Centre County’s 1st Dollar General Market coming to Snow Shoe. Why it’s important to the area

After nearly five years without a store that sells fresh produce and meat, residents in Snow Shoe Township and the Mountaintop area will finally have that need satisfied in a few months.

Centre County’s first Dollar General Market, unique because it sells those fresh products, is tentatively set to open this spring, although a specific opening date hasn’t yet been nailed down, a Dollar General spokesperson told the CDT.

The market is currently under construction at 472 E. Sycamore Road between Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Shop and the Philips 66 gas station, less than a mile off the Snow Shoe exit on Interstate 80. It will be replacing Snow Shoe’s current Dollar General location at 644 E. Sycamore Road, which will close once the new location opens.

What makes the new market different from a standard Dollar General is that it doesn’t just sell general household merchandise and packaged, processed and frozen foods. The new location will also provide a selection of fresh produce and meat products as well, which are things that Mountaintop residents have had difficulty getting since Hall’s Market closed in 2020 due an electrical fire.

“We’ve been hurting really bad up here for a while now,” longtime Snow Shoe resident Monica Urbanik said. “Since (Hall’s Market) went out, I know that myself, as well as many other folks living up here, have had to travel a long way for fresh food —especially meat — and that’s been hard on a lot of people. It just hasn’t been a very good situation at all.”

Urbanik isn’t the only resident that’s had a tough time getting fresh food on the Mountaintop. Chelsea Butterworth and Dylan Zink, a young couple that recently moved to Snow Shoe in 2024, told the CDT that they often have to travel to get the fresh food that they need.

“I work down in State College so thankfully if I need fresh food, I can stop at a grocery store while I’m commuting to get it. But, with that being said, it’s really frustrating when you’re sitting at home and realize that you need a fruit, vegetable or meat for something, but you have to drive at least 20 minutes to get it,” Zink said. “I am for sure looking forward to the convenience of having a store like that up here.”

Since Hall’s Market closed, the Snow Shoe area has become a food desert, or a place where there’s little to no access to a source of fresh food within a 15-mile radius.

The Mt. View Market Place in Kylertown, the Bellefonte Weis Market and the Giant on Benner Pike are the three closest fresh food-selling grocery stores to Snow Shoe Borough, with each store being located between 15 and 21 miles from the borough, respectively. Getting to any of those stores from the borough requires at least a 15-minute drive.

State Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, has been working closely with residents and public officials on the Mountaintop in recent years to help alleviate the food insecurity issues there, and told the CDT that he’s happy to hear that residents will finally be getting a much-needed resource.

“I think it’s great news that a Dollar General Market is coming to the Mountaintop,” Takac said. “Over the years we’ve really been trying to come up with some productive solutions to the food insecurity issues there, and it looks like the construction of this store is going to be a big step toward helping eliminate that problem. I welcome all steps that will help make lives better for folks there, and I welcome anybody who is interested in joining us in that effort as well. We’ll never turn away anyone who’s willing to help and invest in the community.”

The closure of Hall’s Market — along with the bank and hardware store that the former grocery store’s building also housed — was the first domino to fall in a long series of business closings in the Snow Shoe area in the last half-decade.

The area’s only pharmacy closed just four months after Hall’s. Soon after that, the area’s only medical center closed too, leaving many Mountaintop residents wondering if their beloved small town had a chance at bringing resources back to the area.

Longtime Snow Shoe resident Lori Facer also has high hopes that the new store will be able to inspire some new businesses to come to the area.

“Getting the new market is nice, and while I do think that it’ll help people up here, that’s certainly not all that we need,” Facer said. “A bank, a medical center, some restaurants, a hardware store — we need it all, and then some... (The Dollar General Market) is a good start, but here’s to hoping that we’ll get some more businesses that want to bring their services here too. The good people of this area need it, and deserve it.”

Facer also commended the Mountaintop residents who have been selling fresh produce at seasonal farmers markets, calling their actions “very important and very helpful” to people living in the area.

The new Dollar General Market will the first of its kind in Centre County, with the next-closest market being located at 705 McAteer St. in Houtzdale.

According to the Dollar General spokesperson, the incoming Dollar General Market will employ around 10 to 15 staff members “depending on the individual needs of the store.” The spokesperson did not directly address what would happen to the current employees when the old location closes, although it’s common practice in other businesses to simply transfer employees.