Country Bride and Gent property sold
Owners say they hope to open new location by start of 2019
UPPER GWYNEDD » The future is coming into focus for a local business that has been in the center of development talks for years.
Trish and Ed Burkholder, owners of the Country Bride and Gent at 708 Sumneytown Pike, announced Monday they have sold that property and plan to move the business by the end of the year.
“We have long outgrown our space, and this sale provides us with a wonderful opportunity to relocate to a larger and more modern salon,” the two said in a statement on Monday.
For customers, the transition will be “seamless — absolutely nothing is changing at all,” said Trish Burkholder.
“It’s got to look nice, and she wants a more modern look. Country Bride and Gent has been here for 22 years, and everything we did in the first year, we haven’t done a whole lot since — and she’s excited to change that,” Ed Burk-
holder said.
Their location near the corner of Sumneytown Pike and West Point Pike has been the topic of countless hours of public discussion since the fall of 2016, when developer Bruce Goodman first presented public plans to build a Wawa fuel station and convenience store on the site of the Country Bride and Gent and the adjacent Sumney Tavern.
Several public hearings were held over the course of 2017 before the township commissioners voted down one version of the plans in July 2017, and a revised version that November, leading the developer to create a new website entitled “Bring Wawa to Upper Gwynedd” and challenge the denial in court.
Talks on the Wawa project began as the couple had started to plan an expansion of the existing Country Bride and Gent, the Burkholders said Monday.
“That’s when we put everything on hold,” Trish
Burkholder said — “and here we are, now, three years later, and we can finally start making plans now,” Ed added.
Settlement on a sale to Goodman took place Monday morning, according to the couple, and they have already started to develop their list of criteria for a new site, which they hope will be “in the immediate area,” as close as possible to the current location.
“We are as committed today as we were when we opened the store in 1995. Providing our customers with the best fashion styles, service, and quality has been, and always will be, our main objective,” the couple said. “We look forward to continue servicing the brides and grooms of our area for a very long time.”
Their goal is to be ready for a move by the end of the year, since winter tends to be their least busy season due to few winter weddings.
“The holidays could be a little busier than usual,” Trish Burkholder said, “and we’ll find a way to take care of those people, whatever that would entail,” said Ed.
Last month, the adjacent Sumney Tavern closed its doors after the owners said in February they had seen business decline steadily in recent years, since the closure of a Giant supermarket across the street in 2015 and the ongoing discussion about their property. Those owners did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did Goodman on Monday, and township officials declined to comment on the sale.
The Burkholders said Monday that while the property is no longer theirs, they are optimistic about the business, and the possibilities of a new and larger space, wherever it winds up being.
“At least, after three years, we see an end to this long process,” Ed Burkholder said.
“We’re going into a new chapter, so that’s always a good thing,” said Trish Burkholder.
For more information on the Country Bride and Gent call (215) 699-1480, visit www.CountryBrideandGent.com, search for “Country Bride and Gent” on Facebook or follow @ Bride_Gent on Twitter.