“State College makes room for new stores”

Posted: 10 Sep 2010 02:09 AM PDT

State College is like a home away from home for many students -- with familiar campus landmarks and downtown stores welcoming them back for a new semester.

But like all towns, State College has evolved, with some businesses closing doors and others opening shop.

Students looking for new shopping destinations should begin their search on Calder Way, where three new stores opened over the summer.

One of those is State College's newest convenience store -- Calder Convenience, 213 E. Calder Way. The owners of the store find themselves in an already thriving market, with Penn State students often on the lookout for a cheaper cup of coffee or bag of chips.

How does Calder Convenience set itself apart? The owners think they've found the answer with café-style seating, hardwood floors and inexpensive cigarettes that are rolled in front of your eyes.

A first pack of cigarettes -- customers can choose from five tobacco blends and a variety of tubes -- costs $3.50. If you buy a carton on your next purchase, the price will stay at $3.50.

And while co-owner John Yukevich doesn't quite advocate smoking -- the "Surgeon's General Warning" poster on the back wall is testament to that -- he swears Calder Convenience offers the cheapest cigarettes in town.

It's not the only thing that sets his store apart, he said.

"We play the Doors, the Stones, Louis Armstrong," he said, showing off the store's background music playlist. "We don't play rap."

Further down Calder Way, students can find two competing women's clothing boutiques, with storefronts facing each other across the 300 block of the street.

This block of Calder Way isn't the busiest section of downtown State College. In fact, while one side of the block boasts five storefronts, only one is occupied. The lone store is Flesh Décor, 332 E. Calder Way: a high-end women's clothing boutique that might lead the way for another four stores to move in.

Flesh Décor opened in mid-June, but owners Laura Rossman and Sarah Mayville said business has increased drastically since students have returned to Penn State, eager for the latest in trendy formalwear. Mayville said the clothes are designed with a night on the town in mind.

"We do fashion consulting," Rossman said. "We're here to give one-on-one advice."

Across the street from Flesh Décor is longtime State College businessman Art Fine's latest project, Cheap Thrills, 325 E. Calder Way, another store bursting at the seams with women's clothing.

Fine, who also owns downtown staples People's Nation and Barefoot, said Cheap Thrills occupies a small space he has owned since 1975. Because the building measures less than 1,000 sq. ft., he had to carefully select the clothing Cheap Thrills would sell, eventually deciding on a selection of dresses, tops, leggings, bags, scarves and jewelry for the Penn State fashionista.

"We don't worry about first period clothing," Fine said. "What we have is what you would wear to go out at night."

Downtown Improvement District Director Jody Alessandrine said the number of new businesses moving in impressed him.

"It's just always good to see growth," he said. "Other downtown areas aren't talking about business moving in and we can do that."

One block closer to campus, students will find themselves on College Avenue, and in front of another one of Fine's stores -- Metro. Underneath hides 316 E. College Ave., an address any music lover in town recognizes as the location of now-defunct City Lights Records, the last independent music store in State College.

Since early July, however, it's become the address of The Music Underground, the store that hopes to fill the void created by the closing of City Lights Records.

"We want to be the best record store for State College. Everyone who works here is really passionate," said store manager Maria Browne.

The store offers new releases on vinyl and CD, discount bin specials -- three items for $12 -- and used stereo equipment plus repairs. The store also boasts a small arcade made up of pinball and other coin-operated machines.

Music lovers, rejoice.

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