POTTSVILLE, Pa. — Residents in Schuylkill County are looking forward to the opening of its new grocery store after the last supermarket closed in 2020.
"Right now, there is a food desert problem within the downtown area of Pottsville, and so we figured out what we think is a great way to bring farm food into the city," said Josiah Meck, owner of Honey Brook Farms.
In just a few months, Honey Brook Farms owners Josiah and Angela Meck plan to bring their goods and others from 30 area farms into downtown Pottsville to open the farm store.
The idea came after the couple realized there was no grocery store within city limits. The last grocery store, which was a giant supermarket, closed in 2020.
"It is an alarming factor when you have the largest city in the county in the county, and it doesn’t have a downtown food outlet," said Meck.
"There’s one grocery store that’s a little bit outside of town on 61, but you do you need to drive. There’s limitations on how much you can take in bags on the buses, so it makes having something within walking distance for the downtown community really important," said Angela Meck.
"The grocery store situation around here, expensive and horrible, and we need something better than what we have," added Rhett Potter Jr. of Pottsville.
Without a car, Rhett Potter Jr. and Kaitlin Rich of Pottsville say they have to walk to get their groceries at either the nearby 7-Eleven or Dollar store.
A trip they plan to stop once the Farm Store moves in.
"I've been waiting for it. We're excited. Grocery store was fruit and vegetables. I am looking forward to seeing it, though," said Kaitlin Rich.
"To have actually have a vegetable store here like, where I can actually find a selection of better quality food would actually be amazing. It would be amazing," added Potter Jr.
The owners of Honeybrook Farm plan to close on their future home in the next few weeks. They anticipate opening the farm store in mid-October of this year.