Pennsylvania General Store Owner Offers Local Foods in Curated Gift Baskets

Elkins Park, Pa. (WPVI) -- When it comes to gifting local favorites, Julie Holahan has you covered, with baskets like 'Love from Philly.'

Holahan, as the owner and CEO, has procured some of the best food and craft items for the Pennsylvania General Store in Elkins Park, PA.

"We are very proud sellers of the Metropolitan Bakery," she says.

The store also carries Pennsylvania maple syrup tapped from trees in western PA.

"Every single product you pick up has a story," says Holahan.

And everything in the store is, as the name suggests, from Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania is the largest producer of pretzels in the country," she says.

Many pretzel brands line the store shelves, such as Pretzel Pete's, Faller's, Hammond's and Uncle Jerry's.

There are also souvenirs. Holahan says they carry ornaments, clothing and other items with designs by local artists like Ana Thorne and Paul Carpenter.

The flagship store is in the Reading Terminal Market where Julie and her late husband, Michael, began a boxed lunch business in 1987.

"We took all the best foods from around the Reading Terminal Market and packed them in these cool boxes," she says. "And delivered them to office buildings."

Holahan says the business grew as they started curating other local items from the market.

"We just went around Reading Terminal Market and bought things and made them into these cute little packages and people loved it," she says. "Sort of the start of the local movement."

Now, the store is known for its gift baskets. 'Philly Flavors' is one of many, but Holahan says the 'Philly Favorites' basket is probably the most popular. That basket contains Keystone Crunch, which she describes as a "really yummy toffee popcorn" made by Asher's Chocolate Co. It also has Melrose Diner Cookies, Goldenberg's Peanut Chews and a chocolate Liberty Bell from Lore's Chocolates, among other local treats.

There are game-day snacks for sports lovers. You can order a jumbo-size tin, which comes with Herr's chips, dipping mustard and hard pretzels, among other items.

"That's a fun one," says Holahan.

And Tastykake Towers are sure to bring smiles.

"We ship Tastykakes all over the country, and a lot of them," she says.

The store also ships soft pretzels, along with cheeses and meats, like Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna.

"All of the Pennsylvania Dutch things that have been around a long time," says Holahan.

Cookies are also baked fresh on-site.

"I'm proud to carry on Michael's dream of this business," she says. "It's been a journey for sure and we've had a lot of fun doing it."

Pennsylvania General Store: https://pageneralstore.com/

Pennsylvania General Store
864 Township Line Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Pennsylvania General Store
Reading Terminal Market
1136 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Map Location C11