Pandemic Pivots & Stories of Hope

King of Prussia:

A Community of Resilience

In March 2020 when the stay-at-home orders went into effect as COVID-19 began to spread in King of Prussia and communities across the Commonwealth, it was not yet known just how much the pandemic would disrupt every facet of life. Within weeks, it was apparent that the pandemic would have far-reaching and long-standing implications for our nation’s economy.

Despite the mandated closures, KOP business owners and operators showed tremendous resiliency, creativity and perseverance. Over the past year, we’ve seen the KOP community come together to support one another and heard a multitude of stories of large and small businesses that effectively pivoted to preserve their customer base. Here are a few examples of KOP businesses adjusting to these new realities.

Beer On Demand

KOP's first brewery, Workhorse Brewing Company launched a delivery service in response to the pandemic, offering free delivery within a ~13 mile radius of the KOP taproom, as well as the majority of Center City Philadelphia. Orders placed by 3 PM are guaranteed for same-day delivery. The popular service is here to stay. Workhorse also partnered with Wegmans and other businesses to offer meal and beer kits. In the summer, Workhorse debuted an expanded outdoor beer garden, which was outfitted with propane heaters when the weather turned cold, and launched outdoor tailgating by reservation only.

Not Your Mama’s Grocer

Recognizing essential goods and groceries were hard to come by, a few restaurants pivoted to fill that void and make up for income lost during their closures. In KOP Town Center, Founding Farmers introduced a market and grocery, open for curbside pick-up and delivery, which featured a robust selection of prepared foods, freshly baked breads and pastries, house-churned ice cream, pantry staples and difficult to find household essentials, like toilet paper and paper towels. Fogo de Chao also stepped up with Fogo to-go, offering produce, eggs, milk, fresh fruit and a selection of meats from their butcher shop. Many of KOP’s steak and seafood houses, including Sullivan’s Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Morton’s The Steakhouse and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, offered a wonderful selection of meat to cook at home…and bottles of wine to go! Restaurants like bartaco and Paladar also debuted meal kits and cocktails to go.

Throughout King of Prussia, businesses quickly pivoted to adjust to new realities.

Main Line Health

Let’s Get Virtual

When Main Line Health opened their new KOP outpatient center on March 9, they had big plans to host year-round, free classes in their incredible teaching kitchen. Within weeks, the center closed again. When they reopened in June, the center launched virtual programming to complement their new telehealth services. KOP’s fitness centers, including Elle Fit, ilovekickboxing.com, Dub Fitness and Upper Merion Community Center also did their part to keep people healthy, offering virtual or prerecorded classes. To keep people entertained, educated and informed, Valley Forge Park Alliance launched virtual programming including a virtual March-in; KOP’s Police and Fire Federal Credit Union hosted free virtual financial seminars; and King of Prussia Town Center moved their popular concert series online. KOP’s apartment communities, like Hanover Town Center, AVE King of Prussia, The Smith and Canvas Valley Forge, also quickly adapted, moving apartment tours online.

Al Fresco Dining Abounds

While restaurants were closed for indoor dining, Upper Merion Township, with assistance from King of Prussia District, developed criteria to allow restaurants to safely expand their outdoor dining areas, or create new temporary outdoor dining opportunities, when Montgomery County moved into the “yellow” phase. As a result, many of KOP’s restaurants erected incredible outdoor dining spaces, including City Works, Bonefish Grill, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, The Capital Grille, J. Alexander’s, Fogo de Chao, Pepper’s by Amedeo’s and Founding Farmers. Many other restaurants with already established outdoor seating, like bartaco and North Italia, winterized their space with heaters.

Curbside Pickup Pops Up

The pandemic forced many brick-and-mortar retailers to think outside of the box to keep their customers safe while meeting demands. Like retail centers around the country, King of Prussia Mall implemented a number of health and safety measures when the mall reopened late June 2020 and also introduced curbside pickup parking spots to accommodate the 53 retailers and restaurants offering that service. King of Prussia Town Center and KOP’s other retail centers also implemented similar measures.

