It comes as no surprise to hear that another sit-down food business has converted at least part of its space into a food market.
Last month, cozy French bistro The Little Hen located at 220 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield announced it was transforming its restaurant into a small grocery store offering cheeses, provisions, and kitchenwares. They also scaled back the restaurant menu to offer French-inspired sandwiches only for takeout.
Earlier this month, popular Haddonfield coffeeshop Jersey Java and Tea at 140 North Haddon Avenue announced its own evolution into a pandemic-inspired specialty boutique market to take up unused space due to continued indoor restrictions.
“We can only seat 10 people inside,” owner Mary Burke tells South Jersey Food Scene. “Needless to say, that left a lot of empty space.”
Working with Jonathan Raduns of Merchandise Food to create a retail-friendly environment, Burke brought in refrigerated display cases for perishable food and shelves to merchandise non-perishable food products.
“We want to carry as many local, small vendors as much as possible,” Burke noted. “We’re offering Hillacres Pride cheese from Peach Bottom, PA, Heirzoom Hungarian Pastries from Turnersville, NJ, iSwich ice cream sandwiches from West Chester PA, TBJ Gourmet Bacon Jam also from West Chester, and many others. We’re still in the process of sourcing local products to put our shelves.”
When the pandemic first began, they started offering Franklin Fountain ice cream pints. Sales continue to be successful and will continue to stock them.
“We’re also setting up a mixer section for customers to take home to make drinks. A popular addition to this section is a Grapefruit Rosemary syrup,” Burke mentioned. “We also have a DIY gift section including Kombucha kits, hot sauce kits, donuts, gingerbread cookies, and bagels.”
They also still offer Square One coffee (from Lancaster, PA) and their own homemade pastries and quiches.
Small businesses such as Burke’s Jersey Java have had to pivot creatively to keep the lights on during the pandemic. Consider supporting these small businesses even more during the holidays.
Marilyn is a freelance writer covering the food and drink scene of South Jersey. You can find more of her writing on Philly Grub and NewsBreak.