This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Weavers Way West Oak Lane Store Closing, Other Branches Going Strong

The Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill stores will be the two remaining branches.

On August 31, will turn over operations of its West Oak Lane store to Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation, a local nonprofit community development organization based in the West Oak Lane neighborhood.

"The store will remain open but it will no longer be a part of Weavers Way: we'll be working with OARC, helping them with marketing and product advice—but they will be the owners and operators," said Jonathan McGoran, Weavers Way Communications Director.

West Oak Lane store not sustainable

Weavers Way's West Oak Lane location, opened in 2007, did not become a sustainable store as quickly as the organization had hoped. Though Weavers Way tried a number of different methods to get sales up and keep costs down at the store, nothing seemed to work, McGoran said.

"We'd repeatedly tweaked the product line to find the proper mix of local and organic products while keeping an eye on the bottom line: the price points," McGoran explained. "Part of the thing that's tricky is trying to make it as affordable as possible while keeping to the values and principles we think are important."

There has been support for the concept of local, organic products at the West Oak Lane store, and a very enthusiastic customer base—but it wasn't large enough to keep the store open as part of Weavers Way. 

McGoran said it's hard to say exactly why the store didn't take root in the manner Weavers Way hoped. It might be that the store is too small—at 700 square feet—or that Weavers Way didn't have the resources to give the West Oak Lane store enough time to develop in the community.

"It usually takes a few years to get the kind of community support necessary to open [a co-op]. We went in thinking the community support was there and opened the store—and we have seen a growth in support and increasing membership in the community, but it hasn't been sufficient to keep it open [as part of Weavers Way]," McGoran explained.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Before Weavers Way opened its Chestnut Hill branch last year, about 500 members of the Mt. Airy store were Chestnut Hill residents.

"The Chestnut Hill store really had a head start because ... we already had a very substantial presence in that community," McGoran said. "People lived there who knew us and were members and owners and could serve as ambassadors and tell their friends, so that when we opened the store there was already demand there."

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

West Oak Lane did not share that advantage when it opened, McGoran said. "We didn't have a ready-made member base, a core there who could ... help us get word out in the community."

Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill stores stable

Weavers Way as a whole is in sound financial condition, McGoran said.

Sales are slightly down at the Mt. Airy store—which was projected and planned, since the Chestnut Hill store, opened a year ago, was intended to take some of the pressure off of the Mt. Airy store, McGoran said. Sales are down at the Mt. Airy branch slightly more than the organization had anticipated, however.

Increased advertising and special events are planned for the Mt. Airy branch to help boost sales and let customers know about sometimes-overlooked aspects of Weavers Way, like the Mt. Airy branch's second floor, which sells a number of natural health and beauty aids. Regular staff and hours are being added at Weavers Way's natural pet supply store as well.

The Chestnut Hill store has exceeded expected sales by 20 to 25 percent, so profits have balanced out.

"For the organization as a whole, sales are well above what we'd projected and budgeted for ... so we're very pleased with that," McGoran said.

By and large, the closing of the West Oak Lane store will not significantly affect the Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill branches, McGoran said, though employees of the closing branch will relocate to the Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy branches come Sept. 1, so shoppers may see a few new faces.

And, some logistical burdens—like purchasing produce and delivering products to the West Oak Lane store—will be lifted from the Weavers Way Mt. Airy store.

The Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill branches of Weavers Way may also see a small uptick in sales as some previous Weavers Way customers begin shopping at the remaining locations, but Weavers Way is encouraging shoppers who have been using the West Oak Lane store to continue shopping there under OARC's ownership.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airy