53+

Retailers & restaurants at the King of Prussia Mall offered curbside pickup

King of Prussia:

A Community that Cares

With a long history of supporting community nonprofits and organizations, it’s no surprise that the business community, despite their many hardships, came together to help others in 2020. Here are a few examples of just how much this community cares.

2,500

Face shields were donated to doctors and nurses

Slay Displays, which produces specialty arrangements for events, quickly shifted gears in June and fabricated 2,500 face shields that were donated to doctors and nurses at 76 healthcare facilities.

Valley Forge Casino Resort donated over 4,500 pieces of kitchenware, décor and furniture to the Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery and Delaware Counties Restore. The Casino also partnered with Orion Communities for their Adopt a Family program, and served 10 families — 13 parents and 24 children — with $10,000 worth of household and cleaning products, clothing, family activities and toys.

Responding to the almost immediate surge in demand, many KOP businesses stepped up to help the Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard (UMACC). Bonefish Grill, bartaco, True Food Kitchen, Outback Steakhouse, Valley Forge Casino Resort, Sheraton Valley Forge and Hedgehog Grill donated truckloads of food including fresh produce. First Quality made several large donations of diapers and baby wipes, while Costco donated laundry supplies.

Many KOP businesses showed their appreciation to frontline and essential workers by providing meals. Chick-Fil-A and Police and Fire Federal Credit Union donated meals to King of Prussia police, EMS and firefighters. Honeygrow donated 95 meals to the entire staff at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to show their appreciation for healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic.

King of Prussia District did our part to support the community during this difficult time:

Leveraging our Facebook following for good, King of Prussia District launched a matching fundraising campaign for UMACC, donating $1,000.

We partnered with Conlin’s Print and hosted our largest annual food drive for UMACC to date. Twelve businesses and buildings hosted donation boxes: Conlin’s Print, Sheraton Valley Forge Hotel, Omnia at Town Center, Canvas Valley Forge, 1000 Continental, The Atrium Building, KOP Town Center Management Office, King of Prussia Mall, 2520 Renaissance Blvd., the Alloy King of Prussia, Upper Merion Township Library and Workhorse Brewing Company. We ended the campaign with a bang, hosting Stuff-A-Truck, a day-long food drive at King of Prussia Town Center in November 2020.

We rallied the support of 100+ businesses to host KOP Restaurant Week and KOP Shops for CHOP to raise money for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Despite a pandemic, this community raised $40,000 for CHOP!

In partnership with Upper Merion Township, we debuted First Responder Appreciation Week and served 222 meals to KOP’s first responders over the course of one week. We are grateful for our generous sponsors allowed us to pay each restaurant providing meals: AVE King of Prussia, Valley Forge Shopping Center, Best Western Plus The Inn at King of Prussia, Brandywine Realty Trust, Police and Fire Federal Credit Union, Radial Corp, Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco, UGI Corporation, B. Pietrini & Sons, Einstein Medical Centers Montgomery, The Discovery Labs, Tozour Energy Systems and Wegmans.

On behalf of First Responder Appreciation Week, King of Prussia District also donated $2,000 to Upper Merion Emergency Aid.

Valley Forge Casino Resort partnered with Orion Communities for their Adopt a Family program, and served 10 families.

A MESSAGE ABOUT KOP’S POST-PANDEMIC FUTURE FROM KING OF PRUSSIA DISTRICT

While the impacts of the pandemic are widespread, and the health and economic toll may be with us for a number of years, we at King of Prussia District are extraordinarily optimistic about the future of King of Prussia. The economic growth of the past decade made for a stronger economic base, and our more diversified business community was able to do a better job weathering the storm. Most commercial office tenants, while not physically in their offices, continued to operate efficiently and effectively through telework. Increased manufacturing and distribution companies, as well as a significant uptick in healthcare and life sciences, paid dividends in terms of preserving jobs and keeping the KOP economy afloat. We are so proud of our business community and are privileged to continue supporting its growth and success.