‘So long, for now.’ Downtown State College sandwich shop closes after 14 years in business
A downtown State College sandwich shop closed after more than a decade in business, its owner wrote in a Facebook post Monday.
Bradley’s Cheesesteaks & Hoagies, a mainstay at 119 S. Pugh St. for nearly 14 years, closed, owner Ben Lippincott wrote. The Bradley’s at 1669 N. Atherton St. will remain open.
“We persevered through personal and professional tragedies, the economic impacts of scandals, a global pandemic, and the ever-changing nature of State College for nearly a decade and a half,” Lippincott wrote.
The business remained open during the course of four Penn State presidential administrations. An extension of the shop’s lease was on the table, Lippincott wrote, but work-life balances were “knocked ‘out of sync’” by the coronavirus pandemic.
He hoped to open another location, a possibility he did not rule out. Rather than say goodbye to downtown State College, it may be “so long, for now,” Lippincott wrote.
“Small businesses are really about the people, and they make it all worthwhile. To the hundreds of characters that have been a part of Bradley’s on Pugh Street: I Thank You with the deepest sincerity,” Lippincott wrote. “Pugh Street will always be near to my heart because it gave me the opportunity to build a family and home in parallel with a livelihood, but mostly because of the amazing people that it brought into my life, and the honor of being a part of theirs.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM.