Grocery delivery service starts in State College

Grocery shopping has never been easier.

At least that’s the goal of InstaCart, a business that began operations Tuesday in State College and communities from Port Matilda to Centre Hall.

The grocery delivery service cuts out the part where people have to travel and shop at several retailers. Instead, customers only have to log in on instacart.com or through an app to pick what they want and when they want it delivered. The service can be used for Wegmans, Giant, Petco and CVS locations.

It is possible, General Manager David Schloss said, that more retailers will be added to the service.

“State College has been on our radar for a long time,” he said. “It’s one of the areas where we see a lot of customer demand.”

The company keeps records of when people search for services on instacart.com, which enables them to learn where most potential customers are searching from. There have been thousands of searches, Schloss said, out of the State College area.

More than 50 people in the State College area have been contracted as shoppers and up to 100 will be under contract to start. It is possible that more will be hired when Penn State students return, and Schloss said the largest pool of customers will likely be students who do not have a car.

“Other groups are people who might have less mobility than maybe they once had ... this is a great service for them,” Schloss said. “There’s also another big group where they use the service based on convenience. A mother with two young children may use it, because it can be very hard to complete a grocery trip with the kids.”

InstaCart is offering customers a free yearlong subscription of express delivery, which expires Aug. 27. The express delivery service is free on one-hour, two-hour and scheduled grocery deliveries of more than $35.

All seasons resort sold to new ownership

Blue Knob Seasons Resort is under new ownership after being owned by the Richard Gauthier family since 1983.

Sustainable Hospitality and Development, a Pennsylvania-based investment group, bought the resort with the intention of keeping a “laid-back environment” while making a “better Blue Knob.” The new ownership team plans to announce renovations and new development of the property at a later date, according to a statement.

Scott Bender, former CEO of Seven Springs and Hidden Valley Resorts, was a facilitator of the sale and will be an adviser to the investors on rehabilitation of the resort. Existing plans to improve customer experience include an events calendar and a new website.

SHD will offer season ski passes at preseason rates through Labor Day.

Blue Knob, the state’s highest ski-able mountain, has been open since 1962 and is home to 34 slopes, trails, a tubing park, golf, biking, tennis and swimming.

Weis Markets has new wellness program

Weis Markets recently announced Nourish Your Gut, a corporate-wide health program.

The initiative introduced store signage of foods “that supply naturally-occurring prebiotic fibers or probiotics” to promote digestive health. The foods identified in the store include whole wheat and sourdough breads, apples, bananas, oats, yogurt, beans and sauerkraut.

“Digestive health has been called one of the top health and wellness trends of the year,” Weis Markets Lifestyle Initiatives Manager Beth Stark said in a statement. “We know that our customers are seeking out foods with this proven health benefit so we have identified a mix of prebiotic food sources such as bananas and oats, and probiotic food sources, such as kefir, kombucha and kimchi.”

Weis also features a Nutri-Facts program, which identifies gluten-free, vegan, low carb and heart healthy on price tags of food.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Grocery delivery service starts in State College."