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  • As three Di Bruno Bros. stores close, a sign of hope for the Ardmore location

    As three Di Bruno Bros. stores close, a sign of hope for the Ardmore location

    As the final two of three Di Bruno Bros. stores to close this month approached their last days, the wind-down was visible on the shelves. Cheeses, meats, breads, and prepared foods vanished first, followed by deeply discounted packaged goods that remained.

    The Di Bruno locations in Wayne and the Franklin Residences in Center City, at Ninth and Sansom Streets, will close permanently on Wednesday, with no immediate clarity about what comes next. (The company’s original Italian Market store and Rittenhouse Square shop remain open.)

    The closing of Di Bruno’s Ardmore branch last Wednesday, however, is already reshaping the future of Suburban Square’s Ardmore Farmers Market, where the Italian-goods purveyor opened in 2011 and eventually became the dominant tenant.

    Di Bruno Bros. in Suburban Square in Ardmore on Jan. 29, about a week before its closing.

    Toward the end of its run, the Ardmore location of Di Bruno Bros. occupied more than half of the market’s stalls. Rather than replacing it with another large operator, the market will be reconfigured to accommodate multiple smaller food tenants, said Douglas Green, a principal at MSC Retail, which handles leasing for Kimco Realty Corp., which owns Suburban Square.

    “Di Bruno’s just kind of got too big,” Green said. “It limited cuisine diversity and pushed them into specialty items and cuisines that weren’t really their core business.”

    An MSC Retail brochure shows four available spaces ranging from roughly 600 to 800 square feet, several of them divisible. Existing vendors — including Stoltzfus Meats, Ardmore Produce, Ardmore Seafood, Malvern Buttery, Sushi Sei, Tabouli, and the Ultimate Bake Shoppe — would remain, with additional “future opportunity” areas identified near the dining zones.

    “The idea is to break the space up into smaller units, create more cuisine diversity, and ideally replace the Italian specialty concept,” Green said.

    The original Di Bruno Bros. location at 930 S. Ninth St., as seen in 2024, is unaffected by the store closings.

    Green said his firm is already negotiating with multiple potential occupants, including chefs and restaurant groups from Philadelphia interested in suburban expansions. “There’s been a tremendous amount of interest — honestly more than I ever would have imagined, and I’m not saying that in a sales-y way,” he said.

    For customers, the swiftness of Di Bruno Bros.’ three-store shuttering has been striking.

    Brendan Burland, an insurance consultant who lives in Bryn Mawr, stopped by the Wayne location Friday for lunch with a friend and found the bar closed and the shelves reduced to discounted goods.

    “No bread, no meats, no fresh cheeses,” Burland said. “It was depressing — a total ghost town.”

    Di Bruno Bros.’ largest location, at 18th and Chestnut Streets in Center City, as seen in 2024.

    Burland said the store’s restaurant program had been losing its spark even before the final weeks. “The bar menu had become less inspiring over the last few years,” he said. “It started to feel like, ‘Here’s some pizza and some sandwiches,’ instead of something interesting or unique.”

    What he will miss most are the basics that made Di Bruno Bros. a destination. “Their product line was pretty substantial. My buddy and I even joked that we should become cheesemongers,” he said, adding “we know nothing about it other than we like to eat cheese.”

    Cheeses at Di Bruno Bros., 930 S. Ninth St.

    The retrenchment follows the 2024 acquisition of Di Bruno Bros. by Brown’s Super Stores, which owns a dozen ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in the region. Later that year, Wakefern Foods, a grocery co-op that includes Brown’s, obtained the Di Bruno’s trademark and branded products.

    Sandy Brown, the company’s executive vice president, said when talks began with Di Bruno Bros. in 2023, it was facing “significant financial challenges” and was at risk of not being able to continue operating.

    “We even stepped in ahead of the acquisition to help ensure they could get through the 2023 holiday season, because many suppliers had already begun limiting deliveries due to concerns about the company’s stability,” Brown said.

    That disruption in supply contributed to declining sales and worsening store conditions, she said. “Our goal from day one has been to stabilize the business, protect the brand, and preserve an important part of Philadelphia’s history,” Brown said. “We believed — and still believe — that Di Bruno Bros. is worth saving.”

    The move is a shift from the Brown’s company announcement in December 2024 that it planned to open an additional 12 to 15 Di Bruno stores in the coming decade.

    Sandy Brown said the company decided to prioritize the “iconic” locations in the Italian Market and Rittenhouse “because these sites continue to anchor the brand.”

    She said all 69 retail workers at the three closing stores were offered positions elsewhere within Di Bruno Bros. or at Brown’s Super Stores, with no loss of pay or benefits. About 70% are expected to remain, she said, while three supervisory positions were eliminated. Workers had complained on social media about the abruptness of the planned closings.

    While plans are coming together for the Ardmore location, the future of the Wayne and Franklin spaces remains unresolved. A representative for Equity Retail Brokers said the Wayne space is not yet on the market. MSC Retail, which also handles commercial leasing at the Franklin location, said that space is also not yet being marketed.

  • The landmark Kibitz Room deli in Cherry Hill, which closed last month, has filed for bankruptcy

    The landmark Kibitz Room deli in Cherry Hill, which closed last month, has filed for bankruptcy

    The Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill, which shut down abruptly about two weeks ago after 25 years, has filed for bankruptcy protection, seeking to liquidate its assets.

