[Danesdad]

Anybody with a place in Northern Clarion or Southern Forest county hear why the County Line Market on 66 closed? It used to be a thriving place, then seemed to fall on hard times for a couple years, and now it's closed completely. It (used to be) was the last store before I got to my place and we'd stop for small supplies, sodas and lottery tickets. Anyone know what happened?

 

[Shawnm]

Was in there about two weeks ago,and it was slim pickens.Told my budddy it looks like they're getting ready to close.i'll be interested to hear whats going on

 

[rem760]

Last year they didn't have gas for quite a while and quit selling lottery tickets. This year I stopped the weekend of Trout to get gas and they were out again. I figured it was just a matter of time before it closed or changed hands again. I believe the new owners just bought the place a couple years ago. It was usually the place we would pick up a few items before heading down Nebraska Road to the camp. The other place was the Whig Hill Store which has been closed for probably 3 years now and still for sale.

 

[Wpalongrifle]

There's alot of places up for sale or closed!! from Tionesta to West Hickory. Most camps owned by folks from Pittsburgh and eastern Ohio.. No deer??? Money Tight?? Older Generation???

 

[Danesdad]

I understood that the people that owned it also owned a restaurant in Tionesta. Probably two years ago, the store started not being restocked regularly. I know that when a place loses lottery, it is in trouble. All of last year, the stock was way down. The woman that was working there (an old woman, probably the grandmother of the owner), kept saying that they'd had a bad winter but they'd been through a dozen winters before that with no issue. I got the vibe that it was family owned and that somehow money disappeared, but this is just speculation on my part. I'd bet four committed people could run that place and make a go of it, as long as everything was kept on the up and up.

 

[GermanHillHunter]

The lady that owned the countyline market also owned the coffeepot restaurant down in tionesta. She recently sold the restaurant downtown. I'm not sure if she sold the market as well or if it shut down. Her granddaughters son is in my daughters class. Next time I see her I'll have to get the scoop. She used to run the restaurant downtown before her grandmother sold it.

 

[DennyF]

Sometimes it's poor management, sometimes a sign of poor economic times in an area - or a combination of both?

Another small burg over in Tioga County along Rt. 15, Lawrenceville, lost its only bank recently, then a convenience store and now, its only grocery store.

Might be a case of the highway no longer going thru town as it once did, or maybe not enough local people to patronize small businesses. It's a quicker trip now to bigger enterprises like Walmart down by Mansfield, or those up towards Corning, than it once was.

 

[Danesdad]

I'm not gonna pass a little ma and pa store to go to Walmart to buy milk and a package of hamburger buns. Obviously I wasn't there day in and day out, so local conditions may have changed, but there didn't seem to be any change in traffic during the times I was in there over the years. Plus talking to the woman that worked there during the decline, I always got stock answers "bad winter...blah blah blah". I always felt like they gave that same answer to everyone who asked. Of course, I'm not local, so maybe that's why I get the canned response. Maybe GHH or someone else local can go all Paul Harvey and get "the rest of the story". Cause I really liked that store and I'm sorry to see it go.

 

[GermanHillHunter]

Yeah I hate to see it go too. My kids used to love to stop in there and fill up bags of the candy in the baskets they had. And I always liked to stop by and grab a bite to eat. They had good homemade food for lunch.

 

[skwirl]

Come on over to Tioga co we have more closed businesses than you can shake a stick at
they all started going belly up shortly after AR was introduced.........Coincidence ????

 

[Danesdad]

Yeah I hate to see it go too. My kids used to love to stop in there and fill up bags of the candy in the baskets they had. And I always liked to stop by and grab a bite to eat. They had good homemade food for lunch.

Same here. My son would always leave there with a bag of that candy.

 

[btbowhunter56]

According to the chatter on the Tionesta Facebook page, the store was up for sherrif sale a couple weeks ago. Rumor on there was that the restaraunt was still going but I didn't happen to look when I was in town several times last week.

