Site Selection Magazine states that the Lehigh Valley is the best place to live!

The Lehigh Valley has been named the best mid-sized market in the US for economic growth by a well-known trade magazine. Lehigh Valley has always been one of the best places in the U.S. for economic growth, but now we can shout, "We're number one!" The ranking is great because it makes the Lehigh Valley known across the country, but what really counts are the jobs and business opportunities that are being created here for the people who live here!

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) made a big deal out of the new number. The Governor's Cup awards from Site Selection honor the U.S. states and metro areas that have the most new and expanded business development projects.

There are 49 projects in the Lehigh Valley were chosen for the ranking in 2025. These included B. Braun's $20 million manufacturing expansion in Hanover Township, which created 200 new jobs; Filter King's opening of a new facility in Bethlehem Township, which created up to 120 jobs; and Bosch Rexroth's breaking ground on a $20 million logistics hub in Bethlehem.

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Projects must be at least 20,000 square feet, bring in at least $1 million, or create at least 20 new jobs in order to be included in the ranking. For the past ten years, the Lehigh Valley has been in the top ten of mid-sized markets, which are places with between 200,000 and 1 million people. The Lehigh Valley came in third in 2024.

The Lehigh Valley beat Metro Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa, which was ranked second, and Wichita, Kansas, which was ranked third. Site Selection pointed out that the Lehigh Valley is a leader in the logistics market and is also becoming more important in the life sciences, in part because Eli Lilly is building a $3.5 billion center in Upper Macungie Township.

The project, with the code name ‘Project Kennedy,'” only gets one point on the Top Metros scorecard, but it shows that the Lehigh Valley has a lot of strong life sciences companies, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, B. Braun, and Ilico Genetics. All together, the Lehigh Valley is home to more than 170 life sciences companies that employ more than 6,000 people.

Northampton County will soon have a new flower shop and a venue that can be changed to fit weddings, baby showers, and other events!! It will open just in time for spring!!

Bloom Room Easton is a fully designed event room and flower shop. The shop will have a soft opening in early April at 527 Northampton St. in downtown Easton.

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Old Mecca Cafe used to be in the soon-to-be-renovated space. Bloom Room will focus on small events like bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, business get-togethers, and "micro-weddings." The staff will work closely with clients to show off certain flowers, colors, and other design elements.

The owner, who lives in Easton, is excited to help people in the community put together unique events that will make memories that will last a lifetime. The Bloom Room will have beautiful floral patterns and a nice atmosphere for making content.

The big opening for Wawa, Inc.'s newest store in the Lehigh Valley will be on Thursday, March 12, at 1519 Whitehall Mall in Whitehall Township.

A news statement says that the new store at MacArthur and Mickley roads is the 13th of what Wawa plans to be almost 100 stores opening in 14 states in 2026. At 7:55 a.m.,

Wawa general manager Michael Chisholm will start the big opening party by counting down the hours until the doors open for the first time at 8 a.m. As long as stocks last, the first 100 customers will get T-shirts that say "Wawa Grand Opening Tour in the USA." Until March 15, you can get any size of hot coffee for free.

As soon as the doors open, the grand opening party will continue. At 8:30 a.m., customers are invited to an event that will honor Wawa's more than 200-year history in American business and the new store team.

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A competition called "Hoagies for Heroes" between first responders will also be held to honor the community's daily heroes and raise money for local charities.

Wally Goose, the mascot for Wawa, will be there to take pictures with people. The first 100 people who come will also get an America250PA T-shirt, while stocks last.

People who want to go to the big opening party can find out more about it and RSVP on Wawa's Facebook events page.

Check out Homes For Sale near Wawa in Whitehall, PA 

The Airport Shopping Center space that used to be home to Christmas Tree Shops is finally getting a new STORE.

The new Hobby Lobby at 916 Airport Center Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, should open sometime this fall 2026.

It looks like they are adding on to the room that used to be the Christmas Tree Shops. That business closed all of its stores in the summer of 2023 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Airport Shopping Center site of the big-box arts and crafts store has already started to hire people.

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Hobby Lobby is famous for having a huge selection of craft tools and home decor items all in one place. You could sell picture frames, dishes, bathroom accessories, baskets, flowers, party supplies, and even some furniture.