    An attorney for the deli filed paperwork Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, claiming assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of $100,001 to $500,000. A hearing on the Chapter 7 petition was scheduled for March 3.

    The Kibitz Room, in Holly Ravine Plaza at 100 Springdale Rd. in Cherry Hill, on Feb. 2, 2026.

    Social media posts on Jan. 30 noted that the deli, owned by Sandy Parish, had apparently closed without notice.

    Meanwhile, former owner Neil Parish — Sandy’s ex-husband — told Patch in an article published Monday morning that he was talking to the landlord about reopening the deli. Their son Brandon commented on a public Facebook post midday Monday that he was working on reopening “under a new entity. Unfortunately the previous ownership was out of my hands but I did run the store for the last nine years until I left to open the other location. … It surely wasn’t from lack of business!!”

    Veteran deli operator Russ Cowan opened the Kibitz Room in Holly Ravine Plaza in 2001. Two years later, Neil Parish bought it using their daughter’s bat mitzvah gifts as the down payment. “She got four years at Syracuse, all covered,” Neil Parish said in an interview last year. “It was a good investment.”

    After Neil and Sandy Parish split up in 2016, Sandy ran the Kibitz Room with their son Brandon, now 32. Neil moved to the Baltimore area, where he ran delis before returning to Philadelphia.

    Brandon Parish stopped working in Cherry Hill early last year when he and his father opened the Kibitz Room King of Prussia in Valley Forge Center, which is not involved in the bankruptcy.

    Sandy Parish did not return messages seeking comment, nor did her son.

    In an interview last year, Brandon Parish said he had worked at the Cherry Hill deli since he could stand on a milk crate and wash dishes.

    “I didn’t want to be in camp,” Parish said. “I didn’t want to be at school. If it wasn’t the lacrosse field, I wanted to be at the shop. It was just the whole environment. The people who worked there were a second family.”

  • Roadside bakeries are growing in Chester County: ‘It’s that home-sweet-home comfort food’

    Roadside bakeries are growing in Chester County: ‘It’s that home-sweet-home comfort food’

    When Jacqueline Spain’s now-grown kids were having a bad day, she would sit them down at the kitchen island and bake them something. Now, she has opened up that kitchen island to her community with her roadside home bakery, Devon Road Made.

    “Food is love, love is food,” Spain said, standing in her kitchen recently, bread in the oven and cookies on the counter. “I like to put a lot of heart and soul into it. I feel if you’re going to put good energy into that, people are going to feel that. They’re going to taste it; they’re going to like it.”

    Devon Road Made is one of the newer additions to a trend of microbakeries that are cropping up in Chester County, some with roadside carts and stands dotting residential roads in Paoli, Downingtown, West Chester, and elsewhere.

    The Devon Road Made bakery cart outside the home of David and Jacqueline Spain for folks passing by to buy some home baked goods in Willistown, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

    Statewide, interest in selling home-baked goods has been growing. Pennsylvania had 361 licensed home bakeries in 2023. That nearly doubled, to 663, in 2025, according to the state agriculture department, which oversees the inspections and licensing of food businesses that operate out of home, rather than commercial, kitchens. There has been a general bakery boom, too, in Philly.

    Chester County appears to be a growing incubator of such little bakeries: It had 28 licensed home bakeries in 2025, compared with 16 in 2023, the department said.

    Before issuing a license, the department inspects the baker’s food production site. Bakers must verify they have zoning approval to have a business on their property, submit ingredient labels, restrict pets or not have them, and have an approved water supply. It costs $35 to register.

    In the few weeks since, Spain, 59, and her husband, David, 60, rolled their bakery cart to the foot of their yard at 60 Devon Rd. in Willistown, the community has indeed seemed to like it. Jacqueline Spain’s cookies and David Spain’s sourdough loaves continually sell out. People knock on their door to ask if things will be restocked. One woman sat at the Spains’ kitchen island, sampling freshly baked cookies, while awaiting her pickup order.

    “Everything we make, she has been making for years,” David Spain said. “That’s kind of part of our DNA. It’s got to taste really good — something that we would only serve our friends and family.”

    David Spain, of Willistown, Pa., and his wife Jacqueline Spain, chat with Inquirer Reporter Brooke Schultz about their Devon Road Made bakery cart at their home on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

    And Chester County seems like a place perfectly ripe for these little bakeries to thrive, several home bakers said: It’s not a wholly rural community, nor is it totally Main Line. There is an affluent clientele (Chester is the wealthiest county by median income in the state) with an interest in homemade, quality ingredients.

    But they do face some headwinds: A number of municipalities restrict such carts through zoning codes, even if the bakers are licensed to sell.

    Alexa Geiser, 28, of Lulu’s Bread & Bakery in West Chester, opened her home bakery in October, originally selling her sourdough first come, first served from her porch. But then the borough told her she was not permitted to sell from her residential porch, and she moved entirely online to sell her bread and the occasional chocolate chip cookie batch.

    Though it’s a bummer — she said it was nice to talk with people stopping by for a peaceful hour on Fridays — she felt supported by the community, who offered their businesses for her to host her pickups.

    “I think people really value homemade goods that people put a lot of effort into, and good quality ingredients,” she said. “I use all organic flours and filtered water and good salt in my bread, which is something I personally value. It’s what I want to give to my customers as well.”

    The Devon Road Made bakery cart outside the home of David and Jacqueline Spain for folks passing by to buy some home baked goods in Willistown, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

    But the stands are a niche the bakers feel they are filling.

