Willey Farms not rebuilding yet, but part of business open by Easter

Rejoice, Willey Farms fans.

A temporary selling space at the south end of the property off U.S. 13 near Townsend will be open early- to mid-April just in time for Easter, Mother's Day and into the summer.

Hanging baskets, perennials, geraniums, mixed pots, vegetable plants and herbs, among other items, will be available, said Donna Cavender, the store's marketing manager.

Willey Farms' store was destroyed by a fire Nov. 5. Amid an avalanche of sympathy, family members and employees were talking about rebuilding the next day, she said.  

Already underway are Phase I plans to rent and renovate a temporary 2,500- to 3,000- square-foot space north of the property, she said. Produce and natural food items would be sold there in the near future, she said.

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"The growing greenhouse escaped the fire and we just now installed heat and electricity," Cavender said. "It needed that because we placed a big order in January for all of the plugs and plants we grow ourselves."

But Cavender can't answer the question most loyal customers ask: When the new market will rise to replace the 60,000-square-foot space that evolved over 43 years.

There are no specific design plans yet, Cavender said, but the family plans to move forward soon.

"We'll start rebuilding on the old footprint in late spring or early summer," Cavender said. "We want to incorporate new ideas, but at the same time keep the character and atmosphere of the old Willey Farms." 

The sprawling, 60,000-square-foot space, with its multiple departments, was the kind of place where you could buy a candle that smells like pumpkin pie, pick up a jar of local honey or get a bundle of logs to load into the fireplace.  

Willey Farms sold asparagus, strawberries and an assortment of fruits and vegetables in the spring. In summer, it was tomatoes, peaches, cantaloupes and sweet corn, as well as other produce. 

The farm market offered pumpkins, squash and fresh Thanksgiving turkeys in the fall and Christmas trees, wreaths and root vegetables in the winter.

The new Willey Farms will offer much of the same and more, Cavender said.

"We'll attempt to improve on what we had because our customers really liked our assortment," she said. 

When it first reopens, the new market won't be as big as the previous store because that space was constantly evolving for nearly 44 years, Cavender said.

"The original store started small and then other buildings were added," she said. "It will take a little time to get to that size and even bigger."

Cavender said she will continue to update fans on the Willey Farms Facebook page and on YouTube, Instagram and the Willey Farms website.

The community has embraced the effort to rebuild, and that's really evident on social media, she said.

"It's so heartwarming," she said. "We knew the community liked us, but we didn't know how much they loved us."

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

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