Freshgrocer draws crowds during opening weekend

The Freshgrocer, the long-awaited supermarket at 40th and Walnut streets, finally opened its doors on Friday to a swarm of customers. With the warm weather this weekend, both the indoor and outdoor market cafes teemed with students. Operator Pat Burns said that the Friday opening satisfied his expectations. "The store is doing very well," he said. "I think people are very happy with it." Burns said that he saw a healthy mix of students, faculty and community members frequenting the store in its first weekend. Students said they were overwhelmingly pleased with the market. "I'm very happy with the quality," said Sarah Sibbach, a first-year Dental student. "Finally, a clean place to shop. I like that [The Freshgrocer] has a lot of stuff made ready-to-eat." "We'll probably be here daily," first-year Dental student Aimee Hersh added. College sophomore Aryeh Warmflash said he liked the atmosphere of the store. "It looks pretty modern and well-laid out," he said. "The store is really well set up and aesthetically pleasing to the eye," College senior Brett Martz said. Students also said they appreciated the wide variety of products offered by the market. "It's got great selection," College junior Sam Allen said. I think it's great that the store is open 24 hours. They'll get a lot of business." Although The Freshgrocer's ultimate goal is 'round-the-clock hours, it will close some nights during its first few weeks in order to complete construction work on the floors. Previously, some students had feared that the gourmet supermarket would be unreasonably expensive. However, students said they were pleasantly surprised by the prices. "It's cheaper than I thought it would be," College senior Esther Boody-Alter said. "The prices are comparable to Thriftway," Martz said. However, students said they were disappointed with the store's late opening, which came only three weeks before the end of the school year. "I'm a little annoyed that they're opening only a few weeks before I graduate," Boody-Alter said. "I wish it had opened four years ago," Wharton and Engineering senior Srida Joisa said. Still, most students agreed that the final product met all expectations. "It was definitely worth the wait," Wharton and College sophomore Soniya Sapre said. "It's so convenient." "I'm pleasantly surprised to see such a beautiful supermarket in West Philadelphia," second-year Dental student Dennis Siddiqi said. "It's about time Penn had a student market on campus." The Freshgrocer was originally intended to open last July. The supermarket faced continual construction delays, which prevented a timely opening. Last week, Freshgrocer and University officials decided on an April 20 opening date, despite complaints from Freshgrocer officials that many construction details were still incomplete. "We're happy, although there are some problems we're still trying to fix," Burns said, explaining that groceries were getting stuck going up the conveyor belt, designed to transport the food to shoppers' cars and that poor signage in the garage caused confusion for customers. Nearby competitors Thriftway and Campus Market held differing views of The Freshgrocer. An employee at Campus Market, who asked that his name not be used, predicted that "business will slow down" now that The Freshgrocer is up and running. Thriftway owner Steven Brown, however, said he is not worried about possible competition from the new supermarket. "I think there will be no effect whatsoever," he said. "They are expensive and I think students are looking for value. They have a different focus from our store." Brown said that his business over the weekend was "normal, status quo."

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