    “I noticed around here, at least where I live specifically, there aren’t really that many,” said Maddy Dutko, of Maddy Makes. “I’ve seen a couple that sell honey or some that sell flowers, but I haven’t really seen any that sell baked goods. I was like, why not? It’s a way for me to connect with people around here. Maybe bring them something that they didn’t know was necessarily in their community.”

    Dutko’s stand, at 623 Sanatoga Rd. in East Coventry Township, is open on the weekends from spring to fall. Dutko sells bread loaves, coffee cakes, cinnamon buns, cookies, and dry mixes for pancakes or cornbread. She tries to keep things fresh and interesting, but also consistent for loyal customers. Dutko, 29, also sells orders online and at markets.

    The physical presence has led to customers hiring her to bake for kids’ birthdays, or people approaching her at markets to tell her they always stop by for a treat when they end their walk on a nearby trail.

    The Devon Road Made bakery cart outside the home of David and Jacqueline Spain for folks passing by to buy some home baked goods in Willistown, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

    There’s something to be said for products baked with love in someone’s home, Jacqueline Spain said.

    On a recent Friday afternoon in Willistown, the Spains stocked the baskets of their cart with baggies of cookies, breads, and dog treats — a customer request that their daughter, a veterinary nurse, fulfilled. A red open flag commenced their weekend hours of “noon-?” People pulled up onto the lawn to shop.

    “It’s feel-good, it’s warm, it’s friendly, it’s inviting,” Jacqueline Spain said. “It’s that home-sweet-home comfort food.”

  • This Chesco business wants to create a ‘third place’ between home and work or school

    This Chesco business wants to create a ‘third place’ between home and work or school

    When you walk into Koselig Nook, Aracelis Mullin wants you to feel a wave of calm. She intentionally designed the teahouse that way: From its welcoming furniture to its lighting, its green paint, its scents, it is meant to be a relaxing third space, a stopping point between work and home, where people can gather, craft, focus on wellness, or anything between. Don’t forget to take off your shoes. (Really. It’s a rule.)

    Koselig Nook, a late-night teahouse, plans to open in Exton, at 333 E. Lincoln Highway, later this month. The business is relocating from Coatesville, where it opened in 2024, to be more central for customers within the county and traveling from Philly.

    “The whole idea and the purpose is to bring the people out of their houses and to enjoy another place where they can network or just spend some time or talk,” Mullin said.

    Named for the Norwegian term encompassing contentment and coziness, Koselig Nook’s seating is meant to be secure and comfortable — with plush, downy pillow seating and blankets, oils, and low lighting, inviting people to lounge.

    So much of today’s gathering culture revolves around bars and drinking, Mullin said. Though sober options are opening in metropolitan areas, like Philadelphia, people in the county have fewer places — especially places open later, she said.

    That’s the gap Koselig Nook seeks to fill, she said.

    “I think there’s a big need for third places that are more calm; for introverted people, they can come and network, too, little by little, but they don’t have the pressure of society saying, ‘Hey, do you want to drink?’” she said.

    Instead, customers can sit and study or work from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $25 on Tuesdays through Fridays. Students spent a lot of time holed up in the Nook’s Coatesville location during finals week in December, Mullin said.

    In the evenings, from 7 to 11 p.m. for $35 on Friday and Saturday, people can go somewhere that is not about drinking.

    During various events offered week to week, people can come to workshops where they junk journal, cutting up pictures and pasting them into notebooks, or take a meditative break surrounded by gongs and chimes and singing bowls in a sound bath session, or spend time with a medium. You can pick up letters from a pen pal in another country or pen your own, facilitated through Koselig Nook. You can silently read your own book and then, in a formal discussion, chat about it with other readers, trading recommendations.

    Some make events out of it. For one 24-year-old’s birthday, she and her friends journaled together, sipping their tea, and had a sound bath.

    Others come alone and leave with connections: During a full moon ceremony, only two of the 15 women who came knew each other. By the end, “they all shared their phone numbers. … It was amazing,” Mullin said.

    The business traces its lineage to when Mullin’s daughter, Victoria, was living in California in 2020. She frequented a teahouse where customers could reserve time and sit and enjoy themselves during the evening hours. After Mullin visited herself, she felt compelled to bring something similar to the East Coast. She picked the brains of the owners.

    With her background — she ran a traveling tea party business for young girls and a birthday party business in Thorndale — Mullin embraced their model; her teahouse is reservation-only. There is unlimited tea, and a selection of premade snacks. Everything is provided without extra charge once you are in the Nook. Socks only.

    “I wanted to have that community place where the people come and gather, regardless of what your politics and your religion, so we did it. I was scared to death,” she said.

    She expected to have to go a bit more slowly in Chester County, for people to understand the business. But she was met with a lot of enthusiasm.

    “The people are so in need of this that they love it,” she said.

  • Downingtown dog involved in 4 attacks is euthanized

    A Downingtown dog has been euthanized after it injured multiple people in recent months and made residents feel unsafe, officials said.

    The decision, made the day of a Thursday hearing in district court, stems from a November incident in which the dog bit a child in a neighboring house on the 500 block of Thomas Road.

    Whitley Coggins said her sons, ages 4 and 8, had been playing in the backyard when the neighbor’s dogs were let outside. One mixed-breed dog got through the fence, attacking her youngest son, she said. The boy was bitten on his upper arm and required stitches.

