When the Superfresh opened at 2nd & Girard four years ago, it was a cause for celebration. The neighborhood had been without a supermarket for many years, despite amazing residential growth. And the building that housed the Superfresh was a commercial extension of the Piazza, filling a lot that had been vacant since the demolition of the old Schmidt's Brewery. But our experiences at the market were always somehow lackluster. And there was always something weird about it being located above street level.
Yesterday, the Superfresh closed its doors, though we don't imagine that the closing was due anything specific about the store. It's surely due to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings of their parent company, A&P. But neighbors shouldn't hold a vigil for their departed market, because a new one is set to open on Thursday, according to an email from the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. Acme will open here on Thursday, though it might take them a little while to build up their stock. We won't speculate on whether the new market will have decidedly different offerings from its predecessor, though we confess we generally prefer Acmes to Superfresh locations. Whether the Acme is better, worse, or the same, it's just great news that this won't be like the Columbus Blvd. situation, where the South Philly Superfresh will close without a clear replacement.
In the same NLNA email, we also came upon a particularly fascinating nugget- there will be no community zoning meetings in September. This hasn't happened for about six years, and this is only the third time in the last two decades. This is shocking when you considering the amount of construction happening in the neighborhood right now, but it might be a sign that things could soon slow down. Alternately, it might be another six years until this happens again- it's just impossible to determine at the moment.