April 13, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Spice store eager for Hill Community
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Bill Penzey says Chestnut Hill is a place “we’d rather be.”

The owner of Penzeys Spice plans to open a specialty retail store in the former Yankee Candle Co. property, at 8528 Germantown Ave. Penzeys, a private company based in Brookfield, Wis., sells spices, herbs and other seasonings.

“Chestnut Hill is a combination of neighborhood and a destination spot,” Penzey said. “Hopefully, generations from now people will be coming to Penzeys, seeing it as part of Chestnut Hill.”

Penzeys Spices has locations in 18 states, with the closest one to Philadelphia in Pittsburgh. The Chestnut Hill store will be the company’s largest, according to Sanjiv Jain of Legacy Real Estate, which is leasing the space to Penzeys. The space totals about 4,000 square feet.

Penzey said that although he offers gift baskets and pepper mills, the company’s main concern is more than 250 spices and seasonings. He said that too many businesses bring other products to the spice business; Penzeys prefers to concentrate on providing assortments of different spices.

The company’s online business already has a customer base in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and the surrounding communities. Jane Piotrowski, who lives in Chestnut Hill, said last week that she recently ordered gift boxes and anise seed from Penzeys’ website, before she learned that the store was moving to the Avenue.

“It is exactly the type of business that I think we need more of and that Chestnut Hill is known for, that is unique specialty upscale stores,” Jain said.

Penzeys Spices has signed the lease and is measuring of the facility in preparation for move-in, he said, but an opening date has not been set.

Rick Kratchman, who owns Kitchen Kapers, which is next door, was pleased by the development.

“Chestnut hill is a destination for people who like to cook,” Kratchman said. Penzeys “has the spices, we have the equipment; it’s a one-stop destination. The synergy between the [Chestnut Hill] Cheese Shop, Penzeys Spices and Kitchen Kapers is all real positive.”

This will not be the first spice shop to grace the Avenue. Some people recall The Chestnut Hill Spice Shop, at 8162 Germantown Ave., which was open for a few years and which longtime resident Pat Stokes remembers as a more hippie-like spice shop.

Previous to the Penzeys Spices announcement, Jain had approached the Chestnut Hill Community Association seeking its support for a variance that would allow a restaurant/bar in the storefront. The proposal faced opposition from neighbors, and its discussion was tabled at the CHCA board meeting last month.

Jain said the opposition had no affect on his decision to sign a retail store to the property. “Penzeys Spices is in there because they are the best store to be placed there,” he said. Jain said three non-restaurant parties had been seriously interested in the property, along with six restaurants.

“What [Penzeys Spices] is selling is not that different from what an upscale restaurant and bar would do for the community; it could bring people together,” Jain said. “It accomplishes some of the same objectives differently.”

But he is still adamant that a restaurant is a necessary addition to the Avenue. About 70 percent of the community members who completed the suggestion forms displayed outside the former Yankee Candle Co. requested a restaurant.

“I’m a firm believer in what is needed in Chestnut Hill, and the silent, overwhelming majority really did not come out as aggressively at the [CHCA] meeting, but in conversation on the streets, letters of support and the forms … many said they are supportive of a restaurant,” Jain said.

He said that he would actively pursue placement of a restaurant on the Hill, even if it weren’t in one of his properties.