    There are four dogs that had been known to neighbors for aggressive behavior, she said. Though the Coggins family had never personally experienced it until November, the mother said, she warned her sons to run back inside if they ever saw the dogs in the yard.

    After the hearing and the owner’s decision to euthanize, Coggins said she was frustrated that the only positive was that one of the dogs was removed from the house.

    “I feel like I’m supposed to feel like something was done, I’m supposed to feel good that the one dog that attacked my child is gone, and I do feel a small sense of replaced safety or something — that that one dog is not there,” she said. “But that one dog has never been the problem, not the whole problem.”

    Coggins said her sons still feel unsafe leaving the house and are fearful of dogs.

    “Following our time in court, we still had to return — and the rest of the neighbors had to return — to a neighborhood with three dogs who have registered attacks on other people and other animals, and because of the laws and the way the laws are written or interpreted, there is nothing to go forward with to remove these dogs,” Coggins said.

    Reached by phone, the attorney for the dog owner declined comment.

    Brendan Brazunas, Downingtown’s chief of police, said the owner’s defense counsel immediately suggested euthanasia given the seriousness of the 4-year-old’s injury, and the fact that this was the fourth documented bite involving this dog since 2023.

    “The dog that created the most issues at that house is this dog that was euthanized,” Brazunas said. “Obviously, the community is very concerned and they’re afraid, and I think this was the first step with regards to dogs at that house.”

    Brandywine Valley SPCA, which had assisted the Downingtown police in the case, transported and euthanized the dog, a spokesperson for the organization said.

    “This was a tragic situation that never should have escalated to this point,” Erica Deuso, mayor of Downingtown, said in a statement. “I love animals, and I am heartbroken any time a dog loses its life, but public safety comes first.”

    The charges were dropped, as they can only be made for live dogs, Brazunas said. But there are ongoing cases facing the owner’s other dogs.

    A Jan. 20 incident was reported to police when the dogs escaped through an open door and injured an adult man, a tow-truck driver who was returning a vehicle. That case will be heard in the coming weeks.

    The SPCA has six outstanding charges for other dogs in the owner’s home regarding rabies vaccinations, dog licenses, and the dogs getting loose, the spokesperson said.

  • The Narberth Council bars borough police from assisting ICE in immigration enforcement

    The Narberth Council bars borough police from assisting ICE in immigration enforcement

    Narberth’s borough council has voted unanimously to bar the municipality’s police officers from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the agency’s 287(g) program.

    The resolution approved Thursday made clear that “our police department operates to protect our residents and protect the public safety here and does not have a role in immigration enforcement,” said Council President Fred Bush.

    ICE’s 287(g) program deputizes local law enforcement officers to carry out immigration actions, including identifying, arresting, and deporting immigrants. ICE has signed around 1,400 such agreements with law enforcement agencies in 40 states, including dozens in Pennsylvania.

    In Philadelphia’s collar counties, only the Lansdowne Borough Constable’s Office in Delaware County and the Pennsylvania State Constable Office Honey Brook Precinct 1 in Chester County are 287(g) participants. Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler, a newly elected Democrat, terminated his office’s controversial partnership last month, citing negative impacts on public safety and law enforcement trust.

    Neither Lower Merion nor Narberth participates in the program.

    Narberth’s resolution establishes that the borough will not enter into any agreement with the federal government, including 287(g), that would commit borough time, funds, efforts, or resources toward ICE noncriminal enforcement activities.

    Officials clarified that Narberth’s police department would cooperate with ICE officials if they had a judicial warrant to arrest someone. An internal memo first reported by The Associated Press last month has authorized ICE to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant.

    Narberth officials acknowledged that the resolution could be seen as “virtue signaling,” given that the borough already does not participate in an ICE partnership. Yet council members said they believe it’s important to publicly signal the municipality’s values regarding immigration enforcement.

    The resolution “lets the public clearly know where we stand on the issues, helps reinforce trust, and provides that clarity of what we will do and what we won’t do,” said Dana Edwards, Narberth’s mayor. “From my standpoint, it’s a practical resolution.”

    “When our community members trust their law enforcement, they feel comfortable reaching out to them for assistance,” said Councilmember Jean Burock. “We can’t afford to erode that trust.”

    Bush cautioned residents against interfering with ICE operations, describing the agency as “poorly trained” and “dangerous,” citing “the actions and the images that came out of Minneapolis” in recent weeks.

    Neighboring Haverford Township similarly barred its law enforcement officers from assisting ICE last month.

    Narberth’s resolution came on the heels of a Jan. 30 incident in which two people were taken into custody by ICE during a traffic stop in Penn Wynne.

    Following the arrests, Lower Merion affirmed in a public statement that the township does not participate in 287(g) and encouraged residents to call 911 if they observe law enforcement activity with no Lower Merion police officers present.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • ‘Sermon on the Lot’ compares Eagles fandom to a religious experience: ‘On Sundays, you go to Mass’

    ‘Sermon on the Lot’ compares Eagles fandom to a religious experience: ‘On Sundays, you go to Mass’

    Mike Cordisco is not the first person to compare football to religion, but he might be the first person to spend years photographing Eagles tailgates to make the comparison clearer.

    Cordisco’s newest project, Sermon on the Lot, is a 98-page book that compiles photos the Cherry Hill native took at Eagles tailgates between 2018 and 2025.

