For decades, Reading stood proudly as the Outlet Capital of the World—a destination so unique that millions of shoppers traveled here for bargains they couldn’t find anywhere else. Bus tours packed the parking lots. Industrial buildings buzzed with activity. And the VF Outlet [...]
This story holds special meaning for me—for Joseph’s was where my mother brought me each year to be outfitted for the new school year at St. Joseph’s School, and throughout the seasons for whatever clothing I needed. In many ways, Joseph’s is woven [...]
There's something magical about biting into a perfectly crisp, salt-dusted pretzel. That satisfying crunch, that unmistakable flavor—it's a taste that connects us to centuries of tradition. And if you've ever enjoyed a Tom Sturgis pretzel, you've tasted a piece of American history that [...]
For most of the 20th century, if you lived near 105 W. Lancaster Avenue in Shillington, Pennsylvania, you had a reliable constant: Seiger's Variety Store would be there when you needed it. Late at night, early on Sunday mornings, holidays when everything else [...]
Few eateries in Reading have inspired the kind of loyalty that Tack’s Sandwich Shop did. For nearly eight decades, the little corner spot at 16th and Cotton Streets served not just cheesesteaks and tuna sandwiches but a sense of belonging — a taste [...]
If you grew up in Berks County, you’ve probably heard it your whole life: Reading is the Pretzel Capital of the World. It’s on souvenir buttons, it’s in old Chamber of Commerce brochures, it’s in the way people from out of town talk [...]
When I was about eleven, my brother and I roamed our northeast Reading neighborhood collecting newspapers for recycling. We rigged our wooden wagon with tall side boards so we could heap it until it wobbled by day's end. Back home, we stacked the [...]
The site that would eventually become Berkshire Mall spent much of its existence as productive farmland, woven into the agricultural fabric of Berks County. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the area consisted of working farms where families cultivated the rolling Pennsylvania [...]
When the Berkshire Mall opened on February 10, 1970, it debuted a multi-level anchor lineup—Sears, Lit Brothers, and John Wanamaker—and a design that subtly played with height and sightlines. In its original plan, the mall incorporated an upstairs corridor that overlooked the central [...]
Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing sits at an inflection point after a turbulent 2024–2025. By late 2024 the borough, responding to recurring sinkholes in travel lanes, secured a court-backed agreement that fenced off unstable sections of the parking fields and restricted traffic to prevent [...]
