‘Indebted forever.’ Two Waffle Shop locations change ownership but carry on the tradition

After more than two decades, two Waffle Shop locations are welcoming a new owner.

Longtime owner Greg Knight sold the Bellefonte and College Avenue locations to Duane Reese on March 1, which was 22 years to the day that Kight bought the locations from founder John Dimakopoulos. Neither Reese or Kight planned for the sale to take place on the anniversary, only figuring it out when they brought out an old photo of Kight’s original purchase.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to hand it over to a really good group of people,” Kight said. “… it’s something that we worked hard to build.”

Although the ownership has changed, Reese plans to keep the menu and atmosphere of the Waffle Shop the same. The only thing he’s considering is to start accepting credit cards. But Reese acknowledges that would bring on several logistical changes like fees and adjustments to registers that the that two other Waffle Shop locations owned by Dimakopoulos faced when they started accepting credit cards in 2018.

Although the Waffle Shop locations are the first restaurants Reese has owned, the ownership transition has gone smoothly for staff and customers, he said.

“The staff are great, the customers are great,” Reese said. “You always worry that with the new owner coming in the staff are gonna get nervous and the customers will get nervous but they haven’t been.”

Part of what drew Reese, a Centre County native, to purchasing the Waffle Shop is its place as a local tradition on weekends and gamedays.

“I’ve always had an interest in some of the State College landmarks like The Corner Room and places that people know, and Waffle Shop is one of them,” Reese said. “So to be able to own something like that was very exciting to me.”

For Kight, the sale was bittersweet but he’s excited for Reese to take on the restaurant. He said the restaurant will always be a part of him but the sale will allow him to dedicate more time to his family. Kight still plans to stop in for breakfast and thanked his many current and former employees from over the years.

“I am indebted forever to the people that worked for us for 22 years that have given their time and their talents,” he said.

This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 3:27 PM.