Barry's Country Food Market to close, leaving behind void in Craley
Author: Mike Argento
Description: The store, and its predecessor, has been a fixture in Craley since 1931. It will close falling prey to changing times.

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#### Closing after 86 years, Craley loses a landmark and gathering place (column)

The store, and its predecessor, has been a fixture in Craley since 1931. It will close falling prey to changing times.

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# Closing after 86 years, Craley loses a landmark and gathering place (column)

Mike Argento, margento@ydr.com Published 8:10 a.m. ET Nov. 7, 2017 | Updated 8:37 a.m. ET Nov. 7, 2017
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Here are the latest top headlines from York County, Pennsylvania and the region. York Daily Record

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Sherry Leiphart, wipes a tear from her eye while talking about the closing of Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, after 86 years in business, saying the owners treat customers like family.(Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)Buy Photo

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It was 1931 when F. Edgar Sitler decided he'd had enough of working for someone else and decided to go into business for himself.

It was the height of the Great Depression, and Sitler was working as a salesman for the Littlestown Foundry when the opportunity arose to buy the O.C. Love General Merchandise store at the country crossroads that is Craley, Pa., a village that is not much more than the crossroads.

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Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, a center of the community, closes November 22 after 86 years in the community. Paul Kuehnel

The store was the center of the village – both geographically and spiritually. Sitler, whom everyone new by his nickname Babe, derived from him being the youngest of six, ran the place as more than a store. It was the heartbeat of the community. Babe extended credit to his neighbors during the Depression, keeping people afloat during tough times.

The store evolved into a gathering place. On Saturday nights, musicians from the hills would gather on the front porch to play bluegrass and country music. The town elders would congregate in the store during the day to solve all of the world's problems. After July 20, 1969, the old guys pretty much ruled that the reason we got such unpredictable weather was because "they put that 'dern' man on the moon."

The store was pretty much an old house on the convergence of routes 124, 425 and 624, right on the intersection. The retail operation was on the ground floor; storage and whatnot was on the second floor or in the basement. Babe's grandson Wade believes that was the cause of his bad knees, going up and down those stairs constantly.

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Wade Sitler, manager and grandson the store's founder in front of the customer service counter at Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Sherry Leiphart, wipes a tear from her eye while talking about the closing of Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, after 86 years in business saying the owners treat customers like family. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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The current building known as Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. opened in 1989. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Wade Sitler, manager and grandson of the founder of the store, at right, is called out to the gas pumps by a customer to show him a deer he just harvested with a crossbow. Sitler says, "this is part of running a country" as he exits the customer service counter to check out the buck in the bed of a pickup. Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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A photo of the first site of Babe Sitler's store as it looked prior to 1931, before the building was expanded and before the business was moved across the center square in Craley, Pa. The business was renamedÊBarry's Country Food Market in 1989. This structure was torn down iaround 2010. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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A portrait of Babe and Mildred Sitler hang over the customer service counterÊat Barry's Country Food Market along with an award photo of a customer. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Barry's Country Food Market Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Just another day at the checkout line at Barry's Country Food Market. The store in Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Chicken has been a specilatyÊat Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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The Grand Opening ofÊBarry's Country Food Market in 1989 after the store moved. Babe and Mildred Sitler are riding in the horse drawn wagon. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Barry's Country Food Market Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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A park on the site of the original story dedicated to Babe Sitler, the founder of the original store in 1931. The building was torn down in 2010. Barry's Country Food Market Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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The center square of Craley, Pa. looking across the street from where the original store sat now a park dedicated to Babe Sitler, the founder of the store in 1931. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Water's Edge United Methodist Church is across the street fromÊBarry's Country Food Market Craley, Pa. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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A monument remembering Craley residents killed in two world wars and Vietnam, spanning the time the store was in business, is across the street from ÊBarry's Country Food Market. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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ÊBarry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. will close November 22 after 86 years in business. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
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Babe opened the store in March 1931, paying $9,000 for the property, a pretty good chunk of change in those days. On July 3 that year, President Herbert Hoover appointed him postmaster of Craley, a post he served for 43 years. He married Mildred Shelly in September, the wedding held at 6 a.m. so they could get to Atlantic City the same day for a brief honeymoon. He and Mildred were wed for 67 years.