There are more than 1,000 stores in 48 states that are part of the business. Nearby, there are shops at the Trexlertown Shopping Center in Lower Macungie, the Pohatcong Plaza in Pohatcong, and the Northampton Crossings Mall in Lower Nazareth.

HOURS: 

Monday through Saturday, Hobby Lobby is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Power tools, yard and garden equipment, and other things for your home and outdoor spaces in Northampton County can now be found in the new Ace Hardware in Walnutport, PA. 

Ace Hardware Walnutport opened on February 19 at 200 S. Best Ave. in Walnutport.

The store, which is about 12,000 square feet, is in the Walnutport Shopping Center, where there used to be a Rite Aid.

The new shop, which is owned by Tim Bracey, is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday.

Ace has been a part of American neighborhoods since 1924. It is known as the "place with the helpful hardware folks."

Ace Hardware is the biggest hardware cooperative in the world. It works with more than 8,800 locally owned and run stores around the world and provides top-notch products, services, and ways of doing business to over 5,200 Ace stores in the US.

In the Lehigh Valley area, there are more than a dozen other Ace Hardware shops.

There is a lot of different stuff for sale, like grills and smokers, paint for the inside and outside, shelves and storage units, heaters, coolers, and all the accessories that go with them, outdoor power tools like lawn mowers, snow blowers, and pressure washers, outdoor living items like patio furniture, swimming pool supplies, and bird and wildlife supplies, lawn and garden items like gardening tools, insect and animal control products, and farm and ranch supplies, and home necessities like trash cans, cleaning supplies, and small appliances. A lot of different tools are sold in shops. There are hand tools like hammers, chisels, and bolt cutters, as well as power tools like cordless drills, circular saws, and orbital sanders.

Homes For Sale near Ace Hardware in Walnutport PA

Ace has its main office in Oak Brook, Illinois, and a large network of distribution centers in the United States. It also has foreign facilities in Ningbo, China, and Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico.

Ace Hardware Corporation reported its fourth quarter and full year 2025 results on February 18. The company made a record $2.5 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, up $226.7 million, or 9.9 percent, from the fourth quarter of 2024.

The company also announced record full-year sales of $10 billion, up $552.2 million, or 5.8 percent, from 2024 sales. They also gave record patronage dividends to shareholders of $361.8 million.

In 2025, Ace Hardware opened more than 180 new shops and gave more than $24.2 million to charities and programs that work with them.

A much-loved local restaurant in Lehigh County was damaged by fire a year ago. But the business is almost ready to reopen with the same freshly made food and helpful service.

The Bacon Strip is a full-service restaurant at 18 N. Second Street in Coplay is currently closed because of damage from a fire in early February 2025. Crews were able to keep the fire in the room on the second floor. However, a Facebook post from the Coplay Fire Department stated that water and smoke damage hurt the rest of the house. Over the past year, a lot of fixes and improvements have been made. Co-owners Emily Alkhal and Ruben Santiago are now getting ready to open again at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17.

The updated Bacon Strip will have "new everything," such as new floors, plumbing, drywall, lighting, furniture, bathrooms, and more.

The couple wrote on the business's Facebook page, thanking everyone for their patience, and they are coming back better than ever! Alkhal had been a server at other restaurants in the Lehigh Valley for almost twenty years. She finally realized a long-held dream by starting her own restaurant.

The business took off right away and quickly gained a large and loyal following thanks to its delicious, made-to-order meals like pancakes, egg plates, omelettes, sandwiches, wraps, and more.

The "Bacon Crunch Toast," which is French toast covered in bacon and drizzled with icing, and "The All American," which is a combination breakfast plate, are two of the most popular items. People also like a range of sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs; "The All American" is one of their big hits, it's two eggs, two bacon bits, home fries, toast, and coffee."

There will be new seats and tables with chairs in the restaurant, which can fit about 75 people. Long-time customers are also looking forward to The Bacon Strip's return and can't wait to sit down again.

Hours:

7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday

7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday

7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Want to know Homes For Sale Near The bacon Strip? Visit Properties Available in Coplay Now! 

"America's Best Restaurants" recently went to a family-run diner and bar in Lehigh County and gave it five stars!

