December 16-22, 2004

city beat

Arrested Development

What's become of The Cop Shop, the notorious 13th and Lombard deli?

by Brian Howard

Nobody called the Town Food Market by its real name. To generations of Center City night-lifers, the store without a sign on the northwest corner of 13th and Lombard streets was simply "the Cop Shop." The open-late convenience-store-cum-police-hangout with the odd fenced-off seating and TV area has been a mainstay since the mid-1960s. It's also long served as something of a last-chance beer distributor.

Though the store's reputation in the neighborhood was mixed—some saw it as a cornerstone, others a nuisance—there was concern when it shuttered its doors last month.

Calls to neighboring businesses The Last Drop Coffee House and Dirty Frank's revealed little. The mystery began to unravel with an inquiry at Alvin M. Levin and Son, Inc., the owners of the building at 428 S. 13th St. According to Robert Levin, president of company, the business was sold to Jusam Cha, a Korean-American businessman.

The former owner, known at press time simply as Ziggy, sold the business to Cha last month. "When I bought it from him, the store was very dirty," says Cha, who also owns a deli at 5222 N. Fifth St. "As soon as I bought it, I started renovations."

Cha plans to turn the store into a Wawa-like convenience store, complete with deli sandwiches, coffee and a 7 a.m. opening. He hopes to have it open within two to three weeks.

Neither Cha nor Levin have been in contact with Ziggy in the month since the sale. Cha said he believes the former proprietor may be in the hospital with health issues. Attempts to contact Ziggy or his family were fruitless at press time.

Many will miss the old Cop Shop. According to Justin Jarboe, a Temple city planning student who works for a local nonprofit, "My favorite memory was going in there on Friday night at one in the morning and seeing a collection of cops watching Reno 911 and laughing."

So what will become of the store that, in 2002, was dubbed by City Paper contributor Sean O'Neal as "Best place to kick back with a beer and feel like your life is going nowhere"?

Cha seems intent on making the store an asset to the community. "It's going to be a nice new store," he says. And while it seems the unique spirit of the store will perish with this transaction, some will be glad to know that Cha does plan to stock beer.