8888 King's Highway Kempton, PA 19529

610-756-6609

Wanamakers General Store

Wanamakers General Store History

Mariah Hoppes
Mariah Hoppes

Irwin and Minnie Reinhart
Irwin and Minnie Reinhart

David Debbie and Tim and Annie
David, Debbie, Tim and Annie

Annie and Kyra
Annie and Kyra

Wanamakers General Store history begins between 1876-1886 when the brick portion of our store was built using bricks made with local clay.

Elias Hoppes purchased the building in 1886. He and his wife Mariah ran a store and women’s hat shop there until 1905. In 1905, the Hoppes’ son-in-law, Irwin P. Reinhart, opened Reinhart’s Store in the building.

The store was a success and Irwin and his wife Minnie added a frame addition to the building between 1915-1917.

Reinhart’s Store passed to Irwin and Minnie’s son, Claude, in 1929. Claude ran the store until his death in 1978.

Wanamakers General Store

In April 1979 Claude Reinhart’s heirs sold the building to David and Deborah Bond, who re-opened as Wanamakers General Store. After twenty-five years of hard work, David and Debbie closed the store in November 2003 and moved away from busy Rt.143.

The building sat largely unoccupied until 2007 when Tim and Arian (Annie) Hungaski, recognizing the community’s need for a good general store, purchased and renovated Wanamakers. They reopened the doors once more in 2008.

In 2011 Kyra Hendricks came on board as manager, and in 2013 she took on a part ownership role.

In January 2018, Kyra Hendricks became the sole owner of Wanamakers. She is passionate about creating a fun local place for people to gather, slow down and make connections.  She also remains dedicated to supporting other local businesses and farmers, and sources as many products locally as she can. Kyra has tried to preserve the charm and history of the original building while creating a fun and unique shopping environment.

1905
1905

Wanamakers General Store