Soergel Orchards — Local services in Franklin Park

I grew up in this area when it still had a rural feel to it, before the suburban sprawl commenced. Soergel Orchards used to have the same kind of appeal; it was an attractive farm market. But has gone the way of the area that surrounds it. The parking lot is generally a madhouse; it's hard to find a spot most times and folks these days are rude and no longer practice country manners, so over the years, for that reason alone, as I drive by and have the desire to stop in, I scan the overly crowed lot and drive on by.

The Soergel Orchard enterprise has grown too big for its own country britches. There was a time when some growth was admirable. They managed to survive when many farm markets in the area have all but disappeared. But knowing when to stay within one's lane is important and I think Soergel's (as most of us around here call it) has crossed beyond that point. Prices are outrageous for many items, and while the food is good (I've eaten less of it since it is so expensive so I can only vouch for the Pecan pie, the Amish butter, and the locally processed ground meat), I consider it a rare luxury to shop there now. I don't buy a whole pie, at $18.99 or there abouts, that's not happening, but I do buy the smaller pecan bites.

And that brings me to what prompted this review. I stopped in the other day for a non-purchase related reason to talk to staff about a proposition and could only find teenagers, none eager to help nor with the knowledge needed to answer the question. While there I grabbed the above mentioned items and went to check out. The young male teenager (the girls at least smile and try to seem helpful) asked me if I had any special discounts to claim. I told him I had no idea any were offered (that's how seldom I stop here now). Rather than explain what those might be, he checked me out and handed me the receipt. And since the sign that posted a senior discount was not facing in the a direction conducive to viewing it while approaching the counter, I only noticed it has I took the receipt. I mentioned to him that I qualified for the senior discount. He made no response, no eye contact, and did not offer to redo the sale. He just stood there silent. Just a young body there to get his paycheck, I suppose. Whatever the reason, the hiring of young folks is most likely because the wages don't bring a lot of high quality adults who have some knowledge of customer service and the value of going the extra mile for customers.

I won't say never, but it's unlikely I'll be back. I'll find another source for Amish butter and locally produced meat. Not sure I'll find a crust as tasty as the ones in the pecan bites, but I'm trying to drop a few pounds anyway and can do without.

Change is inevitable they say, but I'm sad to see the changes in the area and the old haunts of my youth given over to the new youth who don't know how to treat the hand...

I had the worst customer service experience of my life in the Arrowhead wine tasting shop inside Sorgels grocery on Oct 22nd, 2023. I was arrogantly told I needed to leave and my friends were refused the ability to buy their wine because, after the clerk asked for my wine preferences, I told her that I do not drink PA reds. She literally said ‘you can get out.’ I was so caught off guard by her unbelievably inappropriate behavior. I actually asked if she was joking, to which she replied ‘nope and they can get out too,’ to my friends, each with a bottle in hand ready to purchase, in front of a group of other customers in line. I asked if they could at least buy their wine and she said ‘nope,’ just for standing with me. As someone who’s worked in the service industry for over 15 years, I would NEVER treat a customer this way and as a manager, I would fire her immediately. You’re representing a brand when clerking a wine tasting room and you are confronted with multiple different pallets. To ask about what a customer’s taste is, then kick them out over simply answering the question honestly, is incredibly wrong. If she is just angry or heard that too many times and can’t control herself, then she is not capable of doing her job anymore. There is no excuse. I was not rude, mean or disrespectful by any means nor were my friends, who didn’t even get to say a word. I had excitedly brought them in. I have supported Arrowhead for years. I will never buy from Arrowhead ever again. I do not blame Sorgels by any means. (The Sorgels manager sweetly allowed my friends to purchase their wine through him and more. He was wonderful.) I know that they are separate and not responsible for her conduct but as there’s no one else to complain to, I hope that the owners of Arrowhead actually read these reviews. Not only is it inappropriate for customer service, but I would not even treat an enemy this way. Please properly train your employees on customer service and what is not appropriate as the face of the company. Please be kind to one another. I hope you actually care about your customers enough to do...

Knocking a star off solely because they only seem to carry Marburger milk. (There are plenty of genuinely fantastic family dairy farms in the area, even a few who deliver, but Marburger is not one of them.) The milk is awful, the eggnog is made with high fructose corn syrup, I could go on. Can’t even give the stuff away. Yuck.

Anyway, that’s my only big complaint. The produce here isn’t all locally sourced, but some of it is. There’s fresh cider as well as hard cider and other fermented beverages on site. Theres a small bakery with pastries, including cider doughnuts. At thanksgiving, they sell turkeys and at Christmas they sell trees, cookies, cakes. There’s a deli as well.

There are greenhouses with seasonal plants for sale, locally roasted coffees, preserves from the orchards, tons of varieties of fresh apples, ice cream, and fudge.

Pick your own pumpkins, apples, blueberries in season. I don’t have children but driving through the grounds you can see there are mazes and games for kids, which are probably closed at the moment but look like fun. They do a weekly essentials kits and bulk produce bags that can save you some grocery shopping, which is easy to appreciate now.

There’s also a section of handcrafted things if you’re into that. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend checking it out, especially if you...