Shady Brook Farm closing The Market at DelVal

Shady Brook Farm will no longer operate The Market at DelVal, effective Aug. 15.

 

Delaware Valley University said it would be exploring a variety of options for future use of the facility.

 

“We have worked hard over the last few months to adapt and change, keeping the health and safety of our customers and employees at the forefront,” Paul Fleming, president of Shady Brook Farm, said in a statement issued by the university and Shady Brook Monday.

 

“The added difficulties of running a business such as ours with the current government mandates have made it impossible for us to continue. It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of The Market at DelVal effective Aug. 15, 2020. We had hoped to make it through the fall season and have been working hard to continuously adapt, but with the challenges we’re now facing, the closing has come sooner than expected.”

The Market at DelVal on Lower State Road in Doylestown has been operated by Shady Brook Farm for 12 years, offering specialty foods, freshly prepared foods, a garden center, and a variety of events including “pick-your-own” produce, wine tastings, and tours of DelVal’s active farmland.

 

Shady Brook Farm’s Yardley location remains open and looks forward to welcoming customers there, Fleming said. Robert Arcidiacono, manager of The Market at DelVal and director of operations at Shady Brook Farm, said full- and part-time employees from The Market would be offered the opportunity to work at Shady Brook Farm.

 

“It is sad to leave The Market. I have been here from the beginning seeing the business grow,” Arcidiacono said during a phone call. “I am going to truly miss the connection with the community and students that have become like family to me over the past 12 plus years.”

 

Arcidiacono said the family had been contemplating the future of The Market for some time. “As a family business, running two locations is difficult,” he said. “We realized we need to focus in on our core business and stay focused, and then COVID was the icing on the cake.”

 

DelVal President Dr. Maria Gallo, in the joint statement, said Shady Brook had been an important partner to the university for the past 12 years. “The quality of their food and produce offerings, creative events, and farm tours have connected our campus to our neighbors and the community. We thank them for their partnership,” she said.

 

Fleming said Shady Brook Farm was “grateful for the opportunity” it had to work with Delaware Valley University as well as the local community. “We wish them well,” he said.

 

A University spokeswoman reached by phone said DelVal also wished Shady Brook the best. “The University had a good relationship with The Market and we really enjoyed having them here on campus,” she said.

 

“The University is going to be looking for a business to go into that space,” the university spokeswoman said. “It’s too soon to say what type of business it will be,” she said, adding the building would remain a part of the university’s campus.