Day 3

Corner Store Analysis: Mercersburg, PA

General Information: According to a lifelong citizen of Mercersburg, there is a small Farmer’s Market that is open every Saturday just outside of town. Its popularity is typically low as the products are fairly expensive. Accordingly, backyard gardening is extremely common. Locals are renowned for canning their own vegetables after they ripen.

The local grocery store is a Food Lion that is also unpopular as it has a limited, yet an expensive selection of food items. Many city residents make the twenty minute drive to Greencastle or the thirty minute drive to Chambersburg for more varied, reasonably priced foods.

Downtown seems to be fairly active with bicyclists and pedestrians as there are several restaurants and a park in the area. The following list identifies and describes some of the rural food environment in Mercersburg:
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Uni-Mart (Convenience Food Store)-- 350 North Main Street
-No photos outside of the store are available due to owner’s request. Uni-Mart is located in a small strip of buildings beside a bank and McDonalds. It is a short walk from downtown.

1. No full size boxes of low sugar cereal were in stock, but they did have single, bowl size portions of plain toasted oats (Cheerios) cereal available.








2. All types of milk were available (large dairy farming industry in area).


3. Only 1 type of baked chips available.












4. Only 1 bag of whole wheat bread was in stock.
5. 100% Orange Juice was available.
6. No fresh produce.
7. Canned products included sliced peaches in heavy syrup (negative) and pineapples in 100 percent pineapple juice. Additionally, there were canned green beans and whole kernel corn.

Dollar General Store (nontraditional) – 11900 Buchanan Trail West
-Close in proximity to the Uni-Mart, but neighbors a Chinese Restaurant and Subway.



1. There was a large selection of healthy cereal including corn flakes, Honey Bunches of Oats, Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Fiber One, Crispy Rice, etc.
2. All types of milk were available.
3. No baked chips were available.
4. Wheat bread was in stock, but was located inconveniently on the bottom of the shelf.
5. There was a wide selection of 100 percent juice including grape, cranberry, apple, vegetable, orange.
6. No fresh produce.
7. A wide assortment of canned vegetables (green beans, peas, corn, etc) in no syrup and canned fruit (peaches, strawberries, pineapple, etc) in light or natural syrup were in stock.

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I will explore Mercersburg more tomorrow to identify any more food store possibilities. Thank goodness for off-days!