An old gas station in Norristown is breathing new life and growing stronger by the day.

Part of that strength comes from the gas station’s alliance with the new Swiss Farms Market, now in operation at the rear of the property at 220 W. Main St., Norristown.

It’s the 50-year-old Swiss Farms company’s 13th store, and the first outside of Delaware County, noted district manager Tony Galante, who beamed as he glanced around at the pristine set-up, meticulously stocked with many grocery-store essentials, from bread and milk to kettle-cooked potato chips and spray cleaners, writes Gary Puleo in The Times Herald.

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With more than 2,000 items, “we’re looking to bring in even more; the customer will let us know what they want to see and we’ll adjust to that,” Galante said.

The store’s inventory is double that of the traditional Swiss Farms outpost, which is essentially a drive-through kiosk, Galante noted.

From the way he explained it, the Swiss Farms stores prior to Norristown operate like plus-sized Fotomats?

“That is a great comparison, but they’re a little bigger than that, with 700 square feet,” he said, laughing. “They do have two lanes, with one on each side. People will pull up to our drive thru — it’s basically a big sliding glass door — and tell us they need their Swiss tea coolers, milk, their cranberry chicken salad that we’re so famous for. Or they’ll walk up to it as if they were in a vehicle. And we have such loyal customers they’re always greeted by name,” Galante added. “The associates know the regulars. They know what kind of coffee they drink, what they get for lunch. They’ll see their car coming down the highway and by the time they get there they’ll have their newspaper and coffee ready for them.”

Galante is hopeful that the Norristown store will develop a similar rapport with customers.

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