McCandless Councilman Joe Wall worked at the North Park Bicycle, Bait and Tackle Shop when he was younger. On Oct. 21 he spoke at the ribbon-cutting for the business that now fills the same building, and, as TribLive reported, he told the crowd, "Seeing this redeveloped is near and dear to my heart."
The building is at the corner of East Ingomar and Kummer roads, and it's now the General Store North Park. Early coverage called it the Wolfe General Store. The store is the first new piece built on a corner that was protected twice in 2023. The town decided how big anything there could get. Then a neighbor bought the land and decided who would get to stay. The store is what fits inside both of those limits.
What's Inside the Pine-Green Building
The store is at 897 E. Ingomar Road. Its owners are Jason Wolfe and his wife, Susan. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
What it sells covers the things people tend to forget on the way to the park:
- Fishing supplies, including bait and tackle
- Snacks and cold drinks
- Ice and propane
- Firewood
- Paper plates and napkins
- Small extras, mini squishy toys among them
Wolfe explained the stock list to TribLive in practical terms: "Somebody forgot paper plates and napkins for the party they have. People need ice. They need wood. Things for the park."
There's also a covered pavilion and an outdoor fire pit, so people can sit down after a day in the park. Coffee, frozen slushies, hot dogs and other grab-and-go food are planned once the store's Class 3 permit is approved. Updates go out on the store's Facebook page.
The work started in April and went well past cosmetics. A natural gas line and a public water connection replaced the old well. The building also got a sink, heating and air conditioning, insulation, a new roof, new windows, new flooring and a new ceiling. On the outside it got pine-green paint, a new entrance and a freshly paved lot.
A Corner That Grew Up Around the Park
The general store is new, but the corner around it has been in business since the 1940s. NEXTpittsburgh's 2024 history of the property traces how it filled in:
- Mid-1940s. Brothers Stanley and Stanford Ehler opened a bike and bait shop and a driving range on land they owned near North Park.
- 1952. The Crawford family built the Par 3 golf course, and the Williams family's grandfather opened a batting range.
- About ten years later. The Williams family added the miniature golf course.
- 2018. The Crawfords handed management of the driving range and the Par 3 to the Williams family.
Over the years the property also took in Chub's Place, Tomato Pie Cafe and GFC Wellness. The businesses never owned the dirt underneath them. In 2023, TribLive reported that the tenants rent the land but own their buildings. Jon Williams of the batting range and Par 3 told the paper, "This is how we make a living; can't pick it up and go somewhere else."
The bait shop itself ran for 75 years before it moved out in 2023, unsure what would happen to the property. ASR North, an electric bike shop, rented the building for about a year after that.
The First Decision Was About Size
In 2023 the land changed hands within the family that had owned it, and people started guessing about what would come next. Around the same time, McCandless rewrote its zoning ordinance. Before that update, the property was split between large-scale commercial recreation zoning and standard single-family zoning. Town Manager Brian O'Malley told TribLive that before the rewrite, land near the Kummer and Ingomar intersection "could have been used for a bank, car wash, gas station, heavy equipment storage, a hotel, vehicle sales, theater, and more uses."
The update moved the corner into an M-N Neighborhood Center district. That district allows a mix of homes and neighborhood-scale shops but no retail over 3,000 square feet. The town spelled out what it wanted. It preferred a mix of uses over a housing development or a stand-alone business that doesn't encourage people to spend meaningful time in the area. The goal was to support North Park as a regional asset without overwhelming it. As of Oct. 3, 2023, the town said it had received no development applications for the parcel.
The Second Decision Was About Who Stays
Zoning limits how big a building can be. It doesn't pick the tenants. That part came down to a buyer.
Jason Wolfe isn't a developer. He's a Milton Hershey School graduate and founded Giftcards.com, and he moved near North Park in 2017. NEXTpittsburgh reported that he followed talk about the property in the Friends of North Park Facebook group. He and Williams both worried the site would become a large mixed-use neighborhood. At his ribbon-cutting, Wolfe told TribLive he decided to buy after seeing a social media post saying townhomes and a gas station were being considered for the site. In October 2023 the tenants learned that a letter of intent to sell the land to him had been signed.
Once the bike shop moved out and the building sat empty, Wolfe asked on Facebook what the best use of the land would be. "And what came of it was a general store," he told TribLive. He described the store as a first step and said keeping the land in the community, preserving green space and supporting the businesses already there all matter to him.
"This store is a small way to give something back and create a place that makes life a little more convenient and enjoyable for the people who spend time here." Jason Wolfe, speaking to TribLive
Put the two decisions together and the store makes sense. It's under the town's size limit, it sells things for the park next door, and the pavilion and fire pit give people a reason to stay a while. That's close to the kind of use the town described in 2023.
Who's Next Door
The rest of the property is still running, and each business sits close enough to the next that you can walk between them.
North Park Batting Range and golf. The batting cages at 840 E. Ingomar Road have baseball and softball cages, and bats and helmets are available. The 18-hole mini golf course is at 865 E. Ingomar. The driving range at 860 E. Ingomar has 27 mats and a turf practice area. The Par 3 at 810 E. Ingomar is a nine-hole walking course with no tee times. Everything is outdoors, so hours depend on the weather. The operator asks people to call before coming out, which matters more once November weather sets in.
Chub's Place. It's next to the batting range, in front of the Par 3. Chub's posts dine-in and takeout hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with breakfast until 1:30. The Original L-PO is the sandwich it promotes. The number is 412-260-4399 if you want to confirm hours.
Tomato Pie Cafe. It's across East Ingomar from the driving range entrance.
GFC Wellness Center. It's at 875 E. Ingomar Road, and its posted hours run Monday through Friday.
The Corner Heading Into Winter
The store is open seven days a week, and the propane, firewood and ice don't depend on the weather the way a batting cage does. Chub's keeps its morning hours all week except Monday. The outdoor attractions run day to day. At the ribbon-cutting, Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber president Denise Martin listed what the store is for: "Whether you're here to take a hike, take a walk, go fishing, whatever you need."
Later in the season, Allegheny County says tickets for the 2026 North Park Holiday Laser Show go on sale Monday, Nov. 30. Show details will appear on the county's event page. If you're headed into the park off East Ingomar, the General Store North Park at Kummer Road carries firewood and ice.
Corners like this one, where zoning decides how big new buildings can get near a park, are something Robin Taylor follows closely across the North Hills. If you'd like to know how McCandless's neighborhood-scale zoning shapes what can be built near a street you care about, Robin Taylor Homes is glad to talk it through over a free, no-pressure consultation.
