New deli caters to lunch crowd

By Nick Malawskey

- nmalawsk@centredaily.com

Craig Brennan knows a good sandwich. For 15 years he was the owner and proprietor of Nittany Sandwich Works in the Nittany Mall, serving up Penn Steaks and Quarterbacks.

Prior to that, he had worked in several local restaurants before deciding he wanted to be his own boss and start his own business.

So after what he called “a pretty good run” in the mall, the local business owner and father of five sold his interest in the shop and began working on a new sandwich company, now open in the Wal-Mart Plaza on North Atherton Street.

At Carvers Deli and Ice Cream Shop, Brennan is catering to the lunch crowd — with two large displays of classic sandwich combinations, ice cream, soups and salads. Center stage in the shop is “The Deli Board,” from which customers can choose their own bread, meat, cheese and dressing combinations.

Brennan said he wanted to change pace within his business life in order to spend more time with his wife and five children — with all of the soccer, little league and football games, the hours at the mall were too hectic.

So now he is catering to his lunchtime regulars, open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily during the week and offering free delivery. “We like the sandwich places,” he said. “The casual (atmosphere) ... and the regulars.”

Indeed, he already knows some of his customers by name, chatting with them Wednesday as he made their sandwiches behind the counter.

Orders to the deli can be called in ahead of time for pickup at 237-0620.

Wild Side may move

When a sign advertising a liquor license transfer went up at Wild Side Pets, I must admit I was a bit confused — was the long-tenured pet store going to start selling beer along with puppies?

Not so, said the store. The liquor license transfer on display is actually for another company, which may be moving into the Wild Side Pets location.

No need to panic; Wild Side Pets will not be closing. Rather, the locally owned business is planning to move down the plaza to a larger retail space.

The advertised liquor license transfer involves a separate company called NVAC Enterprises, which is attempting to move a beer distribution license from Philipsburg into State College.

Once the license transfer is complete, both sites will begin renovations in order to complete the dual moves — Wild Side into its larger location and the new beer distributor into the end of the plaza.

Tuesday Morning to close

Tuesday Morning, known nationally as a closeout retailer, is closing its store in the Northland Center off North Atherton Street.

The store, which sells home accessories, housewares and gifts, will end its run on Tuesday, a clerk said.

The store’s parent corporation recently posted losses and declining sales figures and announced earlier this year it was planning to shut down several under-performing locations across its operations. The Tuesday Morning corporation could not be reached for comment at press time.