Picture East Windsor - Then And Now

EAST WINDSOR, CT — For today's installment of this periodic informal series, highlighting businesses from East Windsor's past and what those locations look like today, we again dig deep into the 1980 edition of the East Windsor High School yearbook, The Archive, and a photo of one of the town's most beloved businesses: Chester's Market.

Owned and operated by World War II Army veteran Stanley Chester and his wife Rosalie, the market started in Broad Brook in the 1950s, and moved in 1966 to its longtime home at 149 North Rd. Stan Chester was considered a pioneer in the independent grocery business, competing against national chains.

The Chesters sold the store in 1999 to the Santilli family, who renamed it Santill's Market. Their stay was brief, however, as Patrick Soucy bought the property in 2003 and opened his highly-successful Golden Gavel auction house, which flourishes today.

Stan Chester died in June 2010 at age 88; his wife passed away at the same age six months later.

Here is a more contemporary look at the building from the opposite angle, courtesy of Google Maps.

Do you have a photo of an old East Windsor business which no longer exists, to which you own the copyright and which we could feature in this column? Email tim.jensen@patch.com.

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