Campaign visits across Pittsburgh region leave businesses sandwiched between sales boosts and politics

Jacob Geanous / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bill Penzey says his spice business for years has hinged on understanding nuances of global trade — from issues of U.S. relations with China to impacts of rising temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean. Or how tropical cyclones can wipe out the delicate vine of Madagascar vanilla beans.

Penzeys Spices, based in Wauwatosa, Wis., recently weathered a different, near perfect storm: A visit from one presidential candidate coupled with a public attack by another. Calls for boycotts followed — as did a sales spike of more than 30% in the weeks after, according to the owner.

Pennsylvania’s role as a key swing state for victory in the Electoral College has brought the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates back again and again in recent weeks — often looking for colorful photo opportunities to highlight either their policy points or their appealing human qualities.

Businesses on the front lines of these visits — from an established grocery in Armstrong County to a start-up coffee shop in Erie — report it can be a little weird, can stir up antipathy from the opponent’s supporters but, ultimately,  an interesting way to get in front of more customers.

And such visits are often unexpected, hardly something that’s part of the business plan.

Mr. Penzey said Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign told him it was possible she might stop by — just one day in advance of the Sept. 7 visit to the spice store in the Strip District. He was advised to remain relatively hush about it because, if word spread and security was compromised, the visit might be canceled.

All went well, he said — a clip of Ms. Harris hugging an emotional supporter went viral on social media — and former President Donald Trump responded, putting Penzeys in the national spotlight across both political aisles.

In Kittanning, a visit from Trump to Sprankles Neighborhood Market in late September came as a surprise to owner Ryan Sprankle.

He recalled receiving a text from Trump’s team saying the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would be traveling through the area. Would he be open to hosting a visit at the grocery store?

The following day, he was asked whether he could shut down the store on Sunday, Sept. 22, and Monday, Sept. 23. He agreed, since those are normally slower days for business.

A Secret Service agent arrived two days later to evaluate the store and the visit was confirmed for Sept. 23. But the following day, Trump’s team told Mr. Sprankle that they wanted a more lively atmosphere — not an empty store.

“That created, obviously, some more confusion because we had said we were going to be closed,” he said. 

Mr. Sprankle rounded up a few dozen people, including four employees, to be in the store that day. As they completed normal daily tasks — checking deliveries, maintaining refrigeration — Secret Service agents set up a perimeter outside.

Two buses were parked in front of the store to block the windows, and snipers were stationed on top of them. No one was allowed in the store’s food prep area, where potential weapons including knives and slicers were stored for safety.

As word of the visit began to spread, a crowd formed outside. 

“It was unbelievable,” Mr. Sprankle said.

A sales bump

Mr. Penzey, a longtime critic of the Republican Party, said business has shot up since Ms. Harris visited the company’s Pittsburgh store — a visit that was followed by a social media post from Trump saying the store was an “ultra Left Wing, Trump Hating spice shop which I hear has a terrible, over priced product.”

In the weeks since, sales have gone up 34%, said Mr. Penzey, who now has a hand-painted sign on display at the Strip District store commemorating Trump’s quote.

“Those two things combined [Ms. Harris’ visit and Trump’s post], I don’t know if we’ll ever see it again, but those two things gave us five weeks worth of online sales in just two days. We’ve just managed to dig out the last of those orders,” Mr. Penzey said last week.

At Sprankle’s grocery, sales also got a bump from the campaign attention. “We’ve had our three best weeks that we’ve had in a year and a half,” Mr. Sprankle said.

In general, Mr. Penzey said a visit like that is ultimately what a business makes of it. “You’re going to get a little bit of a boost and you’re going to get a little bit of a negative, but it’s not a crop that harvests itself,” he said.

“You can help that along by reaching out to your customers with, ‘Look who was in the store,’ and do a bit of email support or signs in the store … it's a lot of awareness.”

While Trump’s visit to Sprankle’s drew some criticism on social media, the owner said he thought the experience of hosting a politician was a positive one, regardless of a candidate’s political party.

The last presidential candidate to stop by Kittanning was Sen. John F. Kennedy during the runup to the 1960 election. Former President Bill Clinton visited Kittanning High School in 2008.

“We’ve always made it very clear to everybody, we welcome any political figures to our stores at any time,” he said.

“The way we look at it, the more we can get our politicians — Democrat or Republican — to visit our stores and visit our towns, to have a chance to voice some of our challenges, to see what we’re struggling with … we’ve always felt those are great opportunities.”

Backlash for Primanti’s

Pittsburgh cultural icon Primanti Bros., the chain known for sandwiches with fries and coleslaw tucked inside, can attest to the controversy that sometimes follows politicians.

In August, Ms. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were met with outrage online after stopping at a Primanti’s location in Moon, where some diners complained they were forced to leave before the pair arrived.

