After 107 years in business, Hall’s Market in Snow Shoe won’t rebuild from fire
After 107 years of business, Hall’s Market will not rebuild, following a February fire.
The family-owned store, located at 491 E. Sycamore Road in Snow Shoe, was desolated by an electrical fire. Initially, Hall’s owners planned to rebuild the business, which housed True Value and Subway. But on Thursday, they announced the market will remain closed as the cost to rebuild was too high.
“There’s a lot of things that went into it,” fourth-generation co-owner Troy Hall said. “Most of it was a financial decision, based on the cost to rebuild and just the general business climate. It’s changed over the years.”
Jersey Shore State Bank, which adjoins with Hall’s Market, has reopened after the fire.
The market wrote on Facebook that it “exhausted all possibilities” of reopening and thanked its customers for their “friendship, patronage and understanding.”
Hundreds of community members, former employees and Mountaintop customers showed their support for Hall’s on social media, expressing their disappointment and understanding of the decision to close. So far, Hall said the support has been nothing but “positive.”
“We spent a lot of time weighing the pros and cons and worked through it,” he said. “It just wasn’t going to work out for us.”
With the closest grocery store being Weis Market at 170 Buckaroo Lane in Bellefonte, Snow Shoe residents have limited options for purchasing food.
The YMCA of Centre County, Hall’s and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank have partnered to provide a Fresh Express food distribution site at the market on April 30 at the Mountaintop Alliance Church, located at 675 E. Sycamore Road.
Centre County Transportation will also be in attendance to provide residents with information on how to access grocery stores in Bellefonte and State College.
Food distribution will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
“There are a lot of families and lots of senior citizens that will miss (Hall’s) greatly and who don’t have the transportation to get to the markets in Bellefonte or State College,” Moshannon Valley YMCA Executive Director Mel Curtis said.
The YMCA also launched a food distribution hotline. By calling 342-0889, residents can request a delivery of a box of groceries from the Moshannon Valley YMCA.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
