Huey Magoo’s Chief Operations Officer Mike Sutter; franchisee Mike Diskin; franchisee Mark DeStefano; CEO Andy Howard
Kathy and Robert Lucci shown at Lucci’s Bakery in Archbald on Saturday Aug. 22, 2026. The couple recently announced they would be closing the bakery. Shown in the background is a Benini oven from Verona, Italy. Lucci travelled there to facilitate the purchase in 1980. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO)
Several popular business in the region have changed hands or changed purposes recently.
Aldi taking over former Price Chopper in Taylor
An Aldi food market is going into the former Price Chopper grocery store at 1510 S. Main Ave. in Taylor near the Scranton border.
The Price Chopper closed April 19, 2024, ending a nearly 24-year run at that location atop Taylor Hill. Before Price Chopper opened there, the site previously hosted the Skateaway Roller Rink.
Bennett Realty & Development LLC of Holmdel, New Jersey, recently announced it closed a real estate lease transaction at the property that will have an Aldi “coming soon” to that location.
“We are pleased to announce the signing of a lease with Aldi for a portion of the former Price Chopper located at 1510 South Main Avenue in Taylor, “ the announcement said.
Aldi will join Planet Fitness, which opened at the location in December. The shopping center also has the Taylor Beverage & Smoke shop and a state Fine Wine & Good Spirits store next to Planet Fitness. They all remain open as renovation work for the Aldi takes place.
Union Vapors 570 changing to Union Brew coffee shop
A niche music venue in Dickson City has found a way to stay open with Union Vapors 570 turning into a coffee shop.
That will be welcome news to musicians and fans who had been mourning its impending loss, said Joe Caviston, a musician and organizer of the Electric City Music Conference.
“I think it is wonderful,” he said. “It plays a super, super important role in the music community — venues of that nature — where bands can kind of learn to be a band.”
The switch was prompted by a state law that will go into effect in October, changing how some vape and e-cigarette products are regulated. It makes most of the stock at the three-year-old store illegal, said co-owner Gage Lewis.
Some vape sales will continue under the Union Vapors 570 name, at least for a while, Lewis said. A much smaller selection will be sold in a separate area of the store, which is located at 1945 Commerce Blvd., Dickson City. Vaping will not be allowed in the new business because of the hygiene regulations for food service.
Union Brew is expected to open in October, offering coffe and baked goods. For now, Lewis anticipates scheduling acoustic acts during the day and eventually adding more shows in the evenings. Several acts are set to play live music Fridays and Saturdays, including for Electric City Music Conference on Sept. 11-12.
“Any bands in the area, any aspiring artists that want to practice their craft or get their name out there, are still more than welcome to play,” Lewis said.
Dymond’s Farm recipes featured at new Busy Bee Bakery and Cafe
Amanda Greenberg, a former Dymond’s Farm employee, has brought the decades-old Dymond’s recipes for sticky buns, pies and more to a new business.
“Sticky buns, cinnamon breads, coconut walnut rings, all of the pies, everything is made the exact same way it was made at the Dymonds’,” said Greenberg, who opened Busy Bee Bakery & Cafe at 2836 Memorial Highwayerly early this summer.
Along with the well-known favorites from Dymond’s, a family-owned Back Mountain farm and produce market on Brace Road in Dallas, Busy Bee also offers cookies and cakes, gluten-free items and several flavors of whoopie pies from Greenberg’s own recipes. She also sells Kernel Moonies popcorn, freeze-dried candy, coffee, drinks and dirty sodas.
Greenberg started working for the Dymonds as a teenager and later went on to other things. More recently, she sold some of the familiar baked goods under the name Busy Bee at The Farmstand, a Kingston Twp. business that closed several months ago.
Business is stronger at the new, more visible location next to Domino’s, she said.
Busy Bee’s hours are Monday, 6 a.m. to noon; Tuesday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Busy Bee also will be at the Luzerne County Fair in Lehman Twp., Sept. 9-13 and Dallas Harvest Festival at Dallas High School on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Beacon Diner in Schuylkill County gets new owner and new name
A landmark diner in Schuylkill County, run by the same family since it opened 85 years ago, now has a new owner who plans to keep many of its old traditions alive while adding some new features.
