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In 1972, Jules Timerman was selling apples from the back of his station wagon to West Mt. Airy residents when he had an idea of starting a food co-op.
When enough residents paid $10, the money was used to begin the operation in a church basement. More than 50 years later, the Weavers Way Co-op on West Carpenter Lane is not only a thriving community effort, it is something of an epicenter to this section in Northwest Philadelphia.
“The big thing about the co-op is it’s the economic model of sharing, prosperity that resonates, especially in this progressive enclave,” said Jon Roesser, Weavers Way’s general manager.
More than 4,000 area residents are members. At one time, more than 11,000 people, some from outside Philadelphia, used the co-op. The Chestnut Hill neighborhood lacked a supermarket or grocery story. Weavers Way opened a branch there. People in other neighborhoods and into Ambler in Montgomery County were using the store, so additional branches were opened.
But the co-op would not survive, let alone grow, if Mt. Airy residents were not involved.
“It’s an enclave. It has a lot of extraordinary qualities,” said Pamela Rogow, owner of W.P.M. Typewriter Shop that sells and repairs typewriters at the intersection of Greene St. and Carpenter Lane.
”It’s beautiful. It’s got a glorious number of trees, and if you plant something well, it will grow well. I wake up to birds. The architecture is charming and historical. That’s lovely. There’s a great mix of people. And they talk to each other. There’s real conversation here and it’s conversation that is bright, informed and engaged and worthwhile,” said Rogow.
There’s a tradition, Rogow said, of “people who live nearby who are very committed to maintaining its intimate scale and civic engagement.”
“Here in West Mt. Airy, there’s a higher concentration of our industry,” Weavers Way’s Roesser said. “True believers who care about local food systems, things related to the environment, worker rights, things that are important to us, and that translates into the foods we sell. A store like ours has a higher percentage of people like that.”
“Mt. Airy [has] this baby boom, all these millennial couples, who lived in Fishtown or South Philadelphia and now they’re hitched, and are living here and pushing baby carriages because they have families.”
To be a member of the co-op, applicants fill out an application and contribute equity, which is their portion of the ownership of the business. Full equity in Weavers Way is $400, which most people pay in $30 annual installments.
People in the needs-based Food for All program pay their equity in $5 annual installments, Roesser said, adding that there is no fee to join.
Members can get a 5% discount at the co-op if they provide six hours of service a year, either to the co-op – stocking shelves, wrapping cheese, cleaning floors, etc. – or doing volunteer work for one of many community partners.
“We have 350 employees, mostly full-time. All employees are member-owners of the co-op. I don’t know how many live in Mt. Airy, but it’s probably quite a few, maybe 25%,” Roesser said.
‘Beautiful and relatively inexpensive’
The neighborhood is bordered by Germantown Avenue to the east, Stenton Avenue to the northeast, Cresheim Valley Drive to the north, and the Wissahickon Gorge to the west. The southern border generally tapers around Johnson Street
According to the Mt. Airy Community Development Corporation, a Native American trail that once ran from the Delaware River to Perkiomen Creek eventually turned into what is now Germantown Avenue.
The area was part of the original German Township founded in 1683 by Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German immigrant who purchased 15,000 acres from William Penn. In 1777, Mt. Airy’s Cliveden mansion was the site of the only Revolutionary War battle actually fought in Philadelphia. In the 1800s, it developed as a wealthy railroad suburb served by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Leonard Nakamura moved from Brooklyn to West Mt. Airy about 40 years ago. What drew him to the neighborhood?
“First of all, because it’s beautiful, and it’s relatively inexpensive for city living, and it’s got public transportation, and there are decent schools,” he said.
Nakamura is an emeritus economist with the Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, but devotes his time to environmental causes through a group called Community Netzero Education Project, which he said is “working to protect our planet for future generations.”
West Mt. Airy might be one of the greenest sections of the city. Trees are everywhere, lawns accompany many houses and many have planted gardens. Next to her typewriter shop, Rogow constructed a “teddy bear garden” with doll-size swings and furniture, and toys. Adjacent to the other side of W.P.M. is a large garden, open to the community most days of the season.
Then there’s Wissahickon Valley Park at 120 W. Northwestern Avenue, an 1,800-acre gorge, forest and meadow before plunging down to the Wissahickon Creek.
“You can walk out the door and be deep into the woods, forget you’re in the middle of the city, how quickly you can access true wilderness like steps away,” said Roesser.
Wissahickon Valley offers more than 50 miles of wooded trails, plus the vehicle-free gravel Forbidden Drive, and birdwatching along the Wissahickon Creek. Amenities include an equestrian stables and cycling routes.
The Allen Lane Arts Center at 601 W. Allens Lane offers classes for children and adults in painting and sculpture. There’s also a summer camp.
Nakamura pointed out there are many restaurants, taverns and eateries along Germantown Avenue. He mentioned McMenamin’s Tavern at 7170 Germantown Ave. “It’s a sort of low key gastro pub that is not terribly expensive,” he said.
Other favorites include Doho at 18 W. Hortter St. and Downtime Bakery at 6624 Germantown Ave.
Roesser said the go-to spot for him and his wife is Bar Lizete at 7152 Germantown Ave., which he described as “kind of moody, dimly lit, great food, awesome bar.”
