Chester farmers market to feed appetite for change

When he first came to Chester, Daniel King drew crowds to a church parking lot with the sweet, smoky smell of barbecue.

Now, the Amish farmer hopes to help fill another void in the impoverished city: fruits and vegetables, deli goods, and homemade pies.

King, who operated Dan's Barbecue out of a trailer at Ninth and Kerlin Streets for the last four years, plans to open an indoor farmers market this week downtown. Along with his barbecued chicken and ribs, he said, the market will feature deli meats, freshly prepared hot meals, homemade baked goods, and produce, much of it from small farms in Lancaster County.

The market will be the latest effort to make grocery shopping easier in a city of 36,000 that has no supermarket and has worked for more than a decade to bring in a larger store. The shop will join a three-year-old food co-op in selling food to residents who can't easily travel outside the city to shop.

"We've seen the desire that the people have for good, quality, homemade food," King said. "Not just all fried, and that's about all people could get, was fried."

By taking over an abandoned building on Welsh Street, King's market could help drive a revitalization in a stretch that the city aims to revamp, said David Sciocchetti, executive director of the Chester Economic Development Authority. The store is near a SEPTA station and just a couple of doors from Phatso's Bakery, whose glazed doughnuts are legendary in the city.

"This is the kind of layering of retail goods and services that hopefully will be a step to revitalizing downtown, which is really based on how many people are walking down the street," Sciocchetti said.

King, who hails from a small Lancaster County town about 10 miles from Oxford, originally set up shop in West Philadelphia. He came to Chester in June 2005 when a pastor asked if he'd be interested in renting space in a church parking lot.

As his popularity grew, so did the smoke wafting from his trailer, a distasteful development for city officials, said James Turner of the Chester Economic Development Authority.

King wanted to move the operation inside so that his customers wouldn't have to wait in the rain, or worse.

Working with city officials, he agreed to rehab and rent 619 Welsh St., which once housed a health center. Inside, King will run a barbecue stall, and Amish vendors from Lancaster will offer produce, deli items including salads, and hot food such as macaroni and cheese.

Lancaster farms will supply much of the produce, including greens, zucchini, and pumpkins, but the market also will offer items that can't be grown in the state, such as bananas and oranges, King said.

The shop is expected to open Friday and operate Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Nearly a year after officials broke ground on the city's $115 million professional soccer stadium, the $4 million in state funding intended for constructing a supermarket in Chester has not been released.

The Chester Housing Authority identified the proposed site at 15th Street and Highland Avenue in 1996. Plans with developers in recent years have fallen through but negotiations continue, Sciocchetti said.

State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (D., Delaware), who pushed for state funding for the supermarket, said he was frustrated that while the city had gained a casino and a stadium, plans for a grocery store had dragged. He blames city leadership.

"It has not been at the forefront, a priority," Kirkland said. "I can't eat a soccer ball, nor can I eat dice or a slot machine. It has to be a priority for folks, and people in this city have been crying out for a supermarket."

Sciocchetti noted that Chester is a small city with supermarkets less than a mile away in Eddystone and Brookhaven. Companies that considered building in Chester pulled out after reviewing the potential for profit, he said.

"I don't think you can lay this at the feet of the city or the state," Sciocchetti said. "This is a tough project. If it was easy, it would've already been there."