The Beacon Diner, located near Tamaqua atop the Hometown Hill at the intersection of routes 309 and 54, was run by the Taylor family from 1941 until its sale in early July. The new owner, Adam Houir, who at the Taylor family’s request will retire the Beacon name, has renamed the restaurant Hometown Diner 309.
Houir installed a soup and salad bar, added some new menu items, modified some of the recipes and extended the diner’s hours. But he said he also wants to keep happy the families who have loved the Beacon for decades.
“I like that there is so much history here as a family diner, and we want to keep it in place as a family gathering spot,” he said. “We want to keep offering good food at affordable prices.”
Houir said Connie Taylor Ferrari, the third generation of her family to run the restaurant after her grandfather originally started the business, searched several years for a new owner and chose him since he and his family are well known in the restaurant industry in eastern Pennsylvania and Houir would honor the family-business’s tradition. Taylor also stayed on to help with the transition, he added.
Houir also owns the Fairlane Diner in the Fairlane Village Mall and the Route 61 Diner near Reading. His family owns and operates six other diners: Michael’s, Sunset Diner and The Red Plate in Berks County, Starlite Diner in Allentown, American Star Diner in Montgomery County and John’s Plain and Fancy Diner in Quakertown.
The restaurant is open seven days a week, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Houir is also considering extending Fridays and Saturdays to 24 hours, saying that change could come as soon as October.
Townhouses and laundromat set for former Heil’s Place site in Scranton
Eight townhouse have been constructed on an empty corner in the city’s Hill Section along the 1000 block of Wheeler Avenue.
The site comprises three vacant properties, including the former Heil’s Place — a popular venue for local bands operated by John Heil from 1973 to 2017.
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom, 950-square-foot modular townhouses — constructed by Scranton-based Cornerstone Building Solutions — also contain a kitchen and living room. They are listed by Marion Gatto of Lewith & Freeman Real Estate and are available to rent for $2,000 per month.
Christian Nicolais, of Clarks Summit-based CKPA LLC, aims to have the properties available to rent this month.
Once the townhouses are rented, work we’ll start on the laundromat — hopefully by October, Nicolais said.
Scranton City Council Vice President Patrick Flynn applauded Nicolais for increasing the housing stock in Scranton.
“The more housing units we can get inside the city, especially in the neighborhoods, the better chance we have to make this a great place for young individuals coming out of college looking to start a career and young families looking to put their roots down in the city,” he said.
Hazleton’s former St. Joseph’s Hospital getting new life as apartments
The Hazleton City Zoning Board, at its Aug. 20 meeting, approved a project by OB International that would convert the former St. Joseph’s Hospital into 115 apartment units.
Located at 661-681 N. Church St., St. Joseph Hospital closed in 2007 to consolidate its services in the Lehigh Valley Hospital on Broad Street and the building was left abandoned and boarded up. Afterward, four other companies interested in repurposing the site submitted proposals to council, none of which ever passed. Council members were concerned the property would continue to deteriorate and be unable to be sold. Last month’s hearing was OB International’s second attempt to win approval.
“When OB first came to us, we didn’t like what they were proposing: 300 dormitory-style apartments that wouldn’t give residents adequate living space. Think 300 square feet per apartment, where you’d have enough space to survive, but not enough to live,” said Joseph Paletski, chairman of the Hazleton City Zoning Board. “Over time, though, she brought the proposed number of apartments down to a minimal amount, which gave a comfortable amount of space.”
Paletski hopes the new apartments will help combat the tenement-style apartments the city’s code enforcement office has been finding, including illegal apartments in attics or basements, or double houses converted into four-family houses.
“If people can see the superior options provided by the St. Joseph project, then it’s likely that demand for those illegal homes will drop,” Paletski said.
Hazleton area family whips up two successful eateries
Recently-married couple Vince and Cathy Schuman, retired widower and widow, decided to continue working after retirement with the August opening of their new cafe, Whipped on Main at 297 Main St., Conyngham.
“A lot of people retire and they don’t do anything,” Vince said. “It’s a new beginning for us.”
The name of the new cafe plays off Whipped Sweet Shoppe operated in Hazleton by Cathy’s daughter, Audra Martin, who provides the pastries for Whipped on Main.