    The goal of the project, Cordisco said, was to push past the typical rowdy image of Eagles fans before a game and show their passion as a kind of religious fervor.

    Beyond the project’s title, the book itself is designed to look like something one might find in a church pew, with silver embossing on the front and a midnight green ribbon bookmark.

    It also features a sermon written by Philadelphia journalist Dan McQuade, who died last week at 43.

    Select photos from Sermon on the Lot will be on display at Unique Photo in Center City. Cordisco, 34, is hosting a gallery opening on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and says it will remain in place until mid-March.

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    Play Ball

    Cordisco’s origin story in becoming a photographer is simple. He bought his first camera in 2016 to document his trips to baseball stadiums. It was around the same time he moved within Philadelphia’s city limits for the first time.

    Baseball is Cordisco’s “true passion.” He played high school baseball at Cherry Hill West and spent one season on the club team at Rutgers-New Brunswick, where he attended college. He spent a few years working for minor league clubs, working game day operations for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and selling tickets for the Frisco RoughRiders.

    After three years in Texas with the RoughRiders, Cordisco moved to the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia and got a job as a database administrator with Better Tomorrows, a Camden-based nonprofit.

    Cordisco was still making frequent trips to MLB stadiums in an effort to see them all, but grew frustrated with trying to document them on his cell phone camera.

    “I was straining, lying on the ground, straining on railings to get these perfect shots on my iPhone,” Cordisco said. “And I was like, ‘You know what, why don’t I just get a camera?’”

    Cordisco’s love for photography grew, and eventually he became interested in not just documenting moments, but telling stories with his lens. He collected his baseball photography into a project titled If They Don’t Win It’s a Shame, which “exposes American culture and society within the confines of its national pastime,” according to Cordisco’s website.

    “It’s a way to tell all these stories and use my experience in the field, [to] visually tell these stories that I’m interested in,” Cordisco said.

    Some fans blame Nick Sirianni for Jeff Stoutland’s departure. Others are just thankful for ‘Stoutland University.’

    Sacred Sundays

    Once Cordisco started to take photography more seriously, he knew he wanted to put together a project that would capture Philadelphia, which he considers to be “the one identifiable U.S. city.”

    The city’s sports teams seemed like a natural place to begin framing Philly’s identity. Cordisco did not have personal allegiances to the Philadelphia teams, as his family had roots in New York, but he knew how much Philly cared about its teams from growing up in its suburbs. He began to shoot the places where he saw the city and its teams entwined.

    “I was photographing diners that might have Eagles merch in the windows and people’s Phillies and Eagles bumper stickers,” Cordisco said.

    He also began photographing the occasional Eagles tailgate. He became captivated by the community that surrounded Lincoln Financial Field on Sundays. By 2022, he had narrowed the project down to focus on tailgating.

    A photo of Eagles fans tailgating from Mike Cordisco’s photo project, “Sermon on the Lot.”

    “Through the middle of this season, I went to every single one,” Cordisco said. “It was just, for me, the best way to really show and visualize Philly culture.”

    Those photos became Sermon on the Lot. Cordisco chose to drape the project in religious metaphors to frame football, and particularly Eagles fandom, as a religion — one with its own set of rituals, traditions, and ways of worship.

    “On Sundays, you go to Mass,” Cordisco said. “But in Philly, you go to the parking lot and tailgate an Eagles game.”

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    Even though the scope of the project changed from its initial aim to portray Philadelphia, Cordisco still feels the city’s identity lies within Sermon on the Lot.

    “There’s no way it can’t come through,” Cordisco said. “I think my photos and the work definitely still show that classic grit and character that Philly is known for in the images … It’s still there, even if it’s maybe a layer or two deeper in the work.”

    Dan McQuade, seen here in a Daily News photo from 2014, died on Jan. 28, of neuroendocrine cancer, one day after his 43rd birthday.

    McQuade’s missive

    Cordisco was seeking a Philadelphia writer to pen a foreword for his book. He was a frequent reader of McQuade’s work, so Cordisco sent McQuade a cold email in September to see if he would be interested writing something for the project.

    “There was nobody else who could have written that,” Cordisco said. “He had no idea who I was, I just e-mailed him one day and he got back to me and said that he would love to do it.”

    To fit the project’s religious theming, McQuade’s foreword takes the form of a sermon. It is about the two men who showed up to former Eagles owner Leonard Tose’s house after news broke that Tose had agreed to sell a portion of the team and move it to Phoenix in 1984.

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    The two men, Barry Martin and Robert Vandetty, left Tose a note asking the owner to reconsider, as McQuade detailed in a 2023 story for Defector. Martin and Vandetty’s note closed with a simple phrase: “Go Birds — Philadelphia Birds.”

    “‘Go Birds’ is your greeting, your mantra, your rallying cry,” an excerpt of McQuade’s sermon reads. “The Eagles trademarked it, but it does not belong to them. It is yours. Think of Barry and Rob. They risked arrest to say ‘Go Birds.’ When you go forth today, I beseech you to say it too.“

    Cordisco said McQuade went “above and beyond” in his involvement with the project, offering ideas on how to display the work at the Unique Photo gallery showing. McQuade’s words will hang alongside Cordisco’s photos on the walls of the Center City photo store.

    Cordisco started Sermon on the Mount more interested in how the Eagles reflected Philadelphia than the team itself. But now, thanks to the community he found in the parking lots, he considers himself a Birds convert.

