The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Triple Fresh in East Fallowfield marks 30 years of adapting to market
The Petros feel the history in their 200-year-old building as they work to survive in today’s fast-changing business
EAST FALLOWFIELD » At a little under 10,000 square feet, Triple Fresh Market shouldn’t be able to succeed in a grocery store industry where bigger is seen as better. And in a way, it isn’t. Celebrating 30 years of operation by the Petro family this month, the store is located in a 200-year-old building, and is surrounded by an even richer history.
The store continues to thrive, the Petros say, because they refuse to get stuck in their own history.
“It stopped being a supermarket a long time ago,” said James Petro III, who runs the Triple Fresh with his father, James Petro Jr. “I don’t know that you could open a place like this anymore.”
Today, Triple Fresh hangs its hat on its deli, its takeout service, its locally produced offerings and its fresh-cut meats. It still has the rows of groceries and doesn’t plan to let them go, the younger Petro explained earlier this week as the store’s staff of about 55 prepared for the Thanksgiving rush. But they know, with expanding supermarkets, with all of the grocery items now sold in drug stores and by big box retailers — not to mention Amazon’s looming presence — that the success of the business rests with its personalized services, its convenience and its catering business.
“That’s what this generation demands from a store this size,” noted James Petro Jr., who cut his teeth in the business with Turkey Hill and Wawa.
The location has seen its share of retail evolution — and family stick-to-it attitude. The elder Petro purchased the building from Lloyd Webster in 1987 when he and a partner were running two other supermarkets — Hershey’s in Paradise and Christiana in Lancaster County. All three were called Hershey until Petro Jr. enlarged the East Fallowfield store in 2000, tripling its size in a $1.2 million expansion, and changing its name to Triple Fresh.
Generations of the Webster family ran the store at Doe Run and Buck Run roads a few miles south of Coatesville for 125 years before selling it to Petro.
And the location was started in 1818 as a general store by Gideon Pierce, a member of the Fallowfield Friends meeting and a noted abolitionist. The hall, and an accompanying Peoples Hall, remain across the street from Triple Fresh in Ercildoun and are noted as being a stop along the Underground Railroad. The Ercildoun Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Petros became involved with the People’s Hall a few years ago and hope to bring it back to life so the community can use it again. It’s part of what gives Triple Fresh its unique character, the father and son believe.
“This building’s been here 200 years — there’s a ton of history in this building,” said Petro III of the Triple Fresh. “It really shows the history of this area and how Ercildoun figured into the abolitionist movement.
In addition, the location gives Triple Fresh access to local products. It sells its own marinara sauce and barbecue sauces, Big Boize BBQ Sauce made in Thorndale, Doe Run Farm cheeses, Amish farm produce and local meats.
“We deal with 30 local vendors,” said Petro III.
Local history isn’t the only past on display. A walk up to the second floor offices is a walk through the New York Yankees’ storied history — at least through the second half of the 20th century.
Besides a pyramid of autographed baseballs, there is a coffee table with an aerial picture of Yankee Stadium under glass, walls covered in autographed photos of Yankee players, a chair from the Yankees’ locker room, and on and on.
Petro Jr., who has attended 17 fantasy baseball camps, said his father got him into the Yankess because of the Italian connection the team had in the 1950s and ’60s.
“I got to meet (George) Steinbrenner,” the Yankees’ famously demanding owner. “It’s been a great thing for the family,” he said of the relationship.
The Petros – James Jr. is 63 and his son is 40 – don’t plan to sit pat now. They’ve signed an agreement to sell wine from nearby Stargazers Vineyard in the store’s gift shop and are looking for new ways to upgrade the store.
“You have to keep adjusting,” Petro Jr. said. – To contact Business Writer Brian McCullough, call 610-235-2655 or send an email to bmccullough@21stcenturymedia.com.