Shop Around the Corner
Pennsylvania North Country Artisan Center and Store
By SARAH BULL

Owner: Northern Tier
Cultural Alliance
Address: 1 Washington Street, Towanda, Pennsylvania  
Phone: (570) 268-5055
E-mail: info@ntculturalalliance.org        
Hours: Tuesday Friday 10 a.m..-5 p.m. Monday & Saturday: 10 a.m..- 2 p.m.

Northern Tier Cultural Alliance: Formed in 1995, NTCA is a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about Pennsylvania’s history, art, and Northern Tier cultural traditions. All profits from the PA North Country Artisan Center & Store (PA NCACS) support the NTCA. The store is part of a renovated train station on Towanda’s riverfront.

Artisan Work: Supplied by sixty-three local and regional artisans, the PA NCACS tastefully displays their work, which includes pottery, fiber arts, photography, woodworking, baskets, stained glass, handmade soaps, jewelry, wheat weavings, and hand-painted porcelain.
 
Food Producers: Working together to provide the Artisan Center with cheese, tea, maple syrup, maple candy, chocolate, honey, eggs, mustard, bread dippers, jams, jellies and goat milk fudge, twelve food producers from our area play key roles in the store’s success.           

Merchandise Committee: Before any of the items reach the Artisan Center’s shelves, a committee approves them to ensure each product is either handcrafted or artistically prepared. The committee does not allow commercially manufactured or previously purchased items.

Customer Care: Kathy Joyce, a former teacher as well as the store manager, is more than just an employee at the PA North Country Artisan Center & Store. She takes delight in meeting the contributing artisans and familiarizing herself with their work so that she can pass her deep appreciation for each piece on to her customers.  Although customers traveling from thirty-five different states and five foreign countries have visited the PA NCACS, seventy-five percent of sales are actually to locals who just can’t get enough of this unique and friendly store.