Herlochers Won’t Announce New Tenants Until After Rathskeller Closing

The Herlocher family now says they will not announce the new tenants of the All-American Rathskeller and Spats Café locations until after the two businesses close. Last call for the Skeller is scheduled for Jan. 27.

“An announcement is coming soon, most likely after the current tenant closes,” Sharon Herlocher said via email. “It just seems appropriate to let the current operators and the establishments, as everyone knows them, to have their moment before talking about the future.”

The family previously wrote in an open letter to the community that they planned to announce the new operators of the Skeller and Spats space by the end of 2017.

“Rest assured, these Penn Staters share your passion and have great familiarity with the Skeller and its rich history,” the letter stated.

Duke and Monica Gastiger, owners of the Skeller and Spats, announced in December they would be forced to close after the owners of the building, the Herlochers, decided not to offer them a new lease and leased the property to a new tenant. The State College and Penn State communities immediately rallied around the historic Skeller, which has been open in State College since 1933.

A petition to #SaveTheSkeller now has more than 9,000 signatures, and hundreds of people wrote negative reviews of Herlocher’s Dipping Mustard on Facebook before the company disabled its reviews section.

The Herlochers, who purchased the Foster Building at the corner of Pugh Street and East College Avenue in June, said they unsuccessfully tried to work out lease issues with the Gastigers. They said they bought the building to preserve a downtown landmark and that the new tenants plan to ‘continue operating it the way you’ve always known it.’