Driving along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Katy Jones needed gas, and fast. She found what she was looking for, and filled up on cereal, too.
Jones, a College of General Studies psychology student, had stumbled upon the new incarnation of Cereality -- a cereal bar and cafe -- at the Peter J. Camiel Travel Plaza while driving to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire last week. The store was launched in mid-July.
The cereal store -- which offers more than 30 toppings and varieties of cereal -- is expanding more than just its menu.
Besides the location along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Cereality opened up a site in Chicago in June. The first Cereality appeared on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University in 2003, and the chain made its way to Penn in December, amid national headlines.
Jones, 24, had been informed of the chain's expansion via the company Web site but found the store by pure luck.
"I'm a pretty big cereal addict," she said while sitting on a red sofa using her computer inside Penn's Cereality, located at 3631 Walnut St. "Cereal is good for me any time of the day."
Cereality spokeswoman Lisa Kovitz said that the secret to the store's expansion lies in a relatively simple and overlooked concept.
"Ninety-five percent of the American public eats cereal," she said. "It's the number-three selling item behind milk and soft drinks."
What started out as a cereal frenzy on two college campuses has now extended into places far from the hub of hungry college students. The Chicago branch sits across from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike location has neighbors such as Starbucks and Cinnabon.
Although Kovitz would not comment on the company's sales figures, she did say that cereal-eaters across the world have been clamoring for Cereality to open up locations overseas.
"You think it's an American ideal, but it seems like it has transcended all cultures," she said.
To others, Cereality's expansion seems natural.
"We're not at all surprised to see them proliferate with their concept," Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.
However, he added that there were doubts as to Cereality's success on Penn's campus when the company first approached the University with the idea.
"Eating cereal is something you do at home. Would people think of it as something you do outside?" he asked.
But the demographics of the area -- which contains a large population of 18- to 30-year-olds who are constantly on the go -- convinced officials that the odds were well worth taking.
Still, there are others who think that Cereality might only do well on college campuses.
Eric Laliberte, a junior studying business at Arizona State University, said that the new stores might not enjoy as much success as their college-based predecessors.
"I imagine the one here will stay open forever, and I can see them expanding across other campuses," he said. "It's more of a college thing."
Still others, like Jessica Vogel, a student in the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, say Cereality will have a chance outside of college campuses.
"There's a lot of weird places that have opened [about] which people have said, 'It's not going to survive,' but they're still around," she said.
