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A small general store in a small town Pennsylvania townshipA husband and wife fear they are the last of their kind.
Centermoreland Grocery & Deli is a Small, family-owned general store in the heart of its namesake town — Centermoreland, Pennsylvania.
Alan and Sharlene Weidner own the store. Community shop. Stay true to your business practicesIt was difficult to invent it a century ago, but the duo does not plan on retiring.
While the Weidners are in love with it, they worry that their historic shop won’t be preserved after they’re gone.
“There are still some mom and pop stores. They’re trying to continue. They are there…” Alan told Fox News Digital. “…but less and less.”
In the center of their shop, Sharlene and Alan Weidner are standing.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
“I hope someone will continue it as it is. But I know other people who want it, and I believe they’re going be willing to make changes, you know. They want their own businesses,” Alan explained.
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Centermoreland residents and neighbors have given dozens of generous donations. Historic photos, postcards, and adsThe Centermoreland store as it has been over the years.
Over the years, the Centermoreland Grocery & Deli have been located in the same location.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
Because of its long and well-documented past, the store has been a focal point for the community.
A shoebox full of photographs documents the history of the store, from its humble beginnings as a Post Office to its transformation into a general-store. Then it is reopened today.
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One photograph shows a large crowd of people standing outside the Centermoreland Store, all wearing early-model automobiles. Another vintage photograph shows a horse and buggy outside.
Locals gather at the Centermoreland Deli and Grocery, which is currently located in the same building. Year unknown. Original photograph held by the Weidners. It was given by a member.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
The Weidners have made it their mission to bring justice to the surrounding areas with the products they sell and the emotions they instill in their customers.
The deli’s extensive food offerings are all made in-house and sold at low profit margins — reminiscent of the cheap, locally-made food Sharlene says she misses from Events at the church communityThese are becoming increasingly rare.
The store is full of memorabilia that reflects small town American life. Radio Flyer wagonSharlene rode her fixed-gear bicycle as a child.
A vintage postcard from Centermoreland (Pennsylvania). The Weidners are the owners of the original postcard. Year unknown.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
Sharlene stated to Fox News Digital she has doubts younger generationsWill be grateful for the continued operation of the store after her tenure as its owner, but she says it’s not surprising.
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Sharlene said that even after my parents died, antiquers came in to look at their stuff and said it was a dying breed as people don’t value these things anymore.
However, the Weidners’ younger generation is more optimistic.
Timothy Davenport (18) works in the store after he has finished his high school classes.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
Timothy Davenport is the grandson of Sharlene & Alan. Fox News Digital visited the store on his 18th birthday. He was working behind the counter at the deli counter cutting cuts.
“I love everything about this place. I love coming in here and just learning about all the old stuff — like the axles and the beehive,” he says, smiling and pointing up above him to an old, abandoned beehive the size of a basketball held in a pair of mounted deer antlers.
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“But you got other people who just come in — like, my age — just come in and don’t really look at any of it,” he said. “So it’s definitely a mix bag with my generation.”
Centermoreland Grocery and Deli still use the buildings vintage cooler rooms.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
Davenport works mainly in the deli, and he runs the counter alone on his shift. He is currently enrolled at a cooperative educational program, which allows him both to attend classes in the morning and to work with his grandparents during the afternoon.
“I would say that I started this summer,” […]However, I [actually]Davenport says that he started helping out a lot earlier than that. “I used to make the pizzas when I was younger. Like when I was — I want to say like middle schoolish — I was starting to make the pizzas and everything, and then it just came to me, working here and I got into the deli. I like doing it, it’s fun — communicating with all the people.”
Davenport is interested Being a mechanicHe is currently working in the store and completing the training required for the job. While he does not rule out the possibility that he will take over the store when his grandparents are gone, he is more focused on the present than imagining a future.
Alicia Sickler, 29, is the only employee of the store that isn’t a Weidner blood relative. She still calls them “Grandpa”, and “Grandma,” however.
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“I was raised down the street. Alicia stated that her grandfather used to visit this place to get coffee at least four times a day. Her grandfather was a concrete contractor and often worked at the store.
Alicia Sickler (29), is not related to Sharlene and Alan Weidner but still refers to them as her grandparents.
(Timothy Harley Jude Nerozzi)
“We never charged him a penny,” Alan interjected. Alicia and Alan laughed.
“Out here, it’s a little bit more of an older soul vibe. People are more involved in maintaining things like these and putting forth the effort, but it’s becoming harder for certain,” Sickler stated to Fox News Digital.
The shop’s modest kitchen is where Alan Weidner and Sharlene Weidner prepare homemade food every day.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
She stated that she believes the area and rural America were shaped by a mentality which has almost disappeared.
Sickler was more optimistic about the future than her employers when she was asked about it, even though she isn’t deluded by the taxing nature of a business like the deli.
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“My grandad never told me I was good enough. I didn’t have anything. Sickler explained that it is impossible to replace this. “It’s not always a good thing to pass on, however, there’s that hardworking mentality that came out of that.”
Old photograph of Centermoreland. You can see the Centermoreland Grocery and Deli on the right. Year unknown.
(Timothy Nerozzi/Fox News Digital)
She concluded, “I guess it’s really lucky that I caught the tail end.”
