Sandwich Shop, New Retail Coming To Wrightstown Township

WRIGHTSTOWN, PA — Plans to rejuvenate the former Wrightstown Country Store property with a sandwich shop and a new retail store took a step forward Monday night.

In a unanimous vote, the board of supervisors granted conditional use approval for the adaptive reuse of the former country store property, which will retain two commercial storefronts facing Route 413 and Penns Park Road and a tenant house in the back.

The approval will allow property owner, Tom Coates, to complete the interior fit-out of the buildings, upgrade the facades, and finalize lease agreements for the two retail spaces.

According to land use attorney Ed Murphy, “The mix of tenants is not changing. The size and square footage is not changing and the number of parking spaces is not changing.”

What is changing are the anticipated uses, according to Coates.

Pending the finalization of a lease, the former country store will be converted into a retail shop specializing in all-natural organic herbal supplements.

In addition, Coates said a lease is in place for a take-out, grab-and-go sandwich shop and deli, which will occupy the second retail space on the property.

"In terms of satisfying the conditional use criteria, they're pretty self-evident," said Murphy. "Since we're not changing the same roster of uses that were there originally, we believe all subjective criteria in the ordinance that apply to conditional uses has been met. We're not creating any greater impact. We're not creating any noxious uses or any other types of adverse effects on immediately surrounding properties. Everyone is anxiously awaiting Tom's completion of the project and getting that site up and functioning and productive again," said Murphy.

The only concerns raised during the meeting focused on traffic flow and parking.

Concerned about southbound Durham Road traffic cutting through the parking lot to Penns Park Road, the township's engineer recommended the installation of some kind of delineators to separate the parking lot from the road.

“This place has been dead for four years. When it’s busier, cars will be parked there so it will no longer be a path,” said Coates. “But I’m not opposed to exploring any options."

The property at the busy corner of Route 413 and Penns Park Road has sat vacant since January 2020. Several previous attempts to acquire the former store never materialized, including one that would have reopened the country store in 2022.

Coates, who owns the Transcend Fitness Club just down the road at 591 Durham Road, said he decided to look into purchasing the property after driving by it each day and wondering why it wasn’t being brought back to life.

"We have all frequented the country store at some point or another," Coates told the supervisors last fall. “It was a fond staple in the community for years. That property has stood the test of time and is unique to the community. We have struggled to drive past it and not seeing anything materialize," he said.

Known for its breakfast sandwiches and cheap coffee, the country store closed in January 2020 after decades of doing business in the township.

“We feel with our involvement in the community and with your partnership we can get the property back up and renovated so it can continue standing the test of time and bring in unique, township supporting businesses like there once was,” Coates told the supervisors last fall.

Coates said his plan will retain the existing footprint and upgrade the structures to make them fully code-compliant.

"The idea is to bring a nice premium product to that corner of the township," said Coates. “I'd like to see it as a promotion for the township."