After serving the Pennington community for 66 years at its Route 31 location, the Pennington Quality Market ended its run on Saturday, June 13, 2026, to reopen the following Monday as McCaffrey’s Food Markets. The Rothwell family had owned and operated the PQM since 1981, and now the second generation of the family will have a chance to retire from the business. The employees, many long-term, will continue to have jobs with McCaffrey’s.
This post is a brief summary and appreciation of the PQM story, with some fun photos. We are working with the Rothwells and the community to collect and preserve historic artifacts of the PQM, including photos, press clippings, advertisements, and other materials. Please contact us if you can have more information and materials to share for a more detailed account of the PQM.
The Pennington Quality Market
The Pennington Quality Market (affectionally “PQM”) has operated in Pennington for over 90 years as an independently-owned grocery store, and has been at the current location on Route 31 for some 66 years – operated that entire time by only two families.
The PQM name began in 1934 when John and Edward McVeigh purchased the Pennington store of Elmer Weart at 12 Main Street, and renamed it the Pennington Quality Market.
In 1960, the McVeighs moved the business to the current location at 25 NJ-31 in Pennington, at West Delaware Avenue and Route 31 (then called Route 69).
In 1981, Larry Rothwell purchased the PQM from the McVeighs, who he had known because he had worked for a wholesale supply company that served the PQM. Around 1990, his children Michael and Barbara joined the business, and continued to operate it until it was sold to McCaffrey’s in 2026.
The PQM has been the anchor store in the Pennington Shopping Center, which currently hosts 21 stores and approximately 100,007 square feet in a strip mall that extends to the right and then back from the market.
1930 – Elmer Weart Opens Pennington Store
In 1930, Elmer A. Weart opened the predecessor to the Pennington Quality Market, a grocery store with other general merchandise at 12 Main Street in Pennington.
Weart also had operated a “large general merchandise store” in Hopewell since at least 1918, at what is now 38 East Broad Street at Hamilton Avenue.
1934 – McVeigh Brothers Purchase Weart’s Store
In 1934, brothers John and Edward McVeigh purchased E. A. Weart’s store at 12 North Main Street in Pennington, and changed the name to the Pennington Quality Market.
The brothers had worked at both of Weart’s stores in Hopewell Borough and Pennington. John had been running the Pennington store, after starting working in the Hopewell store at age 9.
1960 – McVeighs Move PQM to Current Location
In 1960 the McVeighs moved the Pennington Quality Market (or Supermarket, as it was labeled in advertisements) to its current location on West Delaware Avenue at Route 31 (then called Route 69).
The building stood alone, before the adjacent shopping center was built with stores to the right and back.
1981 – Larry Rothwell Purchases PQM
After some 47 years of operating the Pennington Quality Market, the McVeighs sold the business to Larry Rothwell in September 1981. Rothwell was born in Philadelphia and served in the Navy during World War II. He started in the food business in 1950 as a salesman.
Rothwell knew the McVeighs since his company was a wholesale grocery supplier to the PQM. After 30 years in the business, Rothwell decided to take over PQM business.
Rothwell began a deep legacy of commitment by the PQM to the local community, by sponsoring events, supporting schools and nonprofits, providing good long-term jobs, and employing generations of local students.
1990 – Rothwell Children Join Business
In the early 1990s, the next generation of Rothwells joined the Pennington Quality Market.
Son Mike Rothwell joined the business in 1990. As a child, he went along with his father on weekends visiting customers, and also worked in supermarkets. He graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a degree in food marketing, and then worked for over a decade in the food industry for Procter & Gamble and Cadbury Schweppes.
Daughter Barbara Rothwell Henderson joined the business in 1992 and managed the flower shop. The business was owned by Larry and the three children, including inactive partner Terry Rothwell Orlando.
2000s – Evolution
In 2010, the Pennington Quality Market celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Route 31 location (since the business was moved to Route 31 by the McVeighs in 1960). The business had been owned and managed by the Rothwells for almost 30 years. The PQM then had 160 employees, and the building was 44,000 square feet.
From 1981 to 2016 the Pennington Quality Market was associated with Thriftway. In 2016 PQM became affiliated with the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA).
In 2007, the PQM added Soupe du Jour soups created by Patty Phillips, who had been forced to close her Soupe du Jour restaurant in Hopewell Borough. The PQM also added a variety of new departments over time, responding to competition from larger stores, including catering and the flower shop, the bakery and seafood departments, and an expanded deli.
2026 – PQM Sale to McCaffrey’s
Larry Rothwell died in 2018. While his children had joined the business with him, the next generation of children were not involved. Meanwhile, especially since COVID, the retail businesses had changed, especially with online shopping and delivery options.
As a result, the Rothwells decided in 2026 to sell the business to McCaffrey’s Food Markets, a family-owned regional grocery chain with eight stores in Yardley, Newtown, Princeton Junction, and Pennsylvania’s Main Line suburbs. McCaffrey’s agreed to hire all current employees as part of the transition.
Video thank you from Mike Rothwell, with the closing of the Pennington Quality Market and change to McCaffrey’s Food Markets, June 2026.
Please contact us if you have additional photos, materials, or information about the Pennington Quality Market.
Thanks for information and images:
- Mike Rothwell and the PQM team
- Colleen Prendergast, MediaMinds
- Gyuri Hollosy, long-time Santa at PQM
For more on the PQM in Pennington history, see:
- Pennington Profile, A Capsule of State and Nation, Margaret J. O’Connell – Digital Edition with photos
