8 West Main Street and noted evening hours.

An undated color photograph shows the broad appliance-store frontage beside Rick’s Citgo at the corner. Frigidaire and Maytag signs fill the display windows, while a large smiling-face display adds a memorable touch. Compared with the earlier wood-sided storefront photograph, this view shows the much wider, unified appearance associated with the expanded store.

Netzman’s appliance-store exterior beside Rick’s Citgo. Note the broad brick-faced frontage, display windows, and appliance advertising.

1949–1950 — Netzman’s expands into Market Basket at 12 West Main

Market Basket occupied 12 West Main Street, immediately west of Netzman’s at number 8. According to the family history written by Donald Basch and Dorothy Basch French, Netzman’s decided in 1949 to expand its business into the space occupied by the grocery store. This account explains how the appliance business came to span the property now identified as 8–12 West Main Street.

Market Basket moved to a larger building at 32 East Main Street. Groundbreaking for the new store took place in the fall of 1949, and its opening ceremony was held February 10, 1950. Manager Joseph H. Basch continued with the grocery business at its new location. The account documents the expansion decision and the grocery store’s move; it does not give a separate completion date for Netzman’s alterations.

1942 and 1939 — Two businesses at 8 West Main

Hill’s jewelry business and Netzman Electric Co. were associated with 8 West Main Street during the same period. On June 9, 1939, Elmer Hill advertised diamond rings, watches, and costume jewelry at that address. On February 20, 1942, the Webster Herald carried separate advertisements for Hill’s Jewelry Shop and Netzman Electric Co., both listing 8 West Main Street.

Hill’s ad promoted diamonds. Netzman’s offered refrigerators, washers, ranges, and radios, while explaining that changing conditions limited sales to stock on hand. The matching addresses document overlapping operation here; the exact arrangement of their rooms or sales areas is not established by these advertisements.

Earlier storefronts — Radios and refrigerators on Main Street

The undated black-and-white photograph supplied as “Netzmans Electric” shows a narrower wood-sided storefront with tall upper windows, decorative panels, and a bracketed cornice. An RCA Victor radio banner stretches across the shop front, and a Kelvinator sign appears in the window. Refrigerators stand in a row along the snowy street, turning the exterior into an open-air display.

Beside it, Market Basket at 12 West Main Street retains its own separate façade. The family history identifies this as the grocery-store space Netzman’s later took over. Compare these distinct fronts with the later photographs of the broad brick-faced building. The images record the visual change, while the written account places the expansion decision in 1949 and the grocery store’s move in 1950.

Earlier appliance-store exterior, supplied as “Netzmans Electric.” Refrigerators line the street beneath an RCA Victor banner; Market Basket occupies the neighboring storefront. Photograph date and photographer not supplied.

1930–1949 — Market Basket and Joe Basch

Market Basket Corporation, headquartered in Geneva, opened its store here in April 1930 and appointed Joseph H. “Joe” Basch as manager. His children’s account recalls a grocery business serving a farming community: customers could buy food for their families and salt licks for their animals in the same shopping trip. During World War II, rationing made supplies such as sugar and chocolate syrup difficult to obtain.

Joe’s wife, Mary Fox Basch, helped at the store as needed. Joe also served Webster as a volunteer firefighter and later as fire chief. His grocery-store career continued after the move to East Main Street, where the business later operated as Acme Markets and closed in November 1964. That closing belongs to the East Main Street location, not to the former store at 12 West Main.

Market Basket at 12 West Main Street, beside Netzman’s appliance storefront. The close-up shows the Market Basket sign, grocery-window advertisements, and neighboring I.O.O.F. entrance. Although the supplied filename begins “06,” the family history identifies Market Basket’s address as 12 West Main Street. Photograph date and photographer not supplied

1913–1914 and later — Earlier grocery businesses

The Basch family history traces grocery retailing at this location to W. Lloyd Herrick during 1913–1914. Sterling Grocery Company later bought the store, followed by National Economy, which merged with Market Basket Corporation. Dates for those intermediate changes are not supplied. From these early grocery businesses to Netzman’s enlarged appliance store and later household-goods retailing, this stretch of West Main Street reflects generations of everyday village shopping.

Sources

Supplied Webster Herald clippings: June 9, 1939; February 20, 1942 (two advertisements); May 22, 1963; September 6, 1967; January 30, 1991; January 26, 1994; May 2, 2012; December 22, 2021. Exterior photographs supplied for the walking tour. History of the Market Basket/Acme Store in Webster, by Donald Basch and Dorothy Basch French, March 9, 2011, based on family records and photographs. Present 8–12 address supplied by the tour editor.