Shops on the eastern side of Westchester Square, ca. 1913. At left is the James Butler grocery store. Butler, an Irish immigrant, founded a successful chain of grocery stores in the 1880s. Forgotten today, Butler’s chain was once the sixth-largest in the country, with over 1,100 locations.

If you took a stroll around New York in the early 20th century, eventually you were bound to come upon a store with a green and gold exterior. If you were to go inside, each would be managed in the same way, selling the same groceries and goods. These were the James Butler Stores a name as ubiquitous as Trader Joes at the time.