The brainchild of the Reading and Berks County Visitors Bureau returns for a second year, showcasing some of the area’s makers and sellers of candy, pretzels, ice cream and smoked meats – and the county itself.
One Sunday afternoon in 2024, Philly Pretzel Factory in Muhlenberg experienced a visit with a twist.
Working their way through the Sweet & Salty Trail (a program of Reading & Berks County, Pennsylvania’s Americana Region, the visitors bureau for Berks County), a woman and her son discovered many of the shops participating in the promotion were closed on Sundays. Not wanting to go home, they used the map tool to find other open businesses nearby, which led them to the pretzel establishment.
“They didn’t even know we were there despite the fact that she and her friends have met weekly for brunch – for years – at the 5th Street Diner that shares our parking lot,” says Amy Turnquist, co-owner of the Philly Pretzel Factory location. “We gave them samples of our various products and found a loyal customer.”
Interactions like this are precisely why the visitors bureau created the Sweet & Salty Trail, which recently kicked off for a second year.
“It’s a great way for our partners that may not have known the other ones existed to be brought together, and it’s a way for people to understand that there are other parts of Berks County worth exploring,” says Lisa Haggerty, marketing director for the visitors bureau.
Spring and summer were coming up, and we thought, ‘Well, we have ice cream stores, and we have pretzels,’” Haggerty says. “And we ran with it.”
Happy Trails
The organization had seen success with a few of its trail promotions, most notably its selfguided Covered Bridge Tour. But a few others, such as a beer trail, underperformed. So, last year it contracted with Bandwango, a company that helps to facilitate experiences with destination marketing organizations. Its mobile passes allowed the bureau to track visitor interactions and create contests.
“Spring and summer were coming up, and we thought, ‘Well, we have ice cream stores, and we have pretzels,’” Haggerty says. “And we ran with it.”
A dozen local businesses, most of them visitors bureau clients, joined the promotion. When participants visited a location, they checked in on their phones. Those check-ins resulted in points that could be used toward prizes ranging from pins and stickers to waterproof bags.
“We went through so many of those waterproof bags,” Haggerty says. “People really hit all of the locations. And they were spread out all over the county. They went as far as Wernersville to Boyertown, up to Bernville, and to places like West Reading and Laureldale. They were posting pictures, and it was just really well received.”
This year’s iteration runs through the end of October. Most businesses that participated last year are doing so again, with a few new faces such as Seltzer’s Smokehouse Meats in Palmyra adding a different type of salty flavoring into the mix.
This year the visitors bureau incorporated the trail into its app. To participate, download the app (search for “Explore Berks”) and tap on the “Tours” icon. Another option is to access the trail through the bureau’s website.
Participants
(The following participants were confirmed at the time of writing. For the up-to-date list, check out visitpaamericana.com/planning-tools/ sweet-salty-experience-pass)
Billy’s Candies
In Temple
Carvel
In Reading
Philly Pretzel Factory
In Muhlenberg Township
Pop’s Malt Shoppe
In Kutztown
Schell’s Restaurant, Dairy Swirl & Mini Golf
In Muhlenberg Township
Scoupe deVille
In Birdsboro
Seltzer’s Smokehouse Meats
In Palmyra
Sweet Ride Ice Cream
In West Reading
The Peppermint Stick Candy Store
In Boyertown
Tom Sturgis Pretzels
In Cumru Township
Unique Snacks
In Muhlenberg Township
Way-Har Farm Market
In Bernville
“The nice thing about this trail is you can do it with kids,” Haggerty says. “I always loved history, so doing the Covered Bridge Trail would have been fine with me as a kid, but some kids may feel like, ‘What are we doing here?’ And you can’t take a kid on a beer trail. But with Sweet & Salty, you can take children, and they can win the prizes as well.”
A New Favorite
Like the patron who overlooked Philly Pretzel Factory despite parking next to it every week, participants in the trail are bound to discover establishments they’ve driven by frequently. Or they may venture to a part of the county they’ve yet to explore.
“It drives new customers into these stores, and they try the candy, the ice cream, the pretzels and find a new favorite place to go,” Haggerty says. “I know people went down to the Peppermint Stick and just couldn’t believe the assortment of penny candy. It was very nostalgic.”
Rachael Kehler, owner of the shop, says they worked hard to evoke that feeling.
“We paid a lot of detail to the look of the displays and décor,” says Kehler, who opened the store in 2015. “My husband is a historic restoration contractor, and he designed and built all the displays. When you walk into the shop, you feel like you are stepping back in time.”
Hoping to take advantage of the increased foot traffic in the area due to attractions like the Colebrookdale Railroad, she felt a candy store would appeal to tourists and residents. With the store celebrating its 10th year, success must feel extra sweet.
Many trail participants last year expressed surprise at the store’s existence, Kehler says, but she’s gotten used to that.
“We always have people who say, ‘We didn’t know you were here,’” she says. “I think that will always happen. You have new people who move into the area or people who live locally who don’t travel through the downtown.”
Though she is a Berks native who has lived here for most of her life, Haggerty also made some discoveries thanks to the trail. Pop’s Malt Shoppe resides just down the road from Kutztown University, where her husband and two of her children graduated, yet she had never visited until earlier this year.
“So I’m just as guilty as the next,” she says.
Amy Turnquist and husband Joe, who purchased Philly Pretzel Factory only a little over a year ago, benefited from Sweet & Salty in two ways. As business owner participants, it helped them boost their clientele. And they also took part as patrons, visiting their new trailmates to become better acquainted with them.
It was a great way for us to meet our new neighbors and enjoy sweet treats in the process.
“It was a great way for us to meet our new neighbors and enjoy sweet treats in the process,” Turnquist says. “We went to several spots on the trail and shared our experiences on our Facebook page.”
The go-at-your-own-pace aspect is fitting for a society that prefers to carve out its own entertainment schedule, favoring streaming over appointment television. And it’s less stressful for organizations like the visitors bureau, who don’t have to fret about bad weather or other variables hurting attendance at one-day-only events.
“It’s a new way to experience Berks County, a new way to do things,” Haggerty says. “You don’t have to complete it in one day. You can do it on a rainy day or a hot day when you don’t feel like going to the pool. We’ve just been really pleased with how it’s turned out, and it was great to get the community involved. People think of a visitors bureau as only being for outsiders coming in. But we are a good resource for our community and for people coming into the area looking for things to do.”
