State College restaurant closes after not renewing lease

Authentic China Wok, 279 Northland Center, closed after the lease wasn’t renewed, according to employees of a neighboring business.

The owners could not be reached for comment.

According to the employees of a non-affiliated, neighboring business, the owners are looking to find another, more affordable location within the State College area.

The restaurant was registered as a business corporation in 2010, according to state documents.

Valley Vista Sheetz to reopen after renovations

The Sheetz store on Valley Vista Drive in Patton Township is scheduled to reopen Thursday after renovations during the winter, including a redesigned interior and gas operations. The store closed in November to undergo construction.

Brian Dinges, the company’s real estate site selector, said the store will carry beer. It will be followed by the proposed Patton Town Center Sheetz location, projected to open in late August, in selling the product.

At the Valley Vista store, the former structure was razed to make way for a larger building set back from the road. But with the revamp, the number of gas pumps will decrease from 18 to 12.

“It’s a completely new store,” Dinges said in an email. “We scraped all the old improvements and rebuilt the store and gas operations.”

The redesign is part of a plan to add 40 new or rebuilt stores in 2017. Sheetz, which operates more than 540 locations throughout six states, projects to operate more than 600 stores during the fiscal year 2018. The privately-owned Altoona company boasts more than $5.6 billion in yearly sales.

The Valley Vista store was redesigned to fall in line with that trend, said Dinges, who cited functionality and brand consistency in making the move.

“Excited about the new store,” he said. “ It will be a vastly needed upgrade to serve our loyal customers.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "State College restaurant closes after not renewing lease."