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Di Bruno Bros. closing three of its five stores

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By Zachary
News broke in late January that Di Bruno Bros., a Philadelphia-area chain of gourmet markets, would close three of its five stores. That comes after Brown's Super Stores, a ShopRite operator, acquired the chain in 2024 and Di Bruno Bros. became a Wakefern brand. So while the brand has been expanded in the sense that the products are now distributed to the other Wakefern stores, the original stores seem to be struggling. Two will remain, both within Philadelphia city limits. While I was in the Philly region recently to check out soon-to-close Amazon Fresh stores, I also stopped by some Di Bruno Bros. stores. Let's check them out!

Ardmore (closed)

Di Bruno Bros.
Opened: April 2011
Closed: February 4, 2026
Owner: Brown's Super Stores
Previous Tenants: N/A
Cooperative: Wakefern
Location: 120 Coulter Ave, Ardmore, PA
Photographed: January 30, 2026
The Ardmore location is inside the Ardmore Farmers Market, a public market-style operation with various vendors around the market building. It's not a supermarket, but Di Bruno opened here in 2011, taking over several stands and becoming the largest vendor in the building.
The signature cheese counter was in the middle of the building, with a deli/prepared foods area and cafe at the front and some grocery items at the back.
I visited on January 30 and the last day here was February 4. As you can see, it was already somewhat cleared out.
No Wakefern-branded products (Bowl & Basket, Wholesome Pantry) on the shelves that I could spot at any of the locations, but Wakefern price tags had been in use.
Deli and prepared foods at the front of the building. The owners of this property are looking to bring in multiple vendors to fill the space rather than the single large tenant, like Di Bruno was. And, per that Inquirer article, there's a lot of interest here. This is a busy complex that also includes a Trader Joe's, so it's only logical that this space won't stay vacant long.
The building is beautiful and pretty new. It's jarring to see the store closing in such a nice environment.
There also was a small cafe next to one of the farmers' market entrances.
That, including what looks to have been a coffee bar and a bakery, had already closed when I visited.
DiBruno was one of several vendors in this market, and the rest are still going strong.
For instance, DiBruno didn't have meat, and that's because Stoltzfus had a large butcher counter.
They also didn't sell produce, because there was a produce vendor whose selection remains bountiful...
...so it's likely that this space will be filled by another food vendor, though probably not quite a grocer, now that DiBruno is out.
Moving into the city of Philadelphia...

Franklin (closed)

Di Bruno Bros.
Opened: October 2013
Closed: February 11, 2026
Owner: Brown's Super Stores
Previous Tenants: Ben Towne Deli
Cooperative: Wakefern
Location: 834 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA
This location looked quite beautiful and opened shortly after Ardmore. It was a freestanding gourmet grocer and cafe. It's pretty much right in center city Philly, so it's likely another food store or restaurant or similar business would move in here. Unfortunately, I never got to visit this store before it closed.

Italian Market

Di Bruno Bros.
Opened: 1939
Owner: Brown's Super Stores
Previous Tenants: N/A
Cooperative: Wakefern
Location: 930 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA
Photographed: January 11, 2026
Now for a location that's not closing: the original cheese shop at Philadelphia's Italian Market on South 9th Street. This tiny storefront is where it all began in 1939, and it looks to be under 1000 square feet.
The left side of the store is a cheese counter packed with gourmet cheeses, and the right side is a small selection of gourmet grocery items.
There's no aisles or departments here, really, because this is the entire interior. I imagine the history here, plus the location at the Italian Market, keeps this location alive.

Rittenhouse

Di Bruno Bros.
Opened: unknown
Owner: Brown's Super Stores
Previous Tenants: N/A
Cooperative: Wakefern
Location: 1730 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA
This location is also staying in business, at the Rittenhouse Square part of Philadelphia. See inside here.

Wayne (closed)

Di Bruno Bros.
Opened: March 2021
Closed: February 11, 2026
Owner: Brown's Super Stores
Previous Tenants: non-grocery tenants
Cooperative: Wakefern
Location: 385 W Lancaster Ave, Wayne, PA
Photographed: January 30, 2026
This one is a real shame. The Wayne location, about 15 miles northwest of center city Philly, only opened in 2021 and is one of the most beautiful grocery stores I've ever been in. The approximately 7500 square foot gourmet market and cafe isn't a supermarket, but instead designed around various stations for fresh and prepared foods.
The cafe was on the right side of the store, in a separate storefront but accessible from the store, too, up a couple stairs.
So when you enter the grocery store, you start with the floral department. Refrigerated packaged groceries lined the right side wall of the store, with a seating area and the registers up front in the middle. Cheese, deli, and prepared foods were in the middle in an island, with a pizza bar at the back, and a few other fresh food counters on the left side including pasta and bakery.
A look across the front of the store, including the seating area, from the cafe a few steps higher.
As you can see, this isn't a supermarket, but there's some small grocery sections, like the produce below.
I'm not sure that this one will stay a grocery store. It wasn't one before Di Bruno came in, and it's in the same mall as a farmers' market similar to Ardmore (but less upscale). ACME, Giant, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and a couple small stores are all within a short distance.
Still, you can see the design here was absolutely spectacular. It seemed busy when I visited, but I guess that wasn't an accurate representation of the sales volume here.
Presumably, Brown's bought Di Bruno so that Wakefern would have access to their specialty foods brand, not for the physical retail locations. So it's a shame that they're closing, but it's not necessarily surprising considering Wakefern doesn't tend to love stores outside of their typical format.
I love the design of this seating area, between the furniture itself, the string lights, and the big windows right up at the front.
A small wine and beer section at the front, too.
It'll be interesting to see what happens over time with these stores, but for now, I'm glad I got to check out a few of them before they close. Here's this weekend's other posts!

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