After years of planning and construction, Weavers Way Co-op has opened its new Germantown location on the corner of Chelten Avenue and Morris Street, just over half a mile from GFS. This is the fourth Weavers Way location, and offers the community a wide array of produce, groceries, meat and dairy, frozen foods, bulk foods, natural health and beauty products, and more, including prepared foods and made-to-order bowls.

Jess Beer ’05, Retail Director at Weavers Way since Spring 2022, directed the sourcing and merchandising of the product mix that fills the shelves in the Germantown store, as well as all of the other locations. She’s been on the ground every step of the way of the opening of the 6,000-square foot retail space, which combines her love of community gathering places and her local and specialty foods expertise. 

Food and food systems have always been a passion for Beer; while a student at GFS in the early 00s, both she and her sister Allie ’08 worked afternoons and weekends at the Chestnut Hill Cheese Shop. After GFS and college, she built a dynamic career in specialty and natural foods on farms and in food markets, including a cheese and wine shop in Boulder, Colorado, where she was the general manager for eight years.

After moving back to Philadelphia with her partner in 2020, Beer worked for a few years at DiBruno Bros. before landing the Retail Director position at Weavers Way. Growing up in Northwest Philly, the Co-op’s Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill locations were familiar places: her family was a member and she has core memories of scooping pickles from the pickle barrel and grabbing bagels from the bakery bin.

“Weavers Way has always had this place in my heart and head as a great community hub,” she says. “When I moved back to Philly, I was excited to get into a more everyday grocer and I learned that they were going to post a retail director job that aligned with my skill set. I applied for it, and here we are!”

Beer’s arrival at Weavers Way could not have come at a better time. In 2017, the Co-op expanded into Ambler, PA with its largest store to date, and had plans percolating for a Germantown location (East Falls and Germantown ZIP codes have some of the highest Weavers Way membership numbers, Beer reports). The rapidly growing, community-owned entity needed someone with her proficiencies to enhance operational systems and foster greater Coop-wide cohesion, from product assortment to procedures and logistics.

“My position was created to enable stores to collaborate more effectively—working smarter, not harder—to continue building the Weavers Way brand and community,” Beer said.

Weavers Way signed the lease on the space that would become its Germantown location in April of 2022. The property, which had once served as an Acme Market, was ideal: it included helpful architectural features, like a freight elevator, high ceilings, and a parking lot, and was close to Septa trains and buses. Weavers Way was also careful that the design of the space would make it ADA-compliant, with an entry ramp, wide aisles, and other accessible features. The original terrazzo floor was still intact, and Weaver’s Way had it refinished for an undeniable classic grocery store aesthetic.

Stocking an entire grocery store from scratch is no small feat, and was one that Beer and her team approached with mindfulness and care.

“Before we opened, we did a lot of community engagement to make sure that we had the right product mix, not just for the members we already have but for the new customers we want to engage,” Beer said. “We’re in a time where food costs are going up, so we’re highly sensitive about not just being an ‘expensive’ grocery store only for new wealthy people moving to Germantown.” 

The community outreach included tabling at events and sharing a survey with neighbors to collect data. Beer incorporated the feedback into product choices across departments; for example, the cereal aisle includes familiar conventional brands like Cheerios and Rice Krispies, as well as organic brands, and the meat department offers halal chicken and beef. The hot food bar features one-dollar coffee and a five-dollar rice and beans bowl, with all of the other bowls coming in under $10. The Weavers Way team also worked to get the store WIC-certified, which will increase accessibility to many families in a profound way.

“Philadelphia is a mixed-income city, so Weavers Way isn’t a small college town co-op with only $10 cereals on the shelves,” Beer noted. “We’re never going to be the cheapest grocery store, but we do want to offer price points that are accessible to most people.” 

Weavers Way furthers its commitment to accessibility with its Food For All program which makes food and eco-friendly products more affordable for its members in need. New and existing Weavers Way members who receive food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, TANF—Cash Assistance, WIC, SSDI, SSI, or Military Disability can apply for Food For All; the benefits include a 15 percent discount on nearly every product in the store, and a reduced minimum equity payment of $5 per year. These discounts are supported in part by customers who participate in the Co-op’s Round Up initiative, where they pay a bit extra by rounding up their total at the register.

“We’re working towards a sliding scale model here—we’re trying our best to make Weavers Way as accessible as possible and people are really excited about it,” Beer said. 

The excitement extends to the very presence of the store. Beer shared that Germantown residents have responded in an overwhelmingly positive way to Weavers Way’s arrival in the community.

“It’s just been so heartwarming and very moving, everyone’s just been very excited to have us here,” she said.

For more information on the Weavers Way Co-op Germantown location visit its website.