St. Ferdinand Parish Annual Family Festival

(via email)

Come to the grand St. Ferdinand Parish Annual Family Festival and gigantic White Elephant Sale @ St. Ferdinand Church, 2535 Rochester Road, Cranberry Township, PA 16066.

When: August 7-8-9
Time: Friday 6-11 PM; Saturday 5-11 PM; Sunday 3-10 PM.

Come share in the fun.
* Take chances on numerous raffles and games
* Play at Kiddieland or ride a train
* Play poker or bingo
* Shop at the gigantic White Elephant Tent
* And more!

Concession foods sold all during the festival.
* Buffet dinners served daily
* Friday 4-8 PM - Italian Buffet
* Saturday 4-8 PM - Chicken BBQ
* Sunday 1-8 PM - Turkey or Ham Dinner.

For more information see www.stferd.org or call the rectory during regular business hours at 724-776-2888.

Meeting set for Giant Eagle liquor license

The Seven Fields council will hold a public meeting to discuss the prospect of Giant Eagle obtaining a liquor license to sell six-packs of beer and malt beverages from inside the supermarket. The chain has also applied for liquor licenses at six other locations around Pittsburgh. More from the Post-Gazette and KDKA.

Giant Eagle has entered into an agreement to purchase a liquor license, but Seven Fields is required to hold hearing to allow residents to voice their opinions on the issue.

The public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. July 13 in the Seven Fields borough building.

The Seven Fields' Giant Eagle currently has a wine and liquor store adjacent to the grocery store.

Village at Pine

Not too far down Rt 19 will be the future Village at Pine at the corner of 19 and Wallace Rd. It's a 174 acre mixed residential/commercial development. The Post-Gazette ran a feature on the commercial aspect of it which is starting to take shape. Besides a Sonic and an unnamed sports bar, there are hints of other restaurants as well.

Now construction crews are working on the business phase of the development where PNC Bank already is operating. Dollar Bank, which is financing the development, soon will open. Huntington Bank also has signed a lease for a spot along Route 19, where the other banks are located.

Giant Eagle, with more than 182,000 square feet, is the anchor store and is scheduled to open in March. Getgo, Sonic and Owl Cleaners also will be there, in addition to restaurants, a sports bar, beauty salons, a nail shop, a jewelry store, a coffee shop, and a 5,000-square-foot "big name" card shop, said Mr. Gigliotti, who hesitated to name all the leases until negotiations are finalized.

Restaurants are a part of the plan. Mr. Gigliotti points to the steel frame of Building 4 at the corner of Route 19 and Wallace Road. Restaurants will be housed here; a balcony/patio that encircles the building can be used for outdoor dining. Decorative accents include wrought iron arches and railing.

The Planet Pulse

Opening October 15th and filling the old Dollar Wave next to Best Buy will be The Planet Pulse, a fashion and style shop. Not too much information there, though they do have a mailing list and an information email.

Shoppes at Adams Ridge update

Three more stores have been confirmed for the Shoppes at Adams Ridge according to notices and the companies' websites. This is in addition to other stores and restaurants that were announced in earlier posts.

Cribs to Teens - Offers infant and teen furniture as well as specialty clothing and gift items. According to their website, "We are the areas largest independent children's specialty store. What does that mean to you - we are not a chain store, a discounter, or a mass merchandiser. We strive to find the newest and best possible products available for your nursery at competitive prices." Their 3200 square foot store will open in mid September. They have one other store in Monroeville.

Volant Mill Winery - An award winning local winery located in Volant, PA that will offer their wines and other related gift items.

Gilded Lily - A gifts and collectibles shop with one other location in Evans City. "The shop offers everything from custom made silk floral arrangements and unusual outdoor and garden products to unique and varied framed prints, lamps and custom gift baskets."

McGinnis Sisters update

The McGinnis Sisters website has updated information on the new Adams Township location along Rt 228.

McGinnis Sisters Special Food Stores proudly announces plans to open our Adams Township location in mid August. We will begin interviewing prospective team members - Full time, Part Time and High school students - approximately July 10th however; we are accepting applications and inquiries now. Send resume/information to jennifer@mcginnis-sisters.com.

Readers of the Tribune Review Recently named McGinnis Sisters “One of the Top 250 Places To Work In Pittsburgh - Women Owned Business”. We offer competitive wages, team bonuses, an excellent benefit package and flexible scheduling.

The new 17,000 square foot store is located on Route 228 at the entrance to Adams Ridge and will offer our famous meat, seafood, produce and deli. Our beautiful cafe will be a great place for in store dining with free WiFi and cozy seating. Other departments will include a full service bakery, cheese department and specialty and conventional groceries.

Oak Tree Place

First mentioned back in November, Cracker Barrel has received approval to be built on the location that previous held the Oak Tree Motel.

On the immediate horizon is the Oak Tree Place development at the site of the old Oak Leaf Motel along Route 19 near Dutilh Road. It will include a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Starbucks, a drive-through bank and retail shops.

