Pennsylvania General Store

The Pennsylvania General Store is a retail and mail order company selling Pennsylvania-made foods and crafts located in the historic Reading Terminal Market. Founded by Michael & Julie Holahan in 1987, the store is an eclectic mix of products representing the best of locally made foods & crafts. The selection of foods ranges from Philly favorites, such as Melrose Diner Butter Cookies and Gilda's Biscotti, to Pennsylvania Dutch specialties, such as Bauman's Apple Butter and Kitchen Kettle Pepper Jam. Pennsylvania is the leading producer of chocolate in the United States, and the state's chocolatiers are well represented in the store by, among others, Asher's Chocolates of Souderton and and Lewistown PA, makers of fantastic chocolate covered pretzels, Neuchatel Chocolates of of Oxford PA, who handcraft delicious truffles, and Wilbur Chocolate Company of of Lititz PA, home of The Wilbur Bud. One of the best aspects of running the business has been developing relationships with the network of local crafts people and small family-run food businesses whose products line the shelves of this family-run store. "Most of our vendors, whether they are an Old Order Amish pretzel bakery or a Center City candy maker, share a common passion for the foods they produce. There is almost always a sense of place in what they create. The Pennsylvania Germans have a word for this, 'Bodegeschmack, ' meaning that our food has the taste of the land in it."