Email from Penzey's Spices about the Philadelphia store

[live love laugh]

Know people in the Philadelphia area? Please encourage them to visit our store there at 233 Market Street.

I love our stores. They set such good things in motion. And there’s lots to be said for the ease of online shopping and maybe that’s the future, but I hope our stores continue to be the future as well.

Two weeks ago I sent out an email to our Philadelphia-area customers about our store at 233 Market Street. Our three-year lease is up there and we are trying to figure out what to do. That store opened in the middle of the Covid shutdown which never gave us a chance to do a grand opening to build momentum. It’s an awesome store right at the heart of one of the most historically important locations in our country. We want to keep it, but it could use about a third more people showing up for that to make sense.

The response so far has been uplifting. Clearly so many of you have real feelings for this store, and I do want to be cautious and wait to see a couple more weekends of just a few more people coming in the door, but at this point I’m pretty optimistic. Thanks!

After all your emails and possible location suggestions in response to our initial email, there is one idea I want to share with the people of Philadelphia and all the people around the rest of the country as well and that is—the area our store is in, the area known as Old City, it matters.

And I get that when it comes to Philadelphia I’m an outsider and probably even an agitator as well. I also understand that our nation's founders were messed up and flawed people just like everybody was back then, and like probably all of us will be judged to be as well. But what happened on those streets right there in Philadelphia in the middle of the 1770s changed everything and set a better future for the world in motion.

The spirit of this area is worth preserving and promoting. And I also get that in the future, us having our store out in your suburb would make sense for both you and us, but for right now we have the store on Market Street. This is about keeping that one going. And feel free to ignore me on this, but I’m going to tell you anyway: To live less than an hour away from everything that is Center City and Old City and all this area means to America and the world and not visit it at least once or twice a year is simply wrong.

At the heart of cooking is the belief that when we take the time to care for others, especially for those in need, better futures get set in motion. I see so much of that very same spirit in those who set in motion our country with its ever-greater striving for equality and equity as well. We are not a nation that hides from politics, but instead we are a people who stand together in the face of politics for the rights of everyone.

And just as there’s something wrong with living in Philadelphia and not getting to Old City now and again, it’s equally wrong to live your whole life in America and never get there at all. This place set us in motion. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, the spot where the Declaration of Independence was written. All that’s pretty much right outside our door but a few blocks down, so it’s still possible to find parking if you are lucky.

If you live in the Philadelphia area please come see the 233 Market Street store. If you know of anyone in the area please encourage them to check it out. And if you're not in the area please visit the area. Philadelphia is awesome for its history and its buildings but mostly for the people who keep the spirit of this place alive. Trust me, it’s worth the trip.

If you are coming into any of our stores, regularly $6.95 Penzeys Chopped Onion and $5.69 Smoked Paprika are only $2 each. We will have more on these in the coming days.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our previous email about the Market Street store by coming in or spreading word of mouth. At this point we don’t need an explosion of sales, just a continued small sign that you want us to stay. So far, so good.

Thanks for caring. Thanks for cooking. Thanks for all you do to keep the spirit of America alive,

Bill
[e-mail]

[MontanaMama]

1. Penzey's is flat out the best.

Their spices are excellent and Bill Penzey's politics are even better. I don't have one near me but I will always support them buy buying online.

[live love laugh]

2. I agree I love his politics and their products.

[Croney]

3. If I lived nearby, I'd be in there a lot. I'm lucky to have a Penzeys near me

in Arlington, MA.

[BigmanPigman]

4. My family lived an a 3 story, town house in Center City

It was about a block north of the South St row house that is used in the film Trading Places. It was a period of transition and people were slowly moving back to Phila from the suburbs. Living in Center City Phila is a lesson in American History. You can't walk more than one block without seeing a marker saying, "Historical Preservation Society" or "The first so and so in the country". On top of it all is that Phila is a beautiful city over-all. It is a very walkable city too. I could walk anywhere I wanted to go to within 25 minutes. Too bad Horn and Hardart's closed. The building's facade is still there.

[Easterncedar]

5. I loved Penzey's from the start

The products are the best, and the politics make me really happy, every time.

The Princess Bride cast reading fund raiser was pure delight.

If I lived near Philadelphia, I’d be there. I encourage everyone to sign up for the catalogue and newsletter. Spice up your lefty life!

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Got that email

and used to work near there before I retired. They actually had that store a few blocks west of there in The Bourse building and before that, literally had one not far from where I lived before they moved it downtown.

There are a lot of little shops on those couple blocks of Market St. East and quite a few people who live down there (tons of converted warehouses that are now residential as loft apartments and condos). I think as they had mentioned in one of their earlier emails about the timing of their move there - smack dab in the middle of the pandemic - that took a chunk out of the potential customer base as many were remote working. Now that offices are bringing people back in, I think they will get more foot traffic in there.