My personal guess is that the store started going downhill after they opened the coffee pot. I wonder if they over-extended their finances with the two places. Didnt eat at the coffee pot after giving it 2 chances, (pricey for very small portions) and my guess is that it was a money drain that killed both. JMHO

 

[blueridgehunter]

I remember when I was a kid 50 years ago there were little mom and pop places everywhere my pap would go one place one weekend and to another the next trumans in sigel is the only one left now and they are closed Jan thru March be a sad sad day if they close . Why do they close well let's see people stop at GE or wal mart on the way and don't need the little guys but I still do!

 

[GermanHillHunter]

A lot of the small stores took a beating this winter. The lack of snowmobiles from the mild winter really hurt them. It's a big part of the economy up this way.

 

[rem760]

We asked why they had no gas and if they planned on getting and got the same reply "It was a slow winter". I believe the store sold a few years ago and the asking price was around $750,000. Anybody ever notice the Taxidermy sign on the building behind the store. I still remember going as a kid to the store on German Hill, which is currently the B&H, when they had the bears named Rosie and Jigs and the deer. And back in the 1960s and 70s, the Whig Hill store, we used to walk from camp along the road and pick up pop bottles and turn them in for the deposit to buy penny candy or a bag of chips. The good old days.

 

[Shawnm]

I'am 47 and have been going to the tionesta area since i was a wee little kid.One thing that stands out to me is the decline of the number of deer hunters.that area used to be jam packed with deer hunters,not so much anymore.seems like there are fewer and fewer each year.B&H is my go to store now,i usually stop in a few times each time i'am at camp.changing times and the economy have not been kind to some of these small mountain towns.

 

[Danesdad]

We asked why they had no gas and if they planned on getting and got the same reply "It was a slow winter". I believe the store sold a few years ago and the asking price was around $750,000. Anybody ever notice the Taxidermy sign on the building behind the store. I still remember going as a kid to the store on German Hill, which is currently the B&H, when they had the bears named Rosie and Jigs and the deer. And back in the 1960s and 70s, the Whig Hill store, we used to walk from camp along the road and pick up pop bottles and turn them in for the deposit to buy penny candy or a bag of chips. The good old days.

I heard that line this year and last year. But, the year before that, everything was fine. What was it about the last two winters that was so different from the previous dozen or so?

 

[Q2XL12]

I had heard this the last couple years after they lost the gas the first time and then the lottery. Supposedly the owner likes to spend money he doesn't have and it was catching up to him. Shame because that store was always convenient for breakfast sandwiches or a quick slice of pizza.

 

[RyanR]

We asked why they had no gas and if they planned on getting and got the same reply "It was a slow winter". I believe the store sold a few years ago and the asking price was around $750,000. Anybody ever notice the Taxidermy sign on the building behind the store. I still remember going as a kid to the store on German Hill, which is currently the B&H, when they had the bears named Rosie and Jigs and the deer. And back in the 1960s and 70s, the Whig Hill store, we used to walk from camp along the road and pick up pop bottles and turn them in for the deposit to buy penny candy or a bag of chips. The good old days.

I heard that line this year and last year. But, the year before that, everything was fine. What was it about the last two winters that was so different from the previous dozen or so?

Most of these types of places have always had small profit margins but now costs of doing business, just keeping the lights on and such, have really gone up. They're likely HEAVILY dependent on good tourist seasons and so it really doesn't take much more than a bad season or two in a row to wipe these small businesses out.

We see it when we got to Wilmington, NY in the Adirondacks. Beautiful, tiny town and they have both a summer tourist season (fishing, boating, etc) and a winter tourist season (skiing at Whiteface, etc.) and many of the businesses absolutely rely on that tourism dollar to make it or break it much more than the local resident dollar. We've been going up there for about a decade now and have seen several business we loved and enjoyed fold after a bad season. Mostly these are restaurants and cafes and small markets. In fact, the only gas station/convenience store in the village closed down the other year and was for sale last year.

So when they say it was "a bad winter" or a "bad summer" for them it might not be the whole story but it's more than likely a significant part of it.

 

[jreichert38]

I talked to someone who worked there for a while. They left because they seen that it was going down. That was almost 2 years ago. I always try and do my part and support the locals. I buy my adult beverages up there and as much food as possible.