DOYLESTOWN, PA — Weis Markets will close its doors for good on Saturday, March 7, at the Mercer Square Shopping Center on Old Dublin Pike.
Signs posted at the entrances to the store bore the bad news for loyal shoppers who have watched the store slowly succumb to the inevitable following the news in February that its days were numbered.
Inside, a handful of shoppers could be found perusing the store’s thinning store shelves with piped-in music beginning to echo through the emptying aisles.
The Pennsylvania-based grocery store chain has offered its 65 Doylestown employees jobs at nearby Weis stores in Bedminster, Warminster, and Huntingdon Valley.
Weis has been a staple at the shopping center since 2012, when it purchased the former Genuardi’s store from the Safeway Chain.
Since then, the grocery store landscape in the Doylestown area has changed dramatically with Whole Foods moving into the Barn Plaza, Giant replacing Redner’s at Doylestown Pointe, Target opening at the Doylestown Shopping Center, and a new Giant store built at the Cross Keys Place shopping center in Plumstead.
Weis Markets’ exit from the competitive Doylestown grocery market will open the door to a brand new 51,000 square foot McCaffrey’s Market slated to open early next year.
In February, the Bucks County grocery store chain announced that it would be moving into the Mercer Square Shopping Center at 73 Old Dublin Pike.
The new store will replace McCaffrey’s much smaller 13,000-square-foot Simply Fresh store at 200 West State Street in the borough, which will remain open while the new store takes shape in the township, according to Jim McCaffrey IV, executive vice president of the McCaffrey’s chain.
The smaller format Doylestown Borough Simply Fresh store opened in 2016, offering a “Best Of” McCaffrey’s format focusing on the store’s highest-quality produce, meats, seafood, cheeses, deli offerings, bakery, and floral products, along with chef-created gourmet prepared foods.
“As we look ahead, we recognize that many of our customers will miss the convenience and familiarity of our State Street location,” said McCaffrey. “We are incredibly grateful for the support the Doylestown community has shown us over the past 10 years. That loyalty is what has made this next chapter possible. While we are sad to be leaving the Borough, the expanded space allows us to better serve our customers with a full-size market experience, and we remain fully committed to Doylestown for many years to come.”
Additional details — including construction timelines, hiring opportunities, and the official grand opening date — will be announced as plans progress and shared through McCaffrey’s website and social media channels.
Based in Middletown Township, the independent grocery store chain opened its first McCaffrey’s Food Market in Lower Makefield in 1986. McCaffrey’s currently serves customers in eight communities, including New Hope, Yardley, Newtown, Blue Bell, Doylestown, Gladwyne, Princeton, NJ, and West Windsor, NJ.