VERNON TOWNSHIP — It’s going to be a bit harder for Deborah Manross to act like Santa Claus this year.
She’s been buying small Christmas gifts at Cutter’s Outlet in Vernon Township for the past several years for residents of Meadville Golden Living Center since her father-in-law had been a patient there.
“I gave a woman a (stuffed) dog and you’d thought I’d given her the world,” said Manross.
But Cutter’s, a Meadville variety store icon for some 60 years and one of Manross’ favorite places to shop, is set to close in the next few weeks.
Cutter’s has been known for nearly three generations of Meadville residents for its bargain prices on knick-knacks, glassware, toys, silk flowers, candles and host of other items.
Manross was in the store Tuesday looking for half-price bargains before the store’s two-acre parcel and 25,000-square-foot building on Conneaut Lake Road in Vernon Town-ship goes up for auction April 4.
“This will be a big loss,” Manross said of the closing.
No store closing date has been set as yet, said owner Jim Cutter.
Asked why he was closing the business, Cutter would only say he’s “discontinuing the business. I’m moving on. I’ll do something (else). I don’t know what yet.”
Jim Cutter has operated the business for the past 36 years, taking over from his late father, Otto. The elder Cutter died in 1998 at age 89.
“Dad started the business in 1948 in Meadville,” Cutter said. “We moved out here (to the Conneaut Lake Road location) in 1953.”
The first store was on Water Street in downtown Meadville where Valesky’s market is now, he said. The downtown store was discontinued by the late 1950s, he said. Cutter’s wasn’t any busier than usual Tuesday for a late winter/early spring day, said Cathie Chase, who’s worked at Cutter’s for more than five years.
“It was a normal day,” said Chase, explaining that the store had about 75 customers Tuesday. Weekend days are about twice that number this time of year, she said. The store’s busiest season is summer, with tourists visiting the area, she said. Manross said she’ll miss the store when it’s gone.
“This place met everybody’s needs,” said Manross.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
Local News
Cutter’s Outlet closing after 60 years of business
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut Lake Park roars into 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park’s 120th season is officially under way with its in-keeping-with-tradition, four-day Memorial Day weekend opening, and the “crowds are coming in,” Jack Moyers said Saturday.
-
Area communities ready to celebrate Memorial Day
Editor’s note: The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are Monday, except those in Edinboro and Shermansville, which are planned for Sunday. -
Remembering Civil War Bucktails
A glimpse into daily life of the Civil War era is easy to see in Crawford County.
-
Area Memorial Day events
The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are on Monday, except the one at Edinboro that is planned for Sunday.
-
Civil War soldiers highlight Meadville Memorial Day events
A courageous Meadville man — wounded three times but remaining on a Civil War battlefield until he was too weak to continue — is being remembered this Memorial Day as the Meadville Area Memorial Day Committee continues its mission of observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
-
Police: Locals admit to killing Ohio woman
Two Cochranton women were arrested and jailed on homicide charges early Thursday after allegedly admitting they killed an Ohio woman and buried her body in a shallow grave near their residence recently.
-
Reader 'Faces' are coming in
Mom's car dash, Meadville, PA
Lucy Kedzierski, 12, looks at the face every morning waiting for school bus!
She took this with a cell phone. -
North Street Project sure to be 'very disruptive'
With the preliminary traffic control plan for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s North Street Project complete, Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest summed up the anticipated impact of the project, which is expected to span the entire 2013 construction season. “This is going to be very, very disruptive,” he said Wednesday.
-
Boat business booming in warm weather
It’s been a booming business in boats this spring, according to some area boat dealers.
-
City leaders not concerned after financial downgrade
During the past five years, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned three different ratings — all within the range of “upper medium grade” to the City of Meadville’s bonds. In 2007, the city was given a rating of A3, the lowest of the trio. In 2010, the city’s bond rating was raised to A1, the highest ranking in the “upper medium” category. Monday, Moody’s gave the city’s $10,000,000 General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2012, which went on the market Monday, the middle rating of A2.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
