The Freshgrocer to open in early April The Freshgrocer, the new supermarket located on the corner of 40th and Walnut streets, is now slated to open during the week of April 1, according to an employee in operator Pat Burns' office. While Burns could not be reached for comment, employee Jessica O'Donnell confirmed that the specialty supermarket will most likely open on April 1, and if not, then most likely later that week. "By Wednesday [April 4] it will be open," she said. "We expect the opening very, very soon," said Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official. He would not comment on the exact opening date. Lussenhop cited "a variety of reasons" for the delayed opening, such as "a complex design and a tight construction and labor market." While Pat Burns will operate the 32,000 square-foot market after its opening, Penn holds responsibility for constructing the store. Burns has said previously that he does not blame the University for the delays. "The construction market is very busy right now," he said last month. "Manpower is very tight." The Freshgrocer -- initially called Freshgrocer.com -- was originally scheduled to open last July. After construction delays mounted, the opening date was pushed to January 10. When January passed, Burns said the store would open on March 1. On February 28, The Freshgrocer hosted a reception complete with appetizers, free drinks and a live band. However, at the time of the reception, Freshgrocer officials had abruptly canceled the March 1 opening without releasing a new date. The Freshgrocer will feature an outdoor and indoor cafe, an 800-car parking garage and a conveyor belt that transports groceries to shoppers' cars. -- Zarina Parpia
Con artist targets Penn parents A con artist working out of Upper Darby Township has been gathering social security numbers from members of the Penn and Philadelphia communities to open credit card accounts and charge goods. According to the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, the man has been phoning former students, parents of students and area residents, claiming to be an employee of the Philadelphia Police Department. He has used aliases such as Det. Michael Williams and Lt. Phil Rheil. The man claims that he has arrested someone using the name, social security number, and date of birth of the person he is calling. He then asks the person to prove his or her identity by giving him that same information. He also claims that the person he has in custody has already opened credit card accounts under the victim's name, and asks the victim for his or her real credit card number to make a comparison. The con artist then either opens new credit card accounts in the victim's name, or uses the victim's credit card numbers to order items that can be sold quickly, such as laptop computers. According to Penn Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Bill Danks, this scam has been going on for about a month. However, Penn Police are not handling the investigation. The Upper Darby Police Department has been working in conjunction with Philadelphia Police since they discovered the con artist was using the names of actual members of the PPD. The con artist's activities were narrowed to Upper Darby Township because all of the items ordered with the stolen credit card numbers were delivered there. All of the prank calls were also made from Upper Darby. Penn Police are already considering an Upper Darby resident as a suspect. -- Alexis Gilbert
