March 15, 2024
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
The 6,000-square-foot space will include a deli counter, bulk section, prepared foods, fresh coffee and other groceries with a focus on sustainability.
Local grocery chain Weavers Way Co-op will open a new location in Germantown in April.
The membership-based store has locations in Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill and Ambler, as well as a farmer's market in Northwest Philly during the summer. The new, 6,000-square-foot space is on schedule to open April 17, according to General Manager Jon Roesser.
In addition to the usual grocery store staples, Weavers Way will offer prepared foods, kombucha on tap, a bulk section, fresh coffee and bakery items, and a deli counter. The new store will also feature indoor seating at a bar along the front windows, a small parking lot and a community fridge on the front sidewalk.
Roesser said 328 W. Chelten Ave. was an Acme Markets in the 1950s, and they were able to keep the original floors. Most recently, the space was a training facility for social service agency JEVS Human Service, but that closed in 2015 and the building has been vacant ever since. Weavers Way began working on the new location last spring.
"Germantown's an awesome neighborhood, so we're super stoked to be a part of the Germantown community," Roesser said. "We already have a lot of members who live in Germantown who are going to other stores to shop, so it will help better meet their needs by having a store here."
Inside the Germantown store opening this spring.
All Weavers Way locations accept SNAP benefits for food assistance, and Roesser said they'll be applying to accept WIC, a nutrition program for mothers.
With this space, Roesser hopes to help build up the neighborhoods' commercial corridor. The co-op predicts there will be about 600 customers per day at the store.
"That's 600 people coming here, bringing more foot traffic to the avenue, which will absolutely have a cascading effect on the other businesses along the avenue," Roesser said. "We've seen that in our other locations, where coffee shops and other small stores that are in close proximity to our stores do better because of the more critical mass of people."
Weavers Way has no current plans for additional locations, but Roesser said Glenside and Roxborough would likely be its next stop if the company decides to open new stores.