    “I went out to the tailgates and just saw how much it truly meant to people,” Cordisco said. “Not even just the wins and losses, but just being there. I talked to people that have been tailgating in the same RV for 40 years now, and they would tell me all these stories about how they raised their kids at the tailgates.

    “Making that connection with so many people only strengthened my fandom of the Eagles.”

  • Swarthmore Public Library closes the chapter on overdue book fees

    Swarthmore Public Library closes the chapter on overdue book fees

    The Swarthmore Public Library has officially done away with overdue fees, joining a growing contingent of libraries that say the fines do more to drive patrons away than to get them to return their books on time.

    Swarthmore’s library serves residents of Swarthmore and neighboring Rutledge and is a member of the Delaware County Public Library System. A nonprofit, the library is powered by private donations and government funding. It served around 3,100 cardholders in 2024.

    Overdue fines can actually deter library use, all while bringing in marginal financial benefits, said Alec Staley, the library’s director.

    Case studies have shown that library fees ultimately can discourage people from returning books. After the Chicago Public Library dropped fees in 2019, it saw a 240% increase in return of materials within three weeks. During a six-week fine-forgiveness program at the San Francisco Public Library in 2017, nearly 700,000 items were returned (the items returned were valued at $236,000).

    Once late fees start accruing, many people, especially low-income library patrons, will stay away to avoid paying them, forfeiting their library access entirely. Oftentimes, late fees burden the people who need library resources the most.

    Collecting fees has also become taxing for library staff, Staley said. Turning away families because of overdue fees has weighed heavily on Swarthmore’s librarians.

    “We were just punishing [people] for no reason at all,” he said.

    The new policy means any outstanding late fees will be wiped from cardholders’ balances.

    Elizabeth Brown, president of the library’s board of trustees, said fine revenue is “not a meaningful source of our budget.”

    Swarthmore Borough is set to contribute $277,000 to the library this year, up 17% from the year prior.

    Late fees make up only around 1%, or $5,000, of the Swarthmore Public Library’s annual revenue. Library officials believe they can close the gap with fundraising.

    Does this mean people will be able to take the books and run? Not really.

    “We’ll still have a lost-item charge,” Brown said. “This is by no means a free-for-all.”

    Unreturned items will be marked “lost” after three weeks and a fee will be charged. However, fees will be dropped if the “lost” book is returned.

    The Swarthmore Public Library joins a growing group of Philly-area fine-free libraries.

    The Free Library of Philadelphia went fine-free in 2020, a move the library system said would increase equity and bring back 88,000 cardholders who were unable to access library services due to fines.

    In Delaware County, the Upper Darby Township and Sellers Memorial Free Public Library, Newtown Public Library, Media-Upper Providence Free Library, and Ridley Park Public Library are fine-free.

    Ultimately, Staley said, imposing fines runs counter to the heart of what a public library is supposed to be.

    “We champion that we’re one of the last free spaces in the United States,” he said. “But then we have this secret where we’re still charging fines.”

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Why Di Bruno’s downsizing isn’t a huge surprise | Inquirer Lower Merion

    Why Di Bruno’s downsizing isn’t a huge surprise | Inquirer Lower Merion

    Hi, Lower Merion! 👋

    Di Bruno Bros. announced it was closing three of its stores last week, but the news wasn’t a surprise to some shoppers. Here’s why. Also this week, Narberth is home to one of the region’s under-the-radar romantic eateries, final construction on SEPTA’s Ardmore station is underway, plus one woman’s dismay at Lifecycle Wellness’ closing.

    We want your feedback! Tell us what you think of the newsletter by taking our survey or emailing us at lowermerion@inquirer.com.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Di Bruno Bros.’ downsizing wasn’t a huge surprise to some

    Di Bruno Bros. is closing three of its five locations, including at the Ardmore Farmers Market.

    Some Di Bruno Bros. shoppers were saddened last week to learn that the longtime beloved specialty grocery store was closing three of its locations, including at the Ardmore Farmers Market. But it didn’t come as a shock to everyone, with some who say there’s been a noticeable decline in quality in recent years.

    “Why am I going to pay upmarket prices for a midmarket product?” one former shopper told The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner.

    Some blamed the decline on Di Bruno’s new owner, Brown’s Super Stores, which purchased a stake in the stores in 2024. Its brand was later brought under the Wakefern Food Corp. portfolio. But Brown’s executive vice president said Di Bruno’s was “very distressed” and despite its efforts was unable to bring back lost business.

    Here’s what other shoppers had to say about Di Bruno’s shrinking footprint.

