Creekside Co-op

I’m a member of the creekside co-​op, and I love the fresh, local produce and great fair-​trade coffee here! It’s well organized and not overwhelmingly large (like a chain grocery store), so I find it a much more manageable place to go if I don’t have a massive shopping list.
With that said, it has pretty much all the veggies you could have wanted, including some locally sourced, and some unusual ones that are fun to try cooking with. For example, yesterday I picked up some purple carrots and golden beets — can’t wait to try roasting them! There’s also a good selection of meats, fruits and spices. You can definitely do most of your weekly shopping here.
I enjoy the coffee, especially the Peruvian (French Roast). You can get whole beans or grind them.
There’s also a selection of some household cleaners and personal care items, and many of the brands are eco-​conscious or cruelty free. The selection of these items is somewhat limited, though.
Overall, great local place for grocery shopping!

I just love it here. Perfect addition to the cute little community. My favorite is definitely the prepared foods. Cashew Asian noodles, their house guac and homemade chips, spicy chickpea salads, Israeli salad, autumn kale salad, roasted big, beautiful veggies. I love them all! Never had one I didn’t LOVE! Nice salad bar and the hot bar changes daily, etc one day it’s Mexican, Indian another Asian. Yum! I get my Kombucha here. Nice produce and bulk department. Lots of vegetarian and vegan choices. It’s not cheap but what good quality is. Comparable to Whole Foods prices for frozen and fresh veggies. They have a little deck and a coffee shop area. I’ve been to local gatherings here and it’s really cute. Staff is super friendly and helpful too!

The few foods purchased from here has been tasty. Clean and vintage style store. You can find good food at this small store compared to many larger chain grocery markets. The employees are friendly and there is a variety of things. The only thing I quarrel about is the high prices!

I want to love Creekside because I want to support the community. However, it’s fair at best. Prices are very high. Produce isn’t always the freshest. It’s easy for me to get to when I work late and want to grab a hot meal in the food bar. However, it usually costs me quite a bit of money and the flavors are just ok. Because driving out to Whole Foods is a bit of a hassle, I’ll probably still come her for the convenience factor. But I wish it was better done.
Staff is always very nice and pleasant. I’ll give 5 stars for that.

A great cooperative supermarket.
It has fresh produce & locally sourced products. They have events and message boards. They have a deli, a hot bar, & a salad bar. They even have bulk spices. The staff is reliable and sincere.
Whether you live in the Elkins Park community or not, there is no reason not to support this small local business. Go there & proudly.

Wonderful selection of fresh fruit and produce and the cooked food and deli are excellent.

This is the best deli in the area. Can’t be there for freshness for the catering replaces the old Ashbourne market with dignity and great food give this a try

The Creekside Coop is a great place to shop, and an even better place to support the community. I like putting my food dollars back into developing our neighborhood– and it’s not hard! great produce, amazing deli, great dairy and cheese and the best bread selection around. Locally sourced, community owned. While some stuff is more expensive (but not everything) our family wastes less and eats healthier. Why give our money to Acme, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods? Creekside– improving all the time, listening to its customers who are its owners. thanks!

Creekside is great. Is this where I go for all of my staples? No. But it has lots of items I can’t find anywhere else, which keeps me coming back for more. A few examples:
— Individual hamburger buns. Remember that scene in Father of the Bride where Steve Martin opens the package of hot dog buns because he only wants 8 buns and doesn’t want to buy all 12 that come in the pack? Well, he would love Creekside. You can buy as many hamburger buns as you need. And not just any buns — *delicious* buns from the likes of Baker Street and Le Bus. The multigrain buns are my weakness.
— Carrot Ginger soup. Dairy free (uses coconut milk) and so delicious.
— Pickled ginger. Went looking for this at Whole Foods, and they claimed they no longer carry it because the company they carried doesn’t make it anymore. Well, you’ll find it at Creekside.
— Bulk gluten-​free flour. My mom has celiac, and sometimes I need a little brown rice flour or GF flour for a recipe, but I don’t always want to buy a huge bag that will quickly go bad. Creekside carries these flours in their bulk department, so I can buy as much as I need.
— Both white and whole spelt flour. I have a few recipes that call for white spelt flour and could never find it anywhere. Creekside carries it.
Is Creekside perfect? No. I sense they are still working out some kinks. But I’m really glad they’re around, as they fill a much needed void in the Elkins Park area!

Creekside is a clean, uncrowded, pleasant place to food shop. If you only visited a few times when it first opened, I encourage you to try again

Produce is phenom! Items that I window shopped were bit pricey, but high quality was the equalizer. Don’t you deserve it? Bulk section alone is worth the visit. Local community support, great things to sample/​buy — what’s not to like?

I stop in here for the salad bar about twice a week. It’s always really fresh, and delicious. As far as grocery stores go, it’s small but has a good selection. The staff are really friendly and knowledgeable about what’s in the store, and general food questions. They have ready-​made fruit cartons with sliced melons and berries, and it turns out those are cheaper than most other grocery stores. If they squeezed and packaged orange juice on-​site, I would never go to any other grocery store.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to write a review of Creekside; but today I was in there and made a little note to finally DO IT. After years of zilch in Elkins Park, Creekside is is hugely welcome!
My absolute favorite thing… the bulk section. There’s a fabulous selection of flours, nuts, rices, pastas, etc. The quality is excellent, and I no longer have to drive 5 miles to find some spelt flour. Oh… and there’s delicious chocolate. Just sayin.
My «other» favorite things are the wonderful spice selection (dip your own), and the great ready-​made baked goods, entrees, side-​dishes, etc. If in doubt, try the briskit. If still in doubt, get some mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. If STILL in doubt… pie.
The Coop also reaches out to the local community. In addition to the weekly farmers’ market, they sponsor events and services (such as knife sharpening — where cooks can bring their knives in to be professionally sharpened). Their website also offers recipes, and a forum where customers can make product recommendations.

