Northwest Philadelphia residents stock up for Hurricane Sandy

As Hurricane Sandy blows into town, Weavers Way Cooperative is closing its doors.

The Northwest Philadelphia-based food market shut down its Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy stores Sunday night until further notice.

Around 2 p.m. Sunday, the Mt. Airy store remained well-stocked, save for water. That was gone on Saturday, said Rick Spalek, store manager.

“This is one of our busiest days ever,” said Spalek. “Except maybe for the day before Thanksgiving.”

Dane Menkin, a Mt. Airy resident, said he showed up at Weavers Way at 10 a.m. to stock up on coffee and juice for his infant daughter. When he saw a line out the front door, he decided to come back later.

“It was a disaster, ” he said.

Fellow shopper Alisa Kamis-Brinda said she wasn’t worried about the hurricane and was stopping by to get items on her list as oppose to supplies.

“I’m trying not to get into the hype of it because that tends to be what happens,” she said. “I’m hoping that I have everything that I need should there be a problem.”

Business was also brisk at Weavers Way’s pet and wellness store on Carpenter Lane.

“It’s been very busy, frantic,” she said. “[People are getting] candles, batteries, matches [and] we sold out of flashlights yesterday.”

Bernal said many shoppers said Weavers Way was one of the only places they could find batteries.

Debra D’Alessandro, a pet store shopper, said she just returned to Philadelphia after helping a friend evacuate from Cape May.

“We’re just re-stocking the house [after being gone for four days], basically,” she said. “The only extra thing I’m doing is I’m going to pick up a case of water, in case we go off grid for water, and I’m getting extra cat liter.”

Meanwhile, shoppers at Pathmark in Chestnut Hill filled nearly the entire the parking lot.

Cynthia Norris, a Mt Airy resident with four people in her household, said she wasn’t particularly worried about stocking up for the hurricane. Though she did say Pathmark was low on bread.

“It is busier than a normal Sunday,” she said. “I just got extra bread and normally I get a half-a-gallon of milk, but I bought a gallon today.”

Rick and Roberta Thompson, who are visiting Philadelphia from Atlanta, said they’re not worried about the storm.

“We grew up on the Jersey Shore so we’re used to the storms and everything,” said Rick. “Some people get crazy they stock up on a whole bunch of stuff.”

“We have a cooler with ice,” said Roberta. “We didn’t buy a lot.”

Mayor Michael Nutter delcared a State of Emergency as of Sunday at 5 p.m. It’s scheduled to end on Tuesday at 5 p.m.