    💡 Community News

    • The final phase of construction on the Ardmore SEPTA station got underway on Sunday and is expected to continue through the next few weeks, though a SEPTA spokesperson said the agency doesn’t yet have a date for completion. Work will take place weekdays from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on weekends from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. and will include finishing the roof, installing message boards, adjusting and testing elevators, making ADA-compliant adjustments, and painting.
    • Lower Merion police said two people were taken into custody by ICE during a vehicle stop Friday. In response to community concerns, LMPD yesterday reiterated that it doesn’t participate in programs deputizing local police as federal immigration agents. The department added that residents who see police activity but no marked LMPD presence can call 911 so it can verify the legitimacy, but added that officers will not interfere if federal agents are acting legally.
    • Lankenau Medical Center and Bryn Mawr Hospital both recently ranked among America’s 250 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades. The rankings, released last week, are awarded to the top 5% of institutions in the nation for “overall clinical excellence.”
    • In an opinion piece, a local physician lamented the loss of Lifecycle Wellness in Bryn Mawr, which is closing its doors on Feb. 15 after facing financial pressure. Cara Lea Smith is one of the thousands who gave birth there and found comfort in its “homelike” setting. Read more about the physician’s experience and why she feels the closure is devastating.
    • A former Villanova University professor has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was fired in 2024 after accusing the law school of racial discrimination involving one of her students. The Inquirer’s Susan Snyder delves into the details.
    • Main Line Today recently took a look inside a 1980s Gladwyne home that’s been updated with a timeless look, complete with a neutral color palette. The 8,000-square-foot home’s dining room has a hand-painted de Gournay wallcovering inspired by Japan’s Kiso Mountains and a large dressing room off the primary suite.
    • Philadelphia Jewish Exponent recently profiled Rabbi Daniel Levitt, the director of adult Jewish learning at Gratz College. The Bala Cynwyd resident reflected on his passion for connecting people to “Jewish intellectual heritage.”

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Lower Merion and Harriton won’t be merging their football teams anytime soon. Lower Merion School District’s board of directors last week declined to add a vote to merge to the agenda, keeping in line with Superintendent Frank Ranelli’s previous recommendation not to merge the teams.
    • Lower Merion High School’s winter drama, Eurydice, kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday. Penn Wynne is hosting its “Special Persons Dance” for second and third graders tomorrow evening. There are school board committee meetings Monday evening and home school association meetings on Tuesday. There are no classes next Thursday, which is a staff professional development day, and the district is closed on Friday. See the district’s full calendar here.
    • Students in third through eighth grade who have a sibling with special needs can join an upcoming “SibShops” Zoom, where they can connect, share experiences, and play games. The six, one-hour sessions will take place Wednesdays from 5 to 6 p.m., starting on Feb. 18. Registration is required.
    • Families interested in having a table at next month’s Taste of Penn Wynne must sign up by Feb. 7.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • Looking for a place to dine this Valentine’s Day? Coco Thai Bistro in Narberth is among the region’s under-the-radar romantic dining spots, according to The Inquirer’s food reporters. The menu at the tropical greenhouse-inspired BYOB combines homestyle Thai curries with street food, Beatrice Forman reports.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🐉 The Neverending Story: Catch a screening of the 1984 cult classic. There’s another screening later this month. ⏰ Saturday, Feb. 7, 11 a.m. 💵 $6.75-$7.75 📍 Bryn Mawr Film Institute

    🍪 Teen-Time Cookie Decorating: Teens 13 to 17 can decorate cookies then take some home. Registration is required. ⏰ Monday, Feb. 9, 7-8 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Penn Wynne Library

    🐎 Lunar New Year Crafternoon: Celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse by making a themed craft at this drop-in event. ⏰ Wednesday, Feb. 11, 3-5 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Gladwyne Library

    📜 Remember the Ladies: The Legacy of the Women of Stoneleigh: This presentation will highlight some of the most impactful women who lived or worked at Stoneleigh over the centuries. ⏰ Thursday, Feb. 12, 6:30-7:30 p.m. (Snow date: Feb. 19) 💵 $2-$20 📍 Stoneleigh, Villanova

    🏡 On the Market

    A newly built five-bedroom Penn Valley home with an impressive wine cellar

    A living room adjoining the kitchen features coffered ceilings, built-ins, and a fireplace.

    This newly built home blends classic design with modern amenities. The first floor features two living rooms, both with fireplaces, a dining room, an office, and an eat-in kitchen with an island and high-end appliances, plus an adjoining butler’s pantry and a wine cellar. There are five bedrooms upstairs, including a spacious primary suite with an oversized walk-in closet outfitted with built-ins, and a bathroom with a double vanity, marble floors, and a soaking tub. It also has a rear patio and a three-car garage. There’s an open house Sunday from noon to 2 p.m.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $2.995M | Size: 4,830 SF | Acreage: 0.86

    🗞️ What other Lower Merion residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Joi Washington’s ‘whirlwind’ first weeks as mayor | Inquirer Greater Media

    Joi Washington’s ‘whirlwind’ first weeks as mayor | Inquirer Greater Media

    Hi, Greater Media! 👋

    What have the first few weeks of Joi Washington’s time as mayor looked like? We recently caught up with her to discuss her path to the office. Also this week, the former Providence Village general store, which has since turned into a single-family home, is for sale, Media has one of the region’s most romantic under-the-radar restaurants, plus a new cheesesteak joint is opening.

    We want your feedback! Tell us what you think of the newsletter by taking our survey or emailing us at greatermedia@inquirer.com.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Joi Washington dives in headfirst as Media’s new mayor

    Joi Washington was sworn in as Media’s mayor last month.

    Joi Washington’s first few weeks as the mayor of Media have been a whirlwind. Less than three weeks after being sworn into office, the largest snow storm in years hit the region, forcing a snow emergency declaration and swift action on her part.

    While Washington might have had to dive into running the borough headfirst, she’s no stranger to Media or local government. Washington was elected to borough council in 2021 and is described by Media’s tax collector as being civically and politically engaged.

    The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner recently caught up with Washington to talk about what drew her to Media and what the last few weeks have looked like.

