A Lehighton Elementary Center student has started a GoFundMe fundraiser for a borough candy store set to close in the next few months.

The fundraiser has been started to raise funds for Jenny’s Sweets and More, located at 114 S. First St.

The business is planning to close, and must be out of its space by Aug. 31, according to owner Jennifer Cerato.

“Know that I am closing because I cannot afford employees, and have been killing myself for almost five years to create the sweets and perform all of the duties each and every day,” Cerato said. “I just can’t keep up with it as I have fibromyalgia, and will only continue to get worse in time.”

Debra Bova of Lehighton started the GoFundMe for Jenny’s Sweets and More on behalf of her daughter, Emily Bova, which had raised $50 of the $500 goal as of Monday morning.

“Hi, my name is Emily, and my favorite candy store is closing Aug. 31, and I think if we could all come together and help, just maybe Jenny’s Sweets and More won’t have to close because there won’t be a candy place to go to,” Emily said. “Mrs. Jenny is so sweet.”

Cerato said she was informed recently that Emily started a GoFundMe account to save her store.

“My heart just broke when I saw it,” Cerato said. “There also are now comments from some people who wish to put together a nonprofit to fundraise which can pay for employees and give me the break I need each week.”

Cerato added, “I can’t even express how I feel inside right now. I just believe that it’s amazing how we have so many good souls in our town, and think that this little girl should be recognized for her efforts. She surely is giving it her all to not see us leave.”

Downtown business

Cerato said while the closing isn’t solely related to traffic, a large portion of it is.

“Lehighton downtown is designed as to not be friendly to local business,” Cerato said. “When we opened the store, there were parking meters which allowed for some movement during the day. These meters were old, worn and mostly broken.

“It was an embarrassment to have people continuously questioning how to pay since they were unable to place coins into them. So, I took this to borough council and the result is that they removed the meters, completely, but they did not replace them.

“So now, instead of having some movement, free parking was created and there is no movement. Locals residing along First Street will remain in parking spaces for three days, plus without consequences. Since Lehighton is either all up hill or down hill, many people cannot park blocks away and walk to my store.

“I have also requested the return of angle parking around the lower park. That resulted in crickets.”

Cerato also mentioned the Jim Thorpe “no left turn” situation.

“All of me says that a local business should not depend on the good fortune of a neighboring town, but in reality, we do,” she said. “The “no left turn” was implemented in the fall of 2021. When Jim Thorpe hosts events or expects larger crowds, we here in Lehighton kind of gear up for an influx of customers. We get ready to hear our cash registers ring.

“Since the traffic is routed to the Maury Road, our sales have reduced an average of 65% on those days. The days when we should be making profit to remain afloat, we are now experiencing lower daily numbers than ever in times of past.

“The solution of encouraging visitors to stop in Lehighton before spending their day in Jim Thorpe isn’t realistic. People are on a mission to get to their destination. Our only chance of them stopping in our town is after they have completed their day and are headed home.”

Cerato next cited what she described as “the lack of care from our town to implement needed signage.

“I requested signage at the First Street/Iron Street traffic light. I urged our borough to put something in place to direct people to the hidden lot by Keystone Alley.

When people traveling along First Street reach Iron Street, we lose them for good as it’s not so easy to understand how to turn around to return to our downtown. As I say, they flush right out of our town.”

Cerato added, “No meters or timed parking, horrible sidewalk conditions, limited parking due to oversized spaces around the park, the fact that a lot of people cannot climb the incline to Second Street, detours routing people away from Lehighton plus lack of good signage if they do travel through our town, equals very limited local and visitor shopping. Combine this with the discounted pricing at the big box stores, and that equals Jenny’s to close.”

Borough response

Borough Manager Steve Travers said he’s saddened that the business will close.

“I’ve gotten to meet her twice, and any concerns any business owners bring up we try to address,” Travers said. “One of biggest things I heard from her had to do with the parking; that‘s why council removed the meters a few years back.”

However, that created other problems, as since there are no meters, tenants who live on the second and third floors can park there, Travers said.

“We certainly try to be as responsive as we can,” he said.

Travers added there’s issues with Jim Thorpe not allowing left-hand turns out of the county parking lot, and that he’s been trying to get some resolution out of it.

“I’ve pleaded the case on why, with the county, with Jim Thorpe, filed numerous Right To Know requests,” he said. “I’ve gone to PennDOT; it’s not something that there’s a real simple answer, if there was, I’m sure we would have been a lot more responsive.”

Travers noted that he’s had meetings with business owners in downtown “and we’re trying to see what their needs are.”

“We certainly hate to see any business leave the downtown, that’s not our goal; we want businesses to thrive,” he said. “We’re certainly working with the businesses on First Street to make it attractive here.”