South Philly Food Co-op announces 3,400 sq. ft. East Passyunk Crossing grocery store location
Your favorite theoretical grocery store is finally becoming a reality.
South Philly Food Co-op has signed a lease on a location in East Passyunk Crossing. The storefront is a 3,400 sq. ft. ground floor space in a mixed-use building being developed at 2031 S. Juniper St.
After years of searching and quite a few spaces with a “lot of potential that have not worked out for one reason or another,” says Jess Calter, President of the Co-op, they finally have the space for the grocery store. Last year they had expanded the search area for a location, but despite those stretched boundaries, they still ended up with a space in what many consider as the heart of South Philly in East Passyunk Crossing. The location is close to Broad Street and right off of Snyder Avenue near South Philadelphia High School, allowing for easy access for residents.
“We’re proud to be part of the movement harnessing economic control for our community and to provide healthy food access to our South Philadelphia neighbors,” Calter says.
The location is on the smaller side of the range the South Philly Food Co-op was searching for at 3,400 sq. ft., but because of the convenience of the location and the ability to come in “at the right moment in the space’s development,” they can renovate the building to create the grocery store they have been envisioning. It is currently a “shell of a space” that can be customized to fit the Co-op’s needs.
As of right now, the property is still being developed by Blake Barabuscio. The next steps for the location will include the process of working with a grocery store layout consultant, hiring an architect and finding a general manager who will assist in the big decisions of the operational details for the grocery store. Once the store is up-and-running, they plan to work with the nearby South Philadelphia High School’s students, along with the surrounding community and nearby civic associations.
The grocery store will likely be open seven days a week, with hours to be determined in the future.
Congratulations on achieving this milestone, yay!
Congratulations!
Yey for LOMO and Snyder Avenue!!
Wow. Hard to get more central to S Philly than that. Kudos on the location.
Let’s just hope the inventory is priced to keep the locals out – that neighborhood is definitely a little sketchy.
If you mean by sketchy…the little strip in front of the McDonalds on Broad St. Yes, that’s sometimes weird. However, the actual Neighborhood (which is much larger) is rock solid and I encourage you to actual take visit it.
The location of the Food Coop is absolutely fantastic and will serve entire South Philly (including the locals).
I’m giving sixteen different kinds of side-eye to this comment.
I was going to side-eye it but accidentally looked at it straight on.
Keep the locals out? Discrimination, intolerance, fear and ignorance tidily wrapped up in a neat little package with plenty of time for Christmas.
Arctic Splash, by the case!
Hhmmmm…this is a pretty disgusting comment…read it a few times to make sure I was seeing it right.
Good, I was going to kill myself if a location wasn’t found by the end of the year.
I want to hear from the commenter who always brings up the non-existent lawsuit.
What do they think of this location?
Any idea if there will be any temp parking spots (loading only, 20-30 min spots) out front? This will likely be a deciding factor for me since I don’t live in the neighborhood and would drive there to shop.
(Before you get all “move out into the suburbs if you don’t want to walk/bike/septa/roller skate everywhere in the city,” I’m just asking a question. I choose not to spend a big chunk of my day on grocery shopping so convenience is key for me. That said, I think the location makes total sense otherwise.)
There is usually plenty of parking on Snyder and the surrounding streets during weekend day hours – night time is a different story) That street is also weirdly industrial with tons of garages and other unused buildings, you could probably fit several cars with hazards on for 10/15 minutes no problem. Is it drivable?, yes. Is it a sure bet as a parking lot?, no. But without much snark, thats what city living is.
Its also a block from the subway and many buses.
I don’t know what the rules of the South Philly High parking lot are, but if they plan on partnering with the school, maybe an agreement for weekend parking can be worked out.
Excellent point. Also maybe after school weekday hours as well.
Agreed, it’s completely accessible via public transport. The location makes perfect sense for probably a large majority of the individuals who will shop there. It likely won’t be a place where I shop regularly, but I’m looking forward to checking it out.
Oops, that was supposed to be in response to Ian above. Still learning how to use these internets.
Isn’t this where the suspicious fire was last year?
Yes, this is the project that, in its initial incarnation, went up like a torch in the middle of the night. There were local and ATF arson investigators on the scene the next day, but nothing appears to have ever come of it. Does anyone have more information?
No mention of the $1 million they need to raise in order for the space to be usable? Or the fact that the last mention of assets on their blog they claimed $155k in net assets? It still seems pretty theoretical to me … ?