    💡 Community News

    • A historic five-bedroom Media home that was once the Providence Village general store is on the market for $785,000. The couple who live there expected to stay far longer than two years, but when one of them landed a dream job, those plans changed. Spanning over 4,300 square feet and three stories, the home has a newly renovated kitchen and a formal dining room with built-ins and a fireplace. Take a peek inside.
    • The Delaware County housing market got a slow start to the year, with pending sales down 4% as of Jan. 25, compared to the same time a year ago, according to new Redfin data. While home sales were slow, prices were on the rise, with median sale prices in the county and Philadelphia up 10% from the same timeframe last year.
    • Riddle Hospital was recently ranked among America’s 250 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades. The rankings, released last week, are awarded to the top 5% of institutions in the nation for “overall clinical excellence.”
    • Speaking of Riddle, the hospital is expanding its gastroenterology care this month, offering routine screenings, digestive issue care, and minimally invasive treatments.
    • Delaware County Council recently voted to increase the hotel occupancy tax for non-residents from 3% to 5% beginning April 1. The county projects the change will result in $6.4 million in revenue this year, funds which will be used to support the marketing of Delaware County elsewhere. The increase comes ahead of an anticipated influx of visitors to the region for events like the FIFA World Cup, the MLB All-Star Game, the PGA Championship, and celebrations for the nation’s 250th birthday. The hike also puts Delco on par with neighboring Bucks and Chester Counties.
    • L.L. Bean is targeting an early May opening for its Glen Mills store. The apparel retailer is opening a 20,000-square-foot store in the Concordville Town Centre at 901 Byers Dr., taking over the former Staples space.
    • The future of the Eddie Bauer location at The Shoppes at Brinton Lake in Glen Mills is uncertain with the outdoor apparel brand’s parent company planning to file for bankruptcy. When it does, most stores are expected to close. (Retail Dive)

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Some Rutledge Elementary School students were left standing in freezing temperatures last week after a miscommunication over an earlier bus pickup time. Wallingford-Swarthmore School District said it has reviewed its protocols to ensure it won’t happen again. (Fox 29)
    • In the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, tonight kicks off performances of Strath Haven Middle School’s musical, The Music Man, which runs through Sunday. Tomorrow and Saturday, Strath Haven High is hosting the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 12 band festival, which includes a free concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
    • In the Rose Tree Media School District, Glenwood Elementary is hosting its Olympics opening ceremonies on Monday. There are Valentine’s parties for Indian Lane kindergartners on Wednesday and Media Elementary kindergartners on Thursday. The high school is also holding a student blood drive next Thursday. See the full calendar here.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • After spending months converting the former House space at 110 S. Jackson St., Jackson St. Steaks is hosting its grand opening next Wednesday. Its menu includes cheesesteaks, pizzas, cutlet and focaccia sandwiches, grinders, and burgers, as well as drinks from Fishtown-based Meyers Brewing Co.
    • Looking for a great date night spot? La Belle Epoque in Media is one of the region’s under-the-radar romantic dining spots, according to The Inquirer’s food reporters. It has an extensive wine list, bistro-style entrees like steak frites, and a dining room befitting Emily in Paris. If you really want to impress your date, try the escargots de Bourgogne, pan-roasted duck, or bucatini, reporter Beatrice Forman suggests.
    • Amid shifting dining habits and increasing food costs, Harvest Seasonal Grill recently made changes that its leadership team said are paying off. Instead of raising prices, the restaurant, which has a location in Glen Mills, changed some of its meat and seafood sourcing and did away with garnishes to slash prices. The result has been an increase in visitors and revenue that founder Dave Magrogan said doesn’t sacrifice quality.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🩰 Ballet of Lights: Tickets are going fast for this take on Cinderella, which gives the classic fairytale a little extra shine thanks to dancers performing in glow-in-the-dark costumes. ⏰ Friday, Feb. 6, 9 p.m. 💵 $43-$69 📍The Media Theatre

    🎭 And Then There Were None: See the Agatha Christie classic come to life on stage. ⏰ Friday, Feb. 6-Sunday, Feb. 8, and Thursday, Feb. 12-Saturday, Feb. 14, times vary 💵 $21.50-$23.50 📍Players Club of Swarthmore

    🏛️ I Love Media Day: The borough event includes a scavenger hunt to find hidden hearts. There will also be board games, snacks, and bingo. Advanced registration is required. ⏰ Saturday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 💵 Free 📍Downtown Media

    ❤️ Galentine’s Brunch: Towne House is hosting a themed brunch that includes dueling pianos. ⏰ Sunday, Feb. 8, noon-3 p.m. 💵 $40; minimum purchase of four tickets 📍Towne House, Media

    💌 Dear Jack, Dear Louise: Catch the regional premiere of Ken Ludwig’s show about an unlikely courtship between two strangers exchanging letters during World War II. ⏰ Wednesday, Feb. 11-Sunday, March 1, times vary 💵 $20-$35 📍Hedgerow Theatre, Rose Valley

    🏡 On the Market

    A split-level Wallingford home with two family rooms

    The updated kitchen has an island with pendant lights.

    Located in Sproul Estates, this split-level home has hardwood floors throughout its main level, including the living room, eat-in-kitchen, and family room, which has a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace. It has an additional family room at ground level and three bedrooms upstairs. Other features include a walk-up attic, a patio, and a one-car garage.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $625,000 | Size: 2,219 SF | Acreage: 0.33

    🗞️ What other Greater Media residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.