Leaking roofs = Low prices
The shopping village started as Sullivan D’Amico’s meat cutting business in the basement of a white house that’s now on the left side of the entrance to Pechin’s, says Marie Martin, office manager and D’Amico’s niece. D’Amico opened the village in 1947, and one could argue not much work has been done since then to keep the place in repair.
Take a few steps into any of the stores, and you’ll see that whoever built the buildings needs to come up with a way to patch the roofs — they all leak. Ceilings are sagging and moldy — evidence that water has been leaking for a while.
Keeping overhead costs low is the business strategy at Pechin’s. You can actually hear the water dripping into the knee-high wastepaper cans, and it doesn’t seem to bother customers. In winter, it gets chilly in the Variety Store. One worker drew a snowman and the words “It’s so cold in here” on a notepad by the cash register.
Another strategy is to combine stores so customers don’t have to walk as far between buildings, Martin says. A marker-written red sign outside announces that “Pechin Drug and Tobacco Outlet is now in grocery store.” It’s right inside the front door. Past the cash registers, at least 18 aisles diverge into the gloomy bowels of the store. Most items are left in their shipping boxes, and when there isn’t enough shelf space, makeshift aisles are made by stacking boxes in rows. Every individual item has a small white price tag.
Past the dry goods, the store starts getting cold. The meat and dairy products are all typical grocery store open-top coolers, but the heater’s warmth doesn’t wander that far. The floor is splintering and has uneven boards. Noisy fluorescent lights hang from the ceiling in the grocery and most other stores.
Pechin’s is a casual place to work. Most workers start in the grocery store and work their way up, Bartley says in the Variety Store. She’s worked at Pechin’s for 16 years and moved around to four or five of the different stores. After working at Pechin’s for two years, Athena Carraway, a senior at nearby Connellsville High School, says she still makes minimum wage. But she says the D’Amicos are nice to work for because they “don’t get down on us.” All the workers seem to know the D’Amicos personally, and Martin knows the names of most of the workers and where they work. Before their shift started, two workers from the grocery store came into the Variety Store and threatened the two women working there with snowballs.
The Variety Store lives up to its name. Not many stores carry Nerf, pneumatic nail guns, vinyl flooring and a 1998 edition Larry Walker Colorado Rockies action figure. The dust on the packaging of two slot car controls shows that the store’s inventory has been around for a while.
The Deli has a good selection of cheese, meats and fish. A steak sandwich costs $2.39, or you can opt for fried chicken wings, legs, thighs, or breasts. Three feet from the chicken are the movies for rent — both VHS and DVDs. New releases are $3.
If you need a fishing rod, boots or rifle, Sports World is your place. Kozar says Sports World sells more hunting and fishing licenses than other stores in the area. Go next door to the Golf Shop for drivers, putters and balls — new and used. Plastic sheeting covers the Ping hats to protect them from the ever-present drips.
An autographed poster of Arnold Palmer hangs in the Golf Shop. “We were hoping some (pro golfers) would stop by on their way to (the tournament at) Laurel Hill, but they never did,” worker Carol Tishman says with a sigh. Laurel Hill is seven miles from Dunbar, but Palmer has never been to Pechin’s.
The Burr is produced by students at Kent State University twice per academic year.No part of The Burr may be reprinted without permission.