After 24 years,Eat’n Park plans to close

State College will lose its smile.

Or at least its Smiley cookies.

Eat’n Park will shut down Oct. 4 after 24 years in business on North Atherton Street. The reason was staring everyone right in the face during lunch hour Thursday — the parking lot had just eight cars in it, some undoubtedly employees, who were told Wednesday night about the closure.

“They’re sad it’s ending, but I think they understand,” Eat’n Park spokesman Kevin O’Connell said.

O’Connell confirmed that the business that once boomed in the 1990s and 2000s had sales drop off in recent years despite efforts to increase more traffic to the eatery.

“We’ve been there for almost 25 years, so we’ve been there for a long time,” O’Connell said. “It just wasn’t sustainable (anymore) ... We gave it our best shot.”

He said 49 people work at the location and that some may choose to transfer to other locations. The closest Eat’n Park eateries after the closing, however, will be in Altoona and DuBois.

“We’re offering employees a chance to transfer, but it’s far away for them to go to the next closest location,” O’Connell said. “We’ll also offer them a severance package. We want to take care of the employees.”

At least one employee, the restaurant’s general manager, will transfer to another location, said O’Connell.

He hopes that about four weeks notice to employees gives them time to plan their future.

“Other companies usually put a sign on the door, and that’s how employees find out,” O’Connell said. “It’s hard for us to close the restaurant, but we want our employees to feel like they have a chance to say goodbye to their customers and plan their next steps. That’s important to us.”

The company, according to O’Connell will still be a part of the community, just not in a physical sense.

Penn State, for which Eat’n Park executive Brooks Broadhurst serves on its hospitality management Industrial Advisory Board, will continue to be a prime source of prospective employees for the company. The eatery also plans to continue supporting Thon, which O’Connell said the company has raised more than $400,000 for in 21 years.

The closing doesn’t mean Eat’n Park won’t return to town someday.

“We’re open to doing other things in State College, and still see it as a viable area,” O’Connell said. “We will always keep our options open.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "After 24 years,Eat’n Park plans to close."