Local Business Directory · Story-Style Spotlights
Business Spotlights
Featured businesses from across the Lehigh Valley and Carbon County: what they offer, what makes them worth a visit, where to find them, and how to reach them.
The spotlight series highlights locally owned businesses from across the three counties Tim Tepes serves: Lehigh County, Northampton County, and Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Each story covers what the business offers, what makes it worth a visit, its location, hours where available, and a link to its official website. Spotlight businesses are selected from verified entries in the county business directories, and every detail below was checked against official sources.
Yocco's Hot Dogs
Allentown, PA
Hot dogs made the same way for more than a century
A family-owned Lehigh Valley institution that has been serving its famous hot dogs from Allentown since 1922, and the recipe has not changed since.
What They Offer
Every Yocco's meal starts with the signature hot dog: a specialty all-beef dog made by Hatfield Meats, cooked well done so the spices caramelize, and served on a freshly steamed bun with mustard and chopped onions. On top goes the famous Yocco's sauce, a meat-based chili sauce with a recipe the family has kept secret for generations. The same sauce tops cheese dogs, cheesesteaks, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken, and the menu also includes sausages, french fries, onion rings, pierogies, and chocolate milk, so a full meal is easy to build around a classic dog or two.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
Yocco's was founded in 1922 in Allentown by Theodore Iacocca, an Italian immigrant and the uncle of the late Chrysler and Ford executive Lee Iacocca. It began as the Liberty Grille, took the name Yocco's in the 1940s when the family painted the name on the window in a spelling that matched how local customers pronounced Iacocca, and has stayed in the family ever since, with a third generation running it today. Few businesses anywhere can point to a recipe that has gone essentially unchanged for more than a century, and the company motto says it plainly: The Secret's In The Sauce.
Location
The company runs six locations around the Lehigh Valley: three in Allentown, and one each in Emmaus, Fogelsville, and Trexlertown. The flagship store is at 2128 W. Hamilton Street in Allentown, PA 18104, and the company headquarters are in Emmaus.
Hours
Most locations are open seven days a week, typically from mid-morning to about 9 or 10 PM on weekdays and Saturdays, with Sunday hours starting around 11 AM. Hours vary by location and season, so call ahead or check the website before you visit. The flagship can be reached at (610) 821-8488.
Yocco's Hot Dogs at a Glance
- Allentown, PA
- Lehigh County
- yoccos.com
Moravian Book Shop
Bethlehem, PA
The oldest bookstore in America, still working on Main Street
A Main Street landmark in Bethlehem that has been serving readers since 1745, recognized as the oldest bookstore in America.
What They Offer
The Moravian Book Shop carries a broad selection of books for readers of all ages, along with gifts, home decor, toys, gourmet foods, and specialty items. It also serves as the official student bookstore for Moravian University, stocking the course materials students need each semester. Whether you are hunting for a new novel, a gift, or something for your own home, the shelves and displays have plenty to browse.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
Founded in 1745 by the Moravian Church, the shop is recognized as the oldest bookstore in America and the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world, more than 280 years in business. It sits on Main Street in the Historic Moravian Bethlehem district, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2024 as part of the transnational Moravian Church Settlements site, so a visit pairs living history with today's bestsellers, gifts, and local finds.
Location
428 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018. The shop can be reached at (610) 866-5481, with a toll-free line at 1-888-661-2888.
Hours
Open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Hours and offerings can change with the season, so check the website or call ahead before you visit.
