Weavers Way Chestnut Hill has not seen a slowdown in business since The Fresh Market opened nearby. by Joseph Persichetti In 2012, when Bowman Properties first announced that it planned to bring …
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by Joseph Persichetti
In 2012, when Bowman Properties first announced that it planned to bring Fresh Market to Chestnut Hill, supporters of Weavers Way Co-Op were concerned. The cooperative grocery store’s Chestnut Hill branch was still relatively young, having taken over the former Caruso’s Market space at 8424 Germantown Avenue in 2010.
At the time, former Weavers Way general manager Glenn Bergman said he believed Weavers Way would lose 20 to 25 percent of its clientele to the Fresh Market.
The Fresh Market opened its doors on Jan. 28, and the co-op’s current director of marketing Crystal Pang reassured the Local that Weavers Way was doing just fine.
“We’ve been open for a little over five years now,” Pang said. “We feel that people have embraced us.”
Weavers Way has been an established presence within the Mount Airy community for around 40 years. It has a large local membership and a loyal customer base. Because of that, Pang described why she felt that Weavers Way hasn’t felt the impact of the new competition as much as it was previously predicted.
“The customers like what they have to order,” Pang said. “We try to use as many locally made and grown products as possible. Over 30 percent of our stock is from the local area. We feel that our competitors focus on just making a profit, while Weavers Way thinks about the people and the community.”
She described Weavers Way’s organizational structure and how that helped it not just to thrive within Northwest Philadelphia but also minimize the amount of business lost to other competitors.
“We’re owned by our members and work with the local businesses along the Avenue, so we’re further ingrained in the community,” she said. “We pay fair wages and promote a team environment have a product philosophy that ensures that nothing but the highest in the ethical and quality standards gets put on our shelves. We want to be sure that everything on the shelves sustains and represents our values.”
Pang explained how the loyalty of the co-op's customers along with the store being connected to the community helped solidify its customer base.
“We encourage local, small nonprofits that reach out to Weavers Way, and every week we talk about the support for local shops,” she said. “We help do tabling events for local stores and participate in Mt. Airy’s Village Fair every year. This is ingrained in our values. We were born out of the community so we want to give back as much as possible.”