Pennsylvania General Store - Reading Terminal Market

Chris Spittal

I was a recipient of a gift basket from PA General Store. It was very well done! Everything was fresh. Other Philly area people I worked with loved the TastyKakes. This is a great gift idea.

J Lee

Their cookies are delicious. First ingredient has to be sugar and I don't mind. The lady behind the counter, she needs to better understand that you get more with sugar than vinegar. Nasty attitudes begets you nasty customers. Too bad I didn't walk away after she snatched the CC device from me. As I rested my card at the insert slot, she yanks back the device and tells me not to insert my card. Dang girl.....bad day? I should have walked away. I shouldn't have given them, a.k.a her, a freaking dime. What is happening to people these days? Everyone is just nasty! Ew! BE BETTER PEOPLE!!!!!!

Tim Orenbuch

Amazing variety of delicious foods and crafts made in the state of Pennsylvania. Gift baskets, made from all kinds of PA goodies, priced frked Hope's Cookies, freshly baked Metropolitan Bread is delivered every morning. You can order gift baskets to ship nationwide from inside the shop.

c m

The cookies are delicious and deserve 4 stars. The workers I encountered were also nice and deserve 3 stars for friendliness and kindness. But, there were some things that gave me pause, which brought it down to negative 2 stars: -2 1-I have been visiting the store for more than a year and would usually get 6 cookies so that I could try out the variation of what they had. I would stop by Reading Terminal and stock up on a few things from different businesses, as a creature of habit. But, I would often make it in (to Reading Terminal) too late to get the cookies I wanted at The PA General Store. I would ask what I could do. 2-Each employee would say that it was best to come in far earlier, before the cookies I liked ran out. They would say, it's hard to know; but, I might try coming in before noon on certain days. Sometimes their advice worked. Sometimes it didn't. And that was okay. I was fine with it. I did what my schedule allowed. Sometimes they had what I came in for. Most of the times, they ran out. One day, I decided to take a business card sitting near the checkout and told them I would call before coming into Center City and ask them to maybe set a few cookies aside. The employee said that is the best thing to do. 3-Just recently, I called and asked about two specific cookies (to learn if they had any left). Helen (on the phone) was kind and said they were out (of the specific cookies) but that they would be happy to bake the amount I wanted. Just give them 45 mins to an hour. I told her that out of all this time of patronizing the business, this was the first time I was hearing this. But, it was music to my ears. 4-I also mentioned to Helen that when I turned the PA General Store business card over, there was a Frequent Buyer's card that I just noticed was a Frequent Buyer's Card. She said, "Yeah, there is that, too". I told her that I have purchased a large amount of cookies there and never knew they had this. She apologized and said whatever I normally buy, they can give me credit on my Frequent Buyer's Card for it. I was satisfied with that. Initially disappointed but satisfied. 5-When I came to pick up the cookies, I asked for Helen and Tessa said Helen was tied up but she could help me. Tessa was great. I got my cookies Helen freshly-baked. I left and made my purchasing rounds at The Reading Terminal. The PA General Store is near the entrance/exit and I stopped and asked if the woman standing by herself was Helen. She said yes. We talked. I thanked her for making the cookies and told her that I really liked the cookies; but, that 1-The Frequent Buyer's Card and 2-that I could call (in advance) to have cookies made for pickup... these were things I wished I had been privy to, long ago, as it could have saved some effort and time. 6-Helen's response was, "Normally people would call and ask us to bake more cookies. That's obvious. Well, I mean, that's just with any store you would go to that you would expect those things". 7-I think she felt like it was just common sense that I would know this. 8-Meanwhile... Not. One. of the other employees had ever communicated this "common sense" to me. Helen was the first. Thanks, Helen. I will say Helen did apologize for the business not advising/offering me their frequent buyer card, which was a helpful acknowledgement... 9-until she added that "But, I mean, most businesses have frequent buyer/rewards cards". And that was not helpful. But, the damage was done. I will say, in a time where I can go anywhere, it reminds me that it isn't just the product that I will go out of my way for. It's moreso the customer service, the language, the response that dictates my path forward with any business. One-Star.