Shippenville Red & White Store Keeps On Smokin’

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published March 24, 2018 5:00 am
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SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — The Red & White in Shippenville remains a local favorite after more than 90 years in business.

exploreClarion.com spoke to Dan Stiller, the current owner of the Red & White, about the store’s history and its future.

The small mom-and-pop store has been a fixture in Shippenville for over 90 years. It has been through some tough times — from a fire that destroyed part of the building in 1943 to an attempted break-in in 2010 — but, somehow it has always come out on top.

Stiller purchased the store in November of 1985. He had been laid off from his job at Joy Manufacturing in Franklin the previous year and was working at a local farm at the time. One day, while complaining about the lack of job opportunities in the area, he says an “old-timer” gave him a bit of advice about creating his own opportunity by “buying a job.”

Purchasing a small business sounded interesting to Stiller, and as luck would have it, he was passing by the Red & White not long after that fateful conversation, and noticed the owner, Jerry Slaughenhaupt, outside shoveling snow. He stopped and asked Slaughenhaput if he had ever considered selling the business. The two men ended up striking up a deal, and Stiller was soon learning the ropes of his new business.

Stiller has dealt with his share of difficulties running the Red & White. In the early morning hours of April 2, 2010, he caught two teenagers attempting to break-in. He held the would-be robbers at gunpoint until police arrived at the scene.

“I had them laying right out front, on the sidewalk, with their noses on the ground,” Stiller explained.

Court documents from the time of the incident indicate that one of the two teens involved was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, and theft and was sentenced to two years probation and 25 hours of community service, and was also required to pay courts costs and restitution. The other teen was still a juvenile at the time of the incident, and no further information was learned on his consequences.

Stiller has also dealt with a fire at the business, though it was nowhere near as devastating as the 1943 fire that destroyed part of the building. Just four months ago, firefighters were called to the business for a fire when ash from a meat smoker box dropped to the floor and ignited it. Luckily, Shippenville-Elk and Knox Volunteer Fire Departments responded and extinguished the fire quickly before it could do much damage, and no one was hurt.

Stiller says what really keeps people coming to the business is their smoked meats and cheeses and homemade sausages and bolognas.

One of Stiller’s many popular items is his “almost famous” bologna. He gave it the title because of its popularity, but also because of how far it has traveled. According to Stiller, during the earlier years of his time at the Red & White, they started keeping a guest book and asked customers sign it and say where they were from. Through the guest book, they discovered that their bologna had been purchased by or shipped to people in 47 states.

For small mom-and-pop stores like the Red & White, the real danger usually lies not in difficult one-time events, like a fire or a burglary, but in the day-to-day challenges.

Although people still travel to the Red & White for their wide variety of smoked meats and cheeses and that “almost famous” bologna, the business does still face new challenges today.

One of the current challenges, according to Stiller, is suppliers who continually increase the minimum order size, making it hard for small places to stock the items people want.

Stiller isn’t letting the challenges of running a small business phase him.

He said when Walmart came to town, people asked if it hurt his business.

“I told them ‘no’ because Walmart doesn’t have the kind of products we make here.”

He plans to keep making those specialty items — smoked meats and cheeses and homemade bologna — that have kept his business a well-known local destination for the last three decades.

“I do wonder, though, when the next young guy will come in, looking to buy a job,” Stiller added.

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