Each day Audra delivers croissants, beignets, long johns, donuts, scones and more, which are sold from behind glass pastry shelves. The baked goods go with the coffee and specialty drinks whipped up behind the counter at Whipped on Main, where customers order hot or cold coffees, lattes, espressos and creations with whipped toppings like Fluffernutter or fruit crunch iced coffees. Future plans include adding salads and soups for lunch.
The whole operation is a family affair, with their children operating the cafe on Thursday afternoons while the couple babysit their grandchildren.
That family feel extends to the community with the owners offering to host local clubs and organizations. The cafe recently hosted a book signing by Pennsylvania children’s author Monica Savioz.
Whipped on Main is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and also 4 to 8 p.m. Fridays.
Victory Pig Pizza up for sale
The iconic Victory Pig pizza shop property along Wyoming Avenue is for sale — nearly two years after the fourth-generation owner announced the business might close.
After the owner’s announcement in October 2024, the legendary business remained open, but last month Crossin Real Estate listed the business at 905 Wyoming Ave., Wyoming, for sale for $799,000.
The famous pizza recipe is being sold separately and the restaurant’s liquor license also is for sale.
Jim Mirabelli, who runs NEPA Pizza Review, which has more than 61,000 followers online, said the founders of Victory Pig were trendsetters generations ago.
“Victory Pig deserves recognition as the birthplace of NEPA’s pan-fried Sicilian pizza, a local style that has grown into one of our region’s defining foods with dozens of pizzerias in Luzerne County and beyond tracing their lineage back to the original,” Mirabelli said. “Few restaurants have had a greater influence on NEPA’s pizza culture or left a legacy that continues to shape what we eat today. I hope that legacy can continue on in some meaningful way so future generations can enjoy.”
Huey Magoo’s coming to Wyoming County and then to Luzerne and Lackawanna counties too
A Huey Magoo’s fast casual chicken restaurant is scheduled to open early next year in Eaton Twp.
The restaurant at 812 Hunter Highway/state Route 29, near Wal-Mart and south of Tunkhannock, will be the first of three locations in the region, according to a recent announcement. Restaurants in the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas will follow.
Those will be the first three Huey Magoo’s locations in Pennsylvania, with the 2,600-square-foot Eaton Twp. location scheduled to open in the first half of 2027.
Huey Magoo’s, founded in 2004, features handcrafted chicken tenders either hand-breaded or grilled, as a meal with sides, or in sandwiches, wraps and salads.
Local owners are Mark DeStefano and Mike Diskin. DeStefano is CFO of Pittston-based Pagnotti Enterprises Inc. and Latona Trucking Inc. and also owns a local real estate brokerage firm. Diskin has a strong background in customer service, hospitality and daily operations.
The two men recently attended Huey Magoo’s Discovery Day in Orlando, Florida.
“Meeting the team and tasting the menu, that was it. I’ve always loved chicken tenders, and these are on another level,” Diskin said in the statement.
Historic Lucci Bakery closing its doors after more than 100 years
Lucci’s Bakery in Archbald is closing this month, leaving behind a legacy of family, community and quality baked goods spanning more than a century.
Owners Robert and Kathy Lucci, both 68, planned to retire and sell the business within the next few years, but those plans were accelerated following Kathy’s breast cancer diagnosis on Aug. 6.
Kathy managed operations, bookkeeping, bills and a host of other tasks while Robert handled deliveries. Being that running a bakery is all-consuming, with 14 hours days, seven days a week, Kathy knew keeping the business up and running while she received treatments wasn’t feasible.
Kathy and Robert hope their longtime customers understand the reasons behind the abrupt closure and know how deeply grateful they are for the opportunity to serve the community.
Paolo Lucci, Robert’s grandfather, started the business in 1920. Born in Italy in 1885, Paolo immigrated to the United States in 1919 with his wife, Anna. He initially worked as a coal miner in Glen Lyon before moving to Jessup in 1921 to open a bakery.
Demand grew quickly, prompting a move in 1928 to a larger facility in Archbald. During those early years, the bakery produced a variety of breads delivered by horse-drawn wagons. When Paolo died in 1965, his son Alfred, Robert’s father, took over the business alongside his wife, Frances. Alfred operated the bakery until his death in 1996, at which point Robert and Kathy officially took the reins.
Following what Kathy expects to be a quick and full recovery, the couple plans to put the business and property up for sale.