He was the unofficial mayor of Craley, the result coming more from acclimation than election. One day in 1955, Babe and Mildred were returning to town from vacation when their car was stopped a few miles outside of town. Babe was escorted to the back of an open truck and driven in parade formation to the church in town, where he was installed as mayor, a post he held until his death.

Babe worked in the store into his 90s, first manning a cash register and then bagging groceries. (As a bagger, Babe was known for being able to get eight pounds of groceries in a five-pound bag.) Regulars would know not to get into Babe's line if they were in a hurry because he always had to talk, asking after their parents or children or just talking about things that were happening around town.

The store moved in '89, becoming Barry's Country Food Market, named after Babe's son, who took over for his father. The 10,000-square-foot grocery was designed to look like a western storefront, and had an old covered wagon out front, in homage to Barry's love of horses and the old West.

Barry worked in the family business since he was a kid. His wife, Duane, joined the business when she joined the family. The couple had dated in high school, their dates consisting of picking up and delivering furniture in the store's 1951 pickup truck.

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The current building known as Barry's Country Food Market in Craley, Pa. opened in 1989. The first building was nearby. (Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

For decades, the store was the center of Craley. If you wanted to know what was going on in town, you stopped at Barry's. It is more than a part of the community, customers said, it is family, the bonds extending past the Sitlers and their employees to the entire village.

And so, in October, when the Sitlers announced that Barry's would be closing on Nov. 22, it was a like an anticipated death in the family. "It's been a big part of my life since 1975," said regular Sherry Leiphart, who lives nearby on Bull Run Road, tears in her eyes as she spoke of the store. "It's going to be difficult."

The reasons for the closure are complex. But they boil down to one simple reality – places like Barry's, independent, family-owned businesses are an endangered species.

In a note to their regular customers, the Sitler family wrote that "times have gotten too tough."

"In a perfect world, we would have kept the doors open for another 86 years, but sadly times have changed too much," they wrote.

Wade Sitler, Babe's grandson who runs the store now, said it was just a sign of the times. Independent groceries have a hard time keeping up with the Walmarts and Sam's Clubs and the big chains. It's been struggle to stay in business, he said.

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A photo of the first site of Babe Sitler's store as it looked prior to 1931, before the building was expanded and before the business was moved across the center square in Craley, Pa. The business was renamedÊBarry's Country Food Market in 1989. This structure was torn down iaround 2010. (Photo: Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record)

It was a hard decision. The business is all the family knew. And they felt awful about their employees – some of whom have worked there for decades – and they feel awful about the hole the store's absence will leave in the community.

"We know just about everybody who comes in here," Wade said. "We ask, 'How's the family? Or How's hunting?' It's going to be hard."

On Monday, one regular customer stopped by to show Wade the 10-point buck he bagged with a crossbow on his property down the road, the massive deer carcass loaded into the bed of his pickup truck.

"That's the kind of thing that happens here all the time," Wade said.

The store will try to continue with its broasted chicken, a store specialty since '89, renowned throughout the community. The store sells, on a good week, between 2,500 and 3,000 pieces of chicken. "A lot of people grew up on our chicken," Wade said. "It's like Joe Bury's hamburgers in these parts."

Wade lamented the changing times. "There was a time when every small town had its own grocery store, and hardware store, and appliance store," he said. "Times change. Whether it’s for the good or the bad."

This time, it seems, it's for the bad.

And Sherry Leiphart said, "The owners are like best friends. I've known them for years and it's going to be hard to see them go. It's going to be hard when it closes, I'll tell you that."

Reach Mike Argento at 717-771-2046 or at mike@ydr.com.

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