The Brick Farm Market on East Broad Street in Hopewell Borough will close permanently in mid-December, the owners announced on Wednesday, Oct. 18. A smaller market will be reopened at the Brick Farm Tavern after the Broad Street location closes. The Broad Street location will be repurposed for a new use connected with the Brick Farm company, but further details have not been made public yet.

Brick Farm Market opened in 2013 and has been a favorite meeting spot for residents from Hopewell Valley and beyond. The market includes a cafe and also sells meat, coffee, ice cream, dairy products, and other items.

“Like so many other businesses, we have faced some real headwind, especially through the closure of the bridge in Hopewell, the pandemic, and severe labor shortages,” reads a letter from the founders to customers.

The owners worked to consolidate labor resources by moving departments around the market’s building and brought in Ottoburger to improve the economics of the café and extend dining hours.

“While we have enjoyed and been privileged to pour you fresh coffee, and make you a smoothie, shake, taco, or a sandwich over the years, our lives and business were impacted by a continuous subsidy of these services,” reads the announcement. “Having all the extras such as mustards, oils, spices, groceries, supplies and more had us competing with Amazon and supermarkets – which is not what we’ve ever been about. Ultimately, we found ourselves unable to invest our time and financial resources into the core reason why we started this whole thing in the first place: farming and bringing you what we make in the most direct, fair, affordable way.”

The owners will be going back to their core operation, selling what they raise, grow, and make on their farm, the Double Brook Farm, including heritage pork, chicken, lamb, turkey, eggs, house-made sausage, raw, pastured dog food, homemade broths, and seasonal produce. They will sell bread from their bakery and also offer items from other local farms, including grass-fed, pastured beef, vegetables, cheeses, and HunVal Dairy milk and cream products from Ringoes. The new market will also sell fair trade coffee blends roasted by a local company, and crafts from local artists.

The new farm market at the Brick Farm Tavern, which is located at 130 Hopewell-Rocky Hill Road, will have a smaller footprint than the Broad Street store, and there will be no cafe or prepared foods sold there. The new market will open on Dec. 14. There will be a ticketed soft opening for the new market at 5 p.m. on Dec. 13. The event will include a question and answer reception.

Thanksgiving turkeys can still be ordered at the market on Broad Street and picked up there. The market is open regular hours at its current location through Dec. 10.