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Family tradition: Mac’s Market marks 50 years in business in Tyrone

Brian McManigal Jr., owner of Mac’s Market and The Gridiron, cuts luncheon meat behind the meat counter. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

TYRONE — It took a leap of faith — at least two times — and now Mac’s Market and The Gridiron, 1658 Columbia Ave., Tyrone, is thriving.

This year, the business is celebrating its 50th anniversary, having been started by Wilmer “Mac” McManigal and his wife, Evelyn.

“I feel it’s a great accomplishment,” said owner Brian McManigal Jr., whose grandparents opened the store in February 1974.

Brian Jr. said he doesn’t take the business for granted and credits its longevity to “everyone who supports us.”

He also acknowledges that the business is always evolving. “We can’t rest on our laurels … we have a lot of work to do.”

03/06/24 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Tina Knode and Dale Murphy, both of Altoona, enjoy fresh hoagies in the seating area.

That work ethic began with Mac and Evelyn, who moved their family of four children from Three Springs to Tyrone and bought Heberling’s Market from Bob and Jack Heberling.

“My pap was a meat cutter at the IGA in Mount Union and cut paperwood for the paper mill on the side,” Brian Jr. said. “He did what he had to do to make a buck.”

But Mac got to the point where he didn’t want to work for someone else. He had just built a new house in Three Springs when the family moved to a two-bedroom apartment to take over the market.

“He had a sense of fortitude to make a leap of faith to do something like this,” Brian Jr. said.

Specializing in custom meat cutting and personal delivery service, Mac and the family quickly entrenched themselves as a staple in town. As the years passed through the 1970s and the 1980s, the product line continued to evolve.

Jo McManigal tops a freshly made hoagie. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

In 1984, Brian Sr. became a partner with his father. The two worked together for the next five years until 1989, when Brian Sr. bought out Mac and took full ownership of the business.

Mac and Evelyn, with help from the rest of the children and grandchildren, continued to help out at the business until 1998, when Evelyn passed away. Mac then retired in 1999.

After Brian Sr. became a partner, what became their top-selling product — Mac’s Market Famous Filling — was introduced.

“The stuffing is the product that has kept us here for 50 years,” Brian Jr. said.

It’s a special family recipe and tastes like what grandmothers used to make, he said, noting the stuffing is uncomplicated in its simplicity.

“The most important ingredients are love and labor,” Brian Jr. said of his dad’s creation.

“Dad wanted to do it, pap said ‘you’re crazy, no one would buy it,'” he said, as in the 1980s, everyone made their own stuffing.

The bestseller “started with a five pound bag of Pacifico’s soft bread cubes,” Brian Jr. said. “The first time they made it, it disappeared. It skyrocketed.”

Today, the stuffing is a staple of the business and is incorporated into many products, from stuffed pork chops and chicken breasts to stuffing dunkers with gravy.

Gridiron introduced

A major change was made in 2007 when The Gridiron — which focuses on hoagies, pizza and wings — was introduced.

“The little grocery store was dying trying to compete with the Walmarts and larger grocery stores. It was time for a transition, a leap of faith,” Brian Jr. said.

The store was stripped of shelves full of groceries, he said, and now Gridiron sales make up about 40% of the business while meat sales make up the other 60%.

“Today we are an old fashioned corner meat market with a new-age flair,” said Brian Jr., who became a partner with his father in January 2009 after working at the shop since he was 12 years old.

“When I was a kid, mom was reluctant to send me in here. Dad said, ‘you keep the boy’s underwear clean and I will teach him how to work,'” Brian Jr. recalled.

He graduated from Tyrone Area High School in 2003 and from Juniata College in 2007, majoring in criminal justice and IT.

“Whether I decided to do this or not, he (dad) expected me to get an education,” he said. “I was going to go to Boston for a job, but the opportunity came up here to be his partner.”

Brian Jr. said he had a choice and he decided he wasn’t leaving.

“I may be the most educated meat cutter east of the Mississippi,” he joked.

Once he became a partner with his father, Brian Jr. introduced the business to the internet.

“Until then we did paper menus, got business by word-of-mouth,” he said. “I got on Facebook and did a website. … Now I get people at an instant, they search multiple times a day. I pushed the online presence and it became popular.”

Brian Sr. passed away March 24, 2022, and Brian Jr. took over the business.

‘Like a well-oiled machine’

Mac’s Market typically draws customers from a five county area, but some come from much further away.

Customers come from DuBois, Brian Jr. said, adding “I have a woman who drives from New Jersey to get 10 pounds of stuffing.”

Lois McIntyre of Tyrone has been a customer since she moved to town in 1979.

“I don’t shop anywhere else,” she said. “They were so kind to me and pleasant.”

McIntyre joked that her husband always said she couldn’t cook, but “he said their meat was so good I couldn’t ruin it.”

Customer service and being active in the community have served the business well.

“Mac’s has had a huge impact in the business community,” said Rose Black, executive director of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce. “Mac’s is a chamber member and contributes to many fundraisers and community organizations and events.”

Mac’s has eight full- and part-time employees, whom Brian Jr. credits for a lot of Mac’s success.

“We are known for offering a friendly smile, top- notch customer service and willingness to create a friendship with the customers,” he said. “We have been successful because of hard work, relentlessness and the dedication to the communities that surround us.”

“They have a good product,” said Dave McCloskey, who delivers for Pacifico’s Bakery, Altoona.

“Mac’s is like a well-oiled machine,” he said, noting he’s been delivering Pacifico’s products there for

38 years.

McCloskey said many people don’t realize how much work it takes to run a business like Mac’s.

“They come early and do the prep work to get it up and running,” he said. “They work hard.”

Like Pacifico’s, Mac’s is a family business.

“I’ve been good friends with Brian and his father,” McCloskey said. “Their food speaks for itself.”

As the business moves beyond 50 years, Brian Jr. said he has no plans to move from the building that was built in 1917.

“I don’t plan on a new building, it would take from the allure, it would totally change the business perspective,” Brian Jr. said.

In addition to the customers and community, Brian credits Mac’s continued success to his family members — wife, Jo, daughters, Rory, Rian and Ripley, his mother, Jerilyn, grandparents, Janice and Tom and sister, Ashley.

“You never know what the future will be like,” he said. “We will do what we are doing every day and never be afraid to make a transition when we need to change gears. We hope to see 75 years.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.

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