Moravian Book Shop at a Glance
- Bethlehem, PA
- Northampton County
- moravian.edu/bookshop
Country Junction
Lehighton, PA
The World's Largest General Store, on Route 209
The self-described World's Largest General Store on Route 209 near Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
What They Offer
Country Junction is a roughly 150,000-square-foot general store on Route 209 near Lehighton, and it treats shopping like a day out. The campus includes an Ace Hardware with building materials and lumber, a lawn and garden center and greenhouse, home decor, furniture, thousands of gifts and crafts, grocery-style foods, homemade fudge and chocolates, a wine cellar with tastings, a coffee shop and restaurant, a pet department, and an arcade with escape rooms. Its service arm, The Service Team, handles decks, fences, flooring, garage doors, gutters, insulation, kitchens and baths, roofing, and siding.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
Jim and Jan Everett started the business in the early 1980s as a thermal-insulation and construction company, and began stocking building supplies in the lobby at customers' request. That grew into the massive store that stands today, rebuilt bigger after a fire destroyed the original building in 2006 and the store reopened in February 2010, with a 50,000-square-foot Yellow Brick Road addition completed around 2018. It is a genuine destination for families and for weekenders heading to the Lehigh Gorge and the Poconos.
Location
6565 Interchange Road (Route 209) in the Forest Inn area near Lehighton, PA 18235. The store can be reached at (610) 377-5050.
Hours
Per the official website, the store is open Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Saturday 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sunday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Hours can change with the season, so confirm on the website before you visit.
Country Junction at a Glance
- Lehighton, PA
- Carbon County
- countryjunction.com
Aykroyd Hardware
Bethlehem, PA
Family-run on Bethlehem north side for more than 70 years
A family-owned independent hardware store on Bethlehem's north side, run by the same family for more than 70 years since 1954.
What They Offer
Aykroyd Hardware carries the everyday things a home needs: hardware, hand tools, and power tools, including Milwaukee and Craftsman name brands, along with Weber grills and supplies for plumbing, painting, electrical, and gardening and landscaping projects. It also provides hands-on services that are getting harder to find, including glass and plexiglass cutting, window and screen repair, lamp repair, in-store locksmithing, key duplication (even transponder keys), paint color matching, Milwaukee tool repair, product assembly, sharpening, and special ordering. Walk in with a question and you can usually walk out with the part, the tool, or a plan.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
The store opened in 1954, founded by Arthur and Edith Aykroyd as a retail hardware store serving the Lehigh Valley. After Arthur's passing, his grandson Peter Mickolay took over the business in 1985 and, with his father, moved it to its present location on North New Street, where it has stayed in the family ever since. Peter remains at the helm today, and around the mid-2020s the store celebrated more than 70 years in business. A longtime family owner on a neighborhood corner like this is part of what keeps a community working, and the store has kept serving the same north side neighborhood for generations.
Location
743 N. New Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018, in the north side of the city near Center City. The store can be reached at (610) 868-0421.
Hours
Open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and closed on Sunday. Hours can change with the season, so call ahead or check the website before you visit.
Aykroyd Hardware at a Glance
- Bethlehem, PA
- Northampton County
- aykroydhardware.com
Switchback Pizza Company
Emmaus, PA
Wood-fired pizza in a restored train station in Emmaus
A wood-fired pizzeria in a restored train station in Emmaus, founded by two organic farmers who trained in Italy and opened a brick-and-mortar location in 2015.
What They Offer
Switchback Pizza Company serves Neapolitan-style pizza cooked in an Italian wood-fired brick oven at close to 900 degrees, plus Detroit-style pan pizza, salads, and a rotating dessert list. The kitchen works from a farm-to-table menu that leans on local farms, locally raised meat, and Pennsylvania-grown grains, and it bakes its own wood-oven sourdough bread each week. A short beer and cider list features Pennsylvania craft brewers, and the dining room has a relaxed, neighborhood feel.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
Owners Andrew Foreman and Marguerite Viola met as organic farmers who trained in Italy in 2011, and they founded Switchback in 2012 as a farmers market vendor in Easton and Emmaus. In spring 2015 they opened their brick-and-mortar pizzeria at 525 West Jubilee Street in Emmaus, a former train station, and the name nods to the historic Lehigh Valley Switchback Railroad that once carried coal through the region. The restaurant has drawn steady local fans and has been named a top pizza spot in the Lehigh Valley by local publications.