The Oak Tree Place project, being pursued by Walnut Capital Partners, of Shadyside, could be open by June 2009. The project was noteworthy for more than just the tenants it will contain. Township officials said Walnut Capital voluntarily agreed to pay transportation impact fees not only to Cranberry, which it is required by law to do, but also to Marshall. The project is being developed on the municipal border.

The Oak Tree Place development will have 41,581 square feet of commercial space.

More renderings of the shopping center can be found at the Walnut Capital website.

In addition, a new 14,000 square-foot Rite Aid will be built on Freedom Road across from the Cranberry Mall.

Baldinger's will relocate

Good news for fans of Baldinger's Market -- it will relocate to Zelienople.

For years, rumors have swirled about the fate of the landmark store, prompting petitions signed by people from all over the region begging for the market to remain open.

Local businessman Pat Boylan heard the rumors over the years and wanted to make sure Baldinger's was saved for posterity.

So, he bought the market and plans to re-create an exact replica of the old store -- inside and out -- in a building at 519 Perry Way, near the Exxon station in Zelienople.

"That's a monument to this community and I think it should be continued," he said.

He hopes to open the new store in June, but the old store will stay open until its new location is ready.

Baldinger's closing

It's been talked about for a couple weeks now, and today WTAE had a story (and video) about the future closing of Baldinger's. Just last July, rumors of its demise had been denied following the sale of the surrounding property. But when the owner died late last year, the remaining family decided to close shop. From the article:

Baldinger's, a little store just north of Cranberry, has been a local landmark for nearly 75 years, selling hard-to-find foods and candy.

But as the market gets set to celebrate its anniversary in Jackson Township, it's also scheduled to close at the end of June -- much to the dismay of loyal customers from across the country.

Manager Betty Sabo has worked at Baldinger's, located on the side of Route 19, for more than 60 years.

Over the years, customers have come from every state and 60 countries, Sabo said.

Sabo said she hopes someone takes the Baldinger name and opens another store in the area.

Restaurant updates

The Post-Gazette today detailed two future Cranberry restaurants as well as a landscaping and garden center.

First off is Houlihan's (warning: annoying music), a restaurant and bar that already has three locations in the Pittsburgh area. It will be finding a home in the Streets of Cranberry as a stand-alone building in the front right of the shopping center. Houlihan's offers "classic American food" with a full bar.

Sir Pizza is a Pittsburgh chain that will be located along Commonwealth Drive. They offer pizza, pasta, subs and a six-pack shop.

The Barn Landscape Supply & Greenhouse will be located near North Boundary Park.

The developer, Bobby Colosimo, of Ross, said he's been planning the center for three years but has had to deal with sight distance problems. Mashuda Corp., of Cranberry, will use a special road-working machine to resolve the problem by lowering North Boundary Road six inches.

A 4,416-square-foot retail center will be constructed along with two outdoor display areas that will total about 11,000 square feet.

Mr. Colosimo said he hoped to be open by the fall planting season.

Prizant's Carpet Shuts Down

The western PA carpet chain that had 10 locations in the region has suddenly closed its doors. This includes the location in Cranberry along Rt. 19. From the Tribune-Review:

Calls to the company's Penn Hills headquarters Monday weren't returned, and phones at most stores weren't answered.

Brian Paul, ex-manager of the Pleasant Hills store, said company representatives told him at 4 p.m. Thursday to close immediately, and that the remaining Prizant's sites were ceasing business.

"It totally caught us by surprise," Paul, reached at home, said yesterday.

Stores in Butler, Cranberry, Lower Burrell, Penn Hills and Peters closed 2 1/2 weeks ago, he said, but, "We were under the assumption that they were going to try to run with five stores and cut costs," possibly with smaller spaces.

As of today, Prizant's website is still up.

Cabela's says no to Cranberry, Pittsburgh Mills

Rumors from weeks ago have turned out to be untrue. Cabela's has decided not to explore opening a new store either at the planned Summit at Cranberry or Pittsburgh Mills. The Cranberry Township Development blog had a jump on this a few days ago and now the Tribune-Review has confirmed it:

"There are no ongoing discussions for either property," said John Castillo, a Cabela's spokesman.

Cabela's continues to consider hundreds of sites throughout the country, Castillo said

"I understand they (Cabela's) were looking at the Simon Property site [Summit at Cranberry] and they turned that down, and they turned down our site as well," said Stephen Zamias, CEO of Zamias Services of Johnstown, owner of Pittsburgh Mills.

Shopping, restaurant updates

The Post-Gazette ran a few articles today detailing some upcoming developments in Cranberry. Here's a quick list:

• Cracker Barrel will be coming to town. Originally, they were supposed to be located in "restaurant row" where Olive Garden, Red Robin, On The Border, etc. are located. That fell through, and now they'll try again on Rt. 19 where the Oak Leaf Motel used to stand. They'll be located just down the street from several other similar restaurants - Eat'n Park, Perkins and Bob Evans.


• Cranberry Promenade (second item down) , detailed last Spring in the PG, is expecting approval to begin building in the Spring. The grocer Aldi will anchor the mixed-use development along with a pharmacy and a couple banks.


