Patrons fear store may close
JACKSON TWP — Baldinger's Market carries thousands of items that are not in an average grocery store, including more than 200 cookie cutters, spices, Panni bread and pancake mixtures, imported Swiss truffles, and everything to make Ukrainian Easter eggs.
But some customers are afraid all that will go away.
The Buncher Co. last year bought the family owned market, which is on 10 acres on Route 19. No one knows what the company plans to do with the land, but some customers fear they will have to look elsewhere for their specialty items if Baldinger's is closed.
Buncher operates the Hidden Valley Four Seasons Resort and surrounding properties, as well as the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Pittsburgh. Company officials could not be reached for comment.
On Jan. 15, Pat Howley started an online petition to keep Baldinger's open.
"At first I didn't think it was going to be anything big," said Howley, 18, of Cranberry Township. "All of a sudden it blew into this bigger thing and people were sending me their stories about Baldinger's and asking what they can do to help. I think that if enough people get the word out it could make a difference."
There are about 2,000 signatures posted at www.onlinepetition.com, the free online petition service.
Posted comments include, "If you think money can't buy happiness, take a dollar to Baldinger's," and "I have been going to Baldingers since I was 6 years old and feel that it is an important part of the community."
There are other petitions circulating, including one posted in the market, which hundreds of people have signed.
"I cried for three days already. People have come in here for years and years," said Thelma LeFebvre, 76, a longtime Baldinger's employee. "I may never see them again. It's really a touching thing."
The landmark market, which has been featured on the CBS News Sunday Morning and the Food Network, offers more than 100 types of penny candy, which actually does sell for a penny.It has wooden floors and two antique cash registers that are more than a century old, reminding many visitors of their childhoods."What sums up Baldinger's is that no matter what age you are, it makes you feel like a kid again," said Brenda Beck, 42, a Baldinger's employee.The market is one of the few businesses in Western Pennsylvania that accepts only cash and checks."Since we opened, the store hasn't changed," said Betty Sabo, 79, longtime manager of Baldinger's. "The inside has never changed."In 1933, Allan Baldinger sold his stamp collection to finance a fruit stand along the highway. Then he added a restaurant, which on a good day would sell hundreds of homemade pies.His wife, Dorothy, helped him run the business. The married couple lived behind the restaurant.Allan Baldinger decided there were already a number of restaurants along Route 19, so he turned the restaurant into a general store that sold bulk candy, and soon Baldinger's Market was born."They weren't losing any business," Sabo said. "He just wanted to keep it an old fashioned store."After Allan Baldinger died, Dorothy Baldinger took over the store. Over time the market expanded, adding more imports, a large variety of Matrioshka nesting dolls and ornaments.Years later, Dorothy Baldinger died and her sister, Lois Dodge of Zelienople, took over the business. Eventually the store was taken over by another relative, who was not named because that person is sick and no longer in the area.Now Buncher owns it.The outside of the large white gourmet food market reads: "Baldinger's Foods From All Nations." The most popular product is the malted milkballs."We know for sure that this is a very unique piece of tourism here in Butler County," said Jack Cohen, executive director of the county Tourism and Convention Bureau."The history of that facility to people that come here, and even for folks that live here, that have grown up here — their parents took them and now they take their kids — it's amazing," he said.When travel writers tour the county, Cohen said Baldinger's is always one of the favorite stops, and writers always choose to highlight its history."It's a throwback to an era where that kind of store was everywhere," Cohen said."Baldinger's Candy" is the fifth-most searched term on the tourism bureau's Web site, he said.The CBS News Sunday Morning video of the store has been accessed 723 times in the past six months, he said."This video is large in size, so this leads one to believe that people who click on it are committed to watching it," he said."There's nothing like it left in this county," Cohen said, adding the county would be "hard-pressed to replace it."After word spread the store may close, new and returning customers have stopped in to sign the in-store petition, Sabo said."It would be to Buncher's advantage to keep this place open because people don't want to see it closed," Sabo said. "It would make for a better relationship in this area. The bottom line is we hope it stays open."