Location
525 West Jubilee Street, Emmaus, PA 18049, in the restored train station building on the borough's south side. The restaurant can be reached at (610) 928-0641.
Hours
Per the official website, the pizzeria is typically closed Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday and Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, Friday from 4:00 to 9:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday with later hours. Hours change with the season, so check the website or call ahead before you visit.
Switchback Pizza Company at a Glance
- Emmaus, PA
- Lehigh County
- switchbackpizza.com
Jumbars
Bethlehem, PA
A home-cooking style breakfast and lunch cafe near Moravian University
A breakfast and lunch cafe and bakery in Bethlehem, named for a coal-mining-era matriarch and run since 2003 by the Hoffert family.
What They Offer
Jumbars is a breakfast and lunch cafe and bakery near Moravian University in Bethlehem, offering hand-crafted omelettes, French toast, parfaits, quiche, and hearty sandwiches at lunch, along with freshly baked breads, scones, muffins, jam, and pastries made in-house. It also sells its own jams and coffees by the jar. Dine-in, takeout, and curbside pickup are available.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
The cafe is named for Mary Hoffert's great-grandmother Anna Jumbar, who immigrated from Europe as a teenager in 1876, settled in Lansford, Pennsylvania, and set up a coal stove and long tables in a boxcar to feed coal miners when she could not find other work. Chefs Paul and Mary Hoffert opened the cafe in 2003 and carry on that warm home-cooking spirit with a grandmother's-kitchen feel. The name is a genuine piece of local family history, and the baking done every day on site makes it a worthwhile stop near Bethlehem's north side.
Location
1342 Chelsea Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18018, near Moravian University. The cafe can be reached at (610) 866-1660.
Hours
Jumbars is closed Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday through Sunday, typically from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with breakfast served until 11:00 AM on weekdays and all day on weekends and lunch from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Weekend and holiday hours can vary, so call ahead or check the website before you visit.
Jumbars at a Glance
- Bethlehem, PA
- Northampton County
- jumbars.com
Ma's Crepes and Cakes
Jim Thorpe, PA
A family-owned organic creperie on Broadway in Jim Thorpe
A family-owned organic creperie and bakery on West Broadway in Jim Thorpe, serving hand-made sweet and savory crepes, bakes, bubble tea, and coffee.
What They Offer
Ma's Crepes and Cakes is a family-owned organic creperie and bakery on West Broadway in Jim Thorpe, making sweet and savory crepes to order using organic, non-GMO ingredients. Handmade crepes, baked goods, bubble tea and boba, coffee, and tea make up a menu that runs from classics with Nutella and fresh fruit to savory crepes and seasonal specials. It has become a popular stop for visitors strolling the historic borough.
What Makes Them Worth a Visit
Owned and run by a family team, the creperie brings a made-to-order organic kitchen to the heart of Carbon County's main tourist borough, just steps from the shops and attractions of Broadway. The emphasis on organic ingredients and its bright, welcoming dining room set it apart among the bakeries and eateries in Jim Thorpe, and its location on the main walking street makes it an easy stop before or after exploring the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway and the borough's historic sites.
Location
46 West Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229, on the main street in the historic borough. The creperie can be reached at (570) 732-9944.
Hours
Per the official website, the shop is open Thursday through Sunday, closed Monday through Wednesday. Posted hours are typically Friday and Saturday from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM and Sunday from 11:00 AM until the day sells out, and hours are seasonal, so check the website before you visit.
Ma's Crepes and Cakes at a Glance
- Jim Thorpe, PA
- Carbon County
- mascrepesandcakes.com
All Spotlight Businesses
Yocco's Hot Dogs
Allentown, PA
Moravian Book Shop
Bethlehem, PA
Country Junction
Lehighton, PA
Aykroyd Hardware
Bethlehem, PA
Switchback Pizza Company
Emmaus, PA
Jumbars
Bethlehem, PA
Ma's Crepes and Cakes
Jim Thorpe, PA
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