• The biggest project on the list is the Summit at Cranberry. Required as part of that project are modifications to Rt. 228 to handle the increase in traffic. Currently, the developers are a few million short on the money needed to improve the roads. The project will proceed anyway and they hope to have the improvements completed by 2012.

Shopping updates

Two minor updates on local developments and their stores:

The Shoppes at Heritage Creek (across 228 from the Springfield Grille) hasn't announced its store lineup yet, but one store has registered with the Cranberry Chamber of Commerce: The Fig Tree, which is filed under the category of Specialty Food Market.

It has been confirmed that McGinnis Sisters special food store will be expanding to the Shoppes at Adams Ridge, as previously noted. They are hoping for a Spring 2008 opening.

I'm not sure what's with the overuse of the word "Shoppes".

Cabela's may move to Cranberry

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times are both reporting that Cabela's, the outdoor sports giant, could target Cranberry as a possible expansion site. The location could be the future Cranberry Town Center.

"This would be a good market for Cabela's," agreed David Glickman, vice president of the retail group of Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial real estate firm in Pittsburgh.

Although a Western Pennsylvania site would be a departure from Cabela's initial blueprint for expansion that once envisioned stores up to 300 miles apart, competitive forces could be driving the company to consider expanding in this area, closer to its Wheeling store, said Glickman. He noted that Bass Pro Shops is planning to open a major store as part of the Victory Centre complex in South Strabane in Washington County.

"Bass Pro Shops could be a factor," Glickman said. "A lot of people from this area have been going south to Wheeling, but now we have this new store proposed for Washington."

In 2004 Cabela's opened a 175,000 square foot store in Wheeling, WV.

The Summit at Cranberry detailed

The Post-Gazette presented an update of the Summit at Cranberry, a "mega-office complex tied thematically and architecturally to plans for a major shopping plaza." The two plans combine for nearly two million square feet of mixed retail and commercial space on nearly 200 acres. The article goes on to detail the extensive transportation package needed for the development.

[The developers] will cover all its normal on-site traffic improvements plus off-site improvements on Route 228 from Route 19 in Cranberry to Myoma Road in Adams. That includes Franklin Road, Castle Creek Drive West (across from Highpoint Drive to the north), Castle Creek Drive East, Seven Fields Boulevard, Adams Ridge Boulevard and Myoma Road.

The new road configuration would also feature widening of Route 19, beginning at the Pennsylvania Turnpike and ending at Short Street by Wal-Mart, on Route 19. An eastbound lane would be added to Freedom Road and Route 228. The left turns from westbound Route 228 to access both northbound and southbound I-79 would be eliminated.

Alternatively, to go north on I-79, a new ramp would be constructed on the north side of Route 228 to go northbound on I-79 from westbound 228. A new loop road would be built on the north side of Route 228 to get on I-79 southbound from westbound 228. Also, a lane would be added to the exit ramp from the northbound I-79 exit.

There would be no changes to southbound I-79. Also, Route 228 would be widened in both directions by one lane and turn lanes would be added to Franklin Road in both directions.

The Cranberry Township will review the plans in six weeks.

Dairy Queen and more

The sign is up. The Shoppes at Adams Ridge (across 228 from Giant Eagle) will be home to a new Dairy Queen "coming soon." In addition to the Citizens Bank and Walgreens that already reside there, according to this flyer put out by The Paradise Group, the following other stores have been lined up:

• Williamsburg Dry Cleaner
• McGinnis Sisters Grocery
• Hong Kong Restaurant
• Great Clips
• Stone Peppers (?)
  
• A chiropractor
  
• A furniture store
• A salon/spa
• A future stand-alone sit down restaurant

Bye Bye Iggle Video

The Seven Fields Iggle Video, which resides along side Giant Eagle, will be closing down September 1st. Giant Eagle had announced a month ago that it would be replacing all of its video outlets with automated kiosks. Consumers can pick up their DVD right from the box for $1 a night and return it to any kiosk when done.

Baldinger's featured in the Post-Gazette

Just up Rt. 19 from Cranberry you'll find Baldinger's Market. The store has been around for more than 70 years selling a wide variety of hard to find candies, cookie cutters and more. With the recent sale of the property around the store, rumors have arose that the store would close. Those rumors are untrue and manager Betty Sabo is quick to correct them. The Post-Gazette carried a short video this weekend highlighting the quirky store and it's long-time manager.



The store has made news in the past both locally and nationally.

Cranberry development notes from Sunday

There were a few local news items from the weekend that related to the Cranberry area. Here's a quick summary:

• The Streets of Cranberry will soon have a similar project attached to it.


• The Promenade is set for construction this Fall. Located at the corner of 19 and Ogle View Road, this project will include "a multi-tenant retail building, a small grocery, a pharmacy, and two banks with drive-throughs."


• A third park in Cranberry is scheduled to open in 2009 along Rochester Road. It will feature 13 parks, including six baseball fields, four soccer fields and three football/lacrosse fields.