America's Best Restaurants is a national media and marketing business that promotes small, locally owned restaurants. The "ABR Roadshow" came to Catasauqua's Catty Corner Neighborhood Pub & Pie, located at 301 Mulberry St. The restaurant's Facebook page posted the the episode, and you can also watch it on the show's YouTube account. At the start of the show, ABR Roadshow host Theo Williams talks to co-owner of Catty Corner, Tyler Cimerol, about pizza, which is his "favorite thing in the world."

Cimerol discuss some of the steps that go into making a Catty Corner pizza, such as letting the pizza dough rise in a cooler for up to 48 hours, using house-made tomato sauce made by mixing fresh tomatoes with basil, oregano, garlic, and other ingredients, and putting shredded whole milk cheese on top of pizzas in the episode. 

The host, Williams, had the pizza and the Royale Burger at Catty Corner. It's an 8-ounce steak burger with American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, a fried egg, and house-made bacon aioli. The pizza was praises for the crust, having a crisp texture and "nice crunch, and the burger had a phenomenal brioche bread and Bacon aioli that took the burger to the next level.

Williams also tried the cheesesteak at Catty Corner, which is made with freshly shaved ribeye steak, house-made marinara sauce, sautéed onions, and Cooper cheese on daily-delivered fresh bread from Amoroso's Baking Company near Philadelphia. The cheesesteak was praised on its freshness, amazing taste, and incredible ingredients! 

When the roughly 10-minute show was over, Williams was absolutely amazed by everything he tried. The business is clearly well known by Tyler and his father Jay, who knows how to run a great restaurant and bar.

The Cimerols bought the Catasauqua restaurant and bar in September 2018. In November of that year, they reopened it with a new look, menu, and name—adding "Neighborhood Pub & Pie" at the end.

In Upper Nazareth Township at 398 N. Broad St. Ext., the father and son opened a second The Catty Corner in June.

The menu at the newly remodeled location is the same as the menu at the original Catasauqua site. There are more than twenty specialty pizzas at The Catty Corner, which calls itself "not your normal neighborhood corner pub." The dough is made by hand every day.

Pickle, pierogie, chicken carbonara, and "Catty Mac" (fresh seasoned burger meat, pickles, onions, lettuce, cheddar cheese, and 1,000 Island dressing) are some of the most popular types. There are pies in 12 and 16-inch sizes, as well as gluten-free 10-inch pies.

People can also make their own 12-, 16-, or 20-inch pizzas by picking from about two dozen toppings, such as sausage, bacon, grilled chicken, hot peppers, mushrooms, pineapple, and hot peppers. In Nazareth, you can find the same menu, with regular items like calzones, strombolis, burgers, and chicken wings. Starters like mac-n-cheese bites, Old Bay shrimp, and Inner Harbor fries (fries topped with crab meat and house-made hollandaise sauce) are some of the best things on the menu. There are also sandwiches like chicken parm, cheesesteaks, and the Catty Corner Cuban, Mexican dishes like tacos, quesadillas, and nachos, and char-broiled burgers like the "Iron Works" (onions, bacon, pepper jack cheese, jalapeno peppers, and barbecue sauce) and "Rough Rider" (bacon, hot sauce, pepper jack cheese, and onion rings).

The Catty Corner is one of several local places that have been on America's Best places over the years. It has full bars, dozens of TVs, and entertainment like trivia, music bingo, and karaoke. 

Interested in Homes For Sale in Catasauqua PA? Check Out Homes Right Here

Finding a nice home for sale in Coplay PA is not easy. Coplay is a friendly little town. It’s part of the Whitehall Coplay School Districtand has a nice suburban feel. These homes generally sell quick and sometimes we’ll go over the list price. So when I was able to find a home for my new first time homebuyers, Cynthia and Rafael, I was very happy!

Let me start at the beginning, I had a Home listed for sale on the south side of Allentown on Church Street. It was a really nice bi-level and I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of activity on that home. Cynthia was one of the persons who gave me a call and I had to tell her that home was already sold. But after talking to her, I found out that her and her family were looking for a single detached home in the Allentown and Whitehall area around $300,000. They were brand new first time homebuyers just starting out so I invited them to come into the office for a consultation. And I even had our Lender attend the meeting!

Cynthia and Raphael brought the whole family their father their kids everybody into our conference room lol along with Ryan or Mortgage partner. We sat down and had a really nice discussion and went through the whole entire home buying process and also were able to get them prequalified. The next step we pulled up all the available homes on our big screen TV and we found just a few homes to start looking at.

