August 10, 2026
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
The Kensington Food Co. grocery store sells fresh produce, eggs, meat and prepared foods like pastas alongside imported shelf staples. In the weeks to come, it will add items produced by businesses that use its commercial kitchen.
A few years after launching his olive oil and vinegar wholesale business, Kensington Food Co., Thomas Sheridan started to explore the idea of giving back to the community that raised him.
That thought led the Kensington native to partner with Kensington Corridor Trust, a developer based in the neighborhood, to build a commercial kitchen for small food businesses. But a few months into that project, KCT had a request. Though the developer loved the test kitchen idea, KCT sought a component that helped the community — not just the food businesses — and wanted to know if he would consider adding a grocery store to his business model.
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Sheridan had some experience with retail, as he runs a tasting room at Reading Terminal Market. But as someone who works primarily in wholesale imports, he said he was a little nervous to open a grocery store. The Kensington and Harrowgate communities highly sought one, KCT assured him, and with their support, he decided to go for it.
"I was a little scared, but I said, 'You know what? Let's let's just do it. Let's go for it,'" Sheridan said. "I'm willing to do this, I'm excited to bring this to the neighborhood. Let's do it."
Now, that idea has turned into the Kensington Food Co. grocery store, which opened in late June at 3462 Kensington Ave., right next to the Tioga stop on the Market-Frankford Line. For now, the store is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, but Sheridan and KCT hope to expand its operating hours.
Inside, multiple shelves hold a selection of the imported olive oils, vinegars, pasta sauces and other shelf staples that Sheridan has sold for years. But there's also fridges with puddings and pastries, homemade pastas, eggs, meat and cheese, plus a selection of fresh produce. Behind the counter, customers also can purchase coffees and bagels.
Adriana Abizadeh, KCT's executive director, said having a grocery store so close to the Market-Frankford Line is great for accessibility, and the store has become a great spot for neighbors stopping by Harrowgate Park, too. She added that she's glad to have worked with someone from Kensington on the project.
"There's a lot of pride, I think, both for (Tom) and for neighbors, in seeing someone from the neighborhood come into a position of access where they're able to open a small community grocery store in their neighborhood to serve their neighbors," Abizadeh said. "I think people are excited about just the potential for an additional space where folks can drop in and find community."
The store's offerings will expand in the coming weeks as Sheridan gets the commercial kitchen up and running. Once those tenants have moved in, Sheridan said he plans to offer their products in the store, too. They will include prepackaged sandwiches and homemade cakes and breads.
"So as tenants come in the kitchen, which is right behind the booth, we're going to offer what they make in the front, and that's going to make the store more of a ready-to-eat, specialized, very unique experience," Sheridan said. "We're hoping that draws a bigger, different crowd."
Sheridan has space for 15 vendors in his commercial kitchen incubator, and he's already found 11 tenants. But he's not really looking for people who want to run food trucks or start catering companies. He wants to help food entrepreneurs, like small bakers, who are looking for a clean, affordable spot to get their licenses in order and launch their products.
Thus far, Sheridan said he's received strong support from the community, but that there's a learning curve to shifting from the sale of imported, non-perishable goods to selling locally grown items that can expire within days. Still, Sheridan said he's quickly adapting. He's also working to accept EBT benefits, which he hopes will make the store more accessible to the community.
"The customer base is growing, the support is wonderful, our customers are amazing," Sheridan said. "It is growing daily and is going in the right direction. We have not yet garnered the neighborhood support as far as people coming to us weekly for their groceries or eggs or milk. We're going to work on that."