Very clean, with a nice area to settle in with a cup of coffee, with a good view. After going for so long in this area without a grocery store in a convenient location, it’s good to have Creek Side. My household is a member, and I’m also a member of Weaver’s Way. I’m a great cheerleader for co-​ops and for supporting local, independent merchants.
I think Creek Side has a way to go as far as prices and selection, and it caters to a well-​off clientele. But it’s new, and I’m going to give it time. And the hours are convenient.

Full disclosure:
I am a member of the Creekside Coop, so I am an owner — along with over 2000 other people.
Yes there are teething pains. We are opening a new venture and matching the offerings to what folks want as well as adjusting the brands we sell and their price points.
I am not on any committees or an officer — and I was also disappointed by the initial selection and prices, but steady progress has been made. Weavers Way has been around for quite a while, we have only been operating for a few months.
The Coop is in the space of the long defunct Ashbourne Market that sold food to the community for many years. Much of what Creekside sells is organic, and a lot is local. There is demand both in the community and from members for a full service deli, for catering, and for some non organic brands at lower price points.
I think that the Coop meets those varied demands and does a good job.
In addition some specialties from the Ashbourne Market are once again being made like chopped chicken livers and other deli specialties.
From opening day most staffers were very nice and would bend over backwards for customers, however there were some issues with some associates. I believe that by and large those issues have been rectified.
If you came by when we first opened and were disappointed please give us another shot.
We are better with each passing day. If we’re not where you want us to be please let someone know at the customer service desk, or by email. We will continue to improve as the days go by and with your input and patronage things will continue to improve.
I joined the Coop to support a community store and to improve availability of good foods locally sourced. Not everything in Whole Foods is organic, not much at TJ’s is. We eat a variety of things from a variety of sources. The Coop strives to source organic and local items at fair prices.
We still stop by at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, but a bit less then we once did.
Please give Creekside an (other) try, and let us know how we can serve you better if we don’t meet your expectations.

Is this a real co-​op or a Sears co-​op? I thought co-​ops were about providing natural foods at a reasonable price to its members. As much as I was looking forward to this place opening, it matches my disappointment in their offerings.
I do not expect to see Hatfield, Boars Head, Arnold Bread, Bisquick, etc. at a NATURAL foods store. Things I wanted to buy I didn’t; Acme Lox containing nitrates-​pass. I know they make a natural (no preservatives) one; why not carry that? Cage-​free eggs. Took me ten minutes to find out no they are NOT organic (big difference in taste and sustainability) and that there is no expiration date, but will last a month. No thanks.
Pricing way out of control. 50−100% above what you would pay at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. As much as I would like to support this business, I see no reason to become a member or even frequent this place. I really don’t want to pay $ 5.99 for a lb of org. broccoli. I couldn’t even find a decent head of organic lettuce. It was downright garbage!
The only redeeming feature of this place is the bulk section; including herbs, spices and teas from Frontier; and a decent fresh baked goods selection from local bakeries. I hear they are trying to get approval to sell craft beer. Now that might bring me in.

Love the Creekside Co-​op!!! — five years in the making, worth every minute of the wait for this neighborhood gem to open. My favorites– deli, baked goods from all around Philly and beyond, fresh fish, great meats with a knowledgeable butcher, fresh, locally grown (when possible) produce. The market is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the customers/​owners, so speak up and keep coming back to make the co-​op your own. Also, the member specials are great, thank you to all the volunteers and investors that made this happen.

I have been looking forward to Creekside opening for years and have to admit I was a bit taken back when I first went — I was expecting a version of the reasonably priced, down to earth granola-​ish, hippy-​esque Weavers Way and this felt more like a high-​end boutique for the wealthy. They are supposedly working on getting the prices down and I am sure it will take time to work it all out but I wanted to highlight a few things I really like about it right now.
The bulk section! There are all kinds of pastas, rices, nuts etc including atypical things like gluten free and rice flour, several kinds of cookie chips (grain sweetened chocolate, dark chocolate, the most delicious peanut butter chips). I just tried the yoghurt-​covered almonds and loved them.
I love love LOVE the «dip your own» spice offerings they have as well. Such a huge selection of common and uncommon spices like dried lavender. Love buying just the one vanilla bean I want. And did I just need 2 teaspoons of garam masla for 25 cents instead of a whole bottle for $ 6? Why yes, thank you very much!
The bakery goods — they have breads and pastries from Le Bus, Metropolitan and both New York and Rollings Bagels — nuff said? We’ve also been using their organic ‘pour your own’ laundry detergent and even though it’s pricy a little goes a long way and I really like the way it cleans and makes the clothes feel.
The produce and meats are comparable to prices in other stores. The staff is all nice and friendly and the store is cheery.

Of course Creekside is still new and figuring it all out! What I find is it is personal and friendly. The Deli is incredible. The chopped liver and whitefish salad are the old Ashbourne Market recipes– the best to be had anywhere. The rotisserie chickens are a whole other level than can be found anywhere else. The prices are adjusting and getting sorted out, but the quality, from produce to meat to deli is fabulous, the ambiance is lovely, the bread, bagels and prepared food is great. I love it!

My intention is to shop the CoOp as much as possible. Somethings are not available (yet, I hope) and somethings are priced too high (for now), but for the most part, I am overjoyed with the location, selection and staff! Fabulous.