We began looking at a few homes in Northampton. There were some nice homes that they were considering, but then we saw this one particular Ranch home in Coplay, with a Modern Kitchen, and 2 car garage! that really peaked their interest. Timing is everything at Real Estate and this was the week between Christmas and New Year’s so we were able to go and view the home and submit an offer without having to compete against other buyers.

If this had been spring time, we surely would have gotten to a bidding war! We were able to buy the home such a nice home on front Street in Coplay. It was renovated. It was an excellent condition and featured a two car garage as well. Thanks to the help of Ryan over at AXEN Mortgage, as well as Bill at Act Settlement Services, We were able to close the deal in 30 days. It was a very smooth transaction and everybody was happy including the seller.

So, if your looking to buy a home inn Coplay PA, or anyhwere in the Lehigh Valley, our team knows how to get the job done!

A well-known retail mall in Lehigh County is coming to Whitehall MacArthur! 

A new Five Below, a prominent fast-fashion retailer known for its highly trend, low prices, and high-quality products loved by the kid and the kid in all of us! The Whitehall Township store will be opening on February 13 at the MacArthur Shopping Center.

A current Five Below in Whitehall, which is located little over a mile south at the Whitehall Mall, will be moving to make way for the new shop.

Five Below will move into the MacArthur Commons, taking over a location that was formerly two apartments, and the other was a One Dollar Zone!

With headquarters in Philadelphia, Five Below has over 1,900 locations in 46 states.

Five Below is a discount retailer that has been around since 2002 and sells a broad variety of goods. These include apparel, accessories, home décor, games, exercise gear, cosmetics, pet supplies, seasonal things, sweets, snacks, and more.

The tagline of the firm is "hot goods. cool pricing." as the majority of the products are priced between $1 and $5, with a few high-value items priced over $5.

You may find products from well-known companies at these stores, such as Disney, Funko, Hershey's, Marvel, Spalding, and Squishmallows.

The e-commerce company Five Below reached $1 billion in yearly revenues in 2016, over $2 billion in 2020, and over $3.5 billion in 2023 after going public in 2012.

More than $41 million has been contributed to various non-profit organizations since 2006 by Five Below, thanks to consumer contributions and fundraising efforts. This money has gone to groups including Alex's Lemonade Stand, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Toys for Tots, Kids In Need Foundation, and more.

Along with other well-known companies such as Burlington, Planet Fitness, TJ Maxx, Petco, Big Lots, Walmart, and Five Below will also be located at the MacArthur Commons.

At the MacArthur Commons in 2024, you may find new Teriyaki Madness restaurants serving teriyaki bowls and other Asian delicacies, as well as Harbor Freight Tools stores selling tools, hardware, and other products for the house, cars, and those with green thumbs, opened in MacArthur Commons in 2024. 

Visit Homes For Sale in Whitehall Township, PA 

We are living in a time with historically low inventory of homes-for-sale, according to the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS (GLVR).

The organization issued new real estate market statistics for Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties.

Since last month, not much has transpired. Or the previous month. It goes on and on. The stock is low. Accumulated costs have increased.

The figures from December support what REALTORS in the Greater Lehigh Valley are seeing firsthand: a constant demand from buyers and an exceedingly limited supply.

With 605 units available in Northampton and Lehigh counties, inventory fell 9.3% between December 2024 and December 2025.

In addition, a 2.3% rise to $337,500 from $329,950 for the median sales price. A measure of supply and demand, months supply of inventory indicates a decline of 8.3% to 1.1 months. In general, a good inventory will have enough items to last five to six months.

The median sales price in Carbon County increased to $286,000. A decrease of one to forty-three new postings was noted. There were 134 units in inventory, which is 2.3 months' worth of supplies. 

The good news is that GLVR has been able to moderate price rise and improve pending sales, which is good signs of momentum as we approach 2026!

In additional good news for homebuyers, nationwide patterns indicate a slight reduction in the volatility of mortgage rates.

An average 30-year fixed mortgage rate this week was 6.06%. Not since September of 2022 has the average been so low.

Check out Homes For Sale in Lehigh Valley, Northampton & Carbon Counties