Sam DeMarco, chairman of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, later took to social media, claiming the customers were removed to make way for a staged event.

“For Kamala Harris’s visit to Primanti’s this afternoon, they kicked out all the customers at 4 p.m. so they could bring in their own audience,” Mr. DeMarco, who is also the at-large Republican Allegheny County Council member, posted to social media site X.

Mr. Vance’s trip to a Primanti’s in North Versailles late last month was also mired in controversy after he was initially turned away from the restaurant.

While claims circulated online that Mr. Vance had been “banned” from the restaurant, both the vice presidential candidate and the restaurant chain issued statements saying the confusion originated because it received no advance warning of the visit.

“Primanti's prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years,” a Primanti’s spokesperson said in a statement after the incident.

“Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us. Without any advance notice, today's campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff.”

The spokesperson said Mr. Vance and his team were ultimately welcomed inside and greeted patrons. In a video posted to social media, Mr. Vance said the manager was “just freaked out a little bit because there were a lot of people and she didn’t want to make her restaurant part of the campaign stop.”

“It’s alright, don’t hold it against her, she just got a little nervous, it’s a great local business,” Mr. Vance continued. “Let’s keep supporting it.”

The Pittsburgh chain has been a favorite of politicians for years.

When then-Sen. Hillary Clinton was vying for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, she swung by the Primanti’s in Market Square. And GOP presidential candidate John McCain went to the Strip District location in 2008.

Meeting the candidates

A newly opened business in Erie found itself in the spotlight when Ms. Harris dropped by before a campaign rally.

Ishmael Trainor, who opened Legenderie Records and Coffee House last month, said he was initially surprised when members of the vice president’s team showed up days before the rally and asked whether the business would be open to a visit from the candidate. 

“I was shocked, honored, and excited … thinking about the moment, I was a little bit overwhelmed,” Mr. Trainor said.

Things moved quickly after that.

“It was kind of a crash course because I think they found the site a little bit late,” he said. “It was one of those things where they had a lot of vetting. We had to make sure of who’s going to be in the building … it was kind of like a whirlwind.”

During her visit, Ms. Harris checked out the store’s record collection, selecting a Marvin Gaye album before heading to her rally at Erie Insurance Arena.

“Grateful to Legenderie Records and Coffee House in Erie, PA for saving me some Marvin Gaye,” the vice president posted on X following the stop.

Mr. Trainor said he appreciated the visit, although it was too early to know what effect it may have on business. “I think overall, we’re very excited to have her visit, very honored to have the vice president and presidential candidate come visit our shop,” he said.

Mr. Sprankle, too, enjoyed his interaction with a presidential candidate.

When the visit finally occurred, a black Suburban carrying Trump drove up to the front door, where the former president jovially greeted Mr. Sprankle.

“He looked at me because I was dressed like I always dress with my hat and T-shirt and he said, ‘You’re a good looking kid,’” Mr. Sprankle said. “I said, ‘You’re not so bad looking yourself, sir.’ And he started laughing.”

For about 30 minutes, the two toured the store, where the candidate also greeted customers and employees, checked prices on various items, and took a photo with the staff. The two talked about a variety of things, including how the past three years had been difficult as store costs rose while sales remained stagnant.

Mr. Sprankle confirmed that Trump paid for a couple’s groceries with a $100 bill during the visit.

“Whether people like him or don’t like him, for that moment, he was very present, very engaging,” he said. “It was funny. It wasn’t powerful Donald Trump. It was just one dude showing another dude his store.”

Fries with that

While many of these visits have similar elements — little advance notice, security checks, a chance to have the ear of the potential next commander-in-chief — the two parties apparently split when it comes to where they choose to dine on the campaign trail.

An analysis by The Washington Post found that GOP candidates nationwide have a significantly larger appetite for fast-food restaurants, where Republican campaigns have outspent Democrats 18-to-1 — including 20 times more at Chick-fil-A and 28 times more at McDonald’s — since January 2023.

The analysis showed Democrat campaigns have opted for restaurants such as DiMeo’s Pizza in Wilmington, Del., as well as chains such as Chipotle, Whole Foods and Panera Bread.

Trump has made no secret about his appreciation for McDonald’s — his favorite order being a Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake, according to Jared Kushner’s White House memoir, “Breaking History.”

Leaning into the photo opportunity, Trump was expected to visit the Philadelphia area this weekend to “work the fry cooker” at an unspecified McDonald’s location — an apparent response to Ms. Harris’ campaign message about how she worked at the classic American restaurant chain during her time as a student, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Trump has repeatedly claimed Ms. Harris never worked at the chain, and last month told a crowd at a rally in Indiana, Pa., that he wanted to work as a fry cook to “see how it is.”