Local business openings and closings to know | Inquirer Chester County
Plus, 18 ways to ring in the new year from Phoenixville to Kennett Square.
Hi, Chester County! 👋
Small businesses continue to shape the county. We take a look at recent openings and closures. And with the new year just over a week away, we’ve rounded up more than a dozen ways to celebrate 2026 nearby.
This is our final Inquirer Chester County newsletter of 2025, but we’ll be back in your inboxes on Jan. 7. Thanks for reading and happy new year!
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The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Chester County, with the county’s economic development council noting that it’s provided service to a number of “Main Street mom-and-pop businesses” in 2025, The Inquirer’s Brooke Schultz reports.
Among this year’s openings: Stubborn Goat Brewing in West Grove, eateries The Local and Our Deli & Cafe, both in Phoenixville, and charcuterie board business Olive & Meadow in West Chester.
While new businesses opened, some also closed their doors.
Read more about the county’s small business changes here.
The countdown to 2026 is on and there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another.
We’ve rounded up over a dozen celebrations throughout Chester County, including noontime events for kids, DJ parties, and the iconic mushroom drop in Kennett Square.
Check out the events happening around Chester County here.
📍 Countywide News
Fallout from a longtime Coatesville VA Medical Center chaplain’s sermon last year led to a battle over religion at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Last year, Russell “Rusty” Trubey included a reading that denounced same-sex marriage, leading some congregants to walk out and the chaplain to be temporarily pulled from his assignment. The Inquirer’s Fallon Roth delves into how the incident and its aftermath helped inspire an “Anti-Christian Bias Task Force.”
💡 Community News
With the year coming to a close, area townships are adopting their 2026 operating budgets, with some notable changes. Kennett Township’s board of supervisors approved a 2.8% increase on real estate taxes. West Whiteland Township residents face a trash and recycling base fee hike from $89 to $223, as well as a per-bag fee. The township expects the average household to spend $353 annually. Refuse fees are set to rise next year in Downingtown to $360 from $240. Residents in West Vincent Township won’t see a tax increase next year. The township’s new budget, adopted last week, notably allocates nearly three times the funds for EMS services than it did this year, and over $1 million for open space preservation. In Tredyffrin Township, the 2026 real estate millage will be 2.811 mills, 0.657 for stormwater, and 0.845 for fire and EMS, for a combined millage of 4.313. That’s up slightly from 2025, when the township mill rate was 4.162.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously voted to reverse a Commonwealth Court decision. The reversal allows the state’s Public Utility Commission to approve East Whiteland Township’s sale of its public sewer system to Aqua Pennsylvania.
Municipalities throughout the county have been awarded $2.1 million in state funding for a number of projects. Shamona Peck Park in Uwchlan Township will get a new nature playground, while Uwchlan Ambulance Corps will get funds to purchase two ambulances and four new heart monitors. Funding will also go toward Downingtown’s flood mitigation strategy, the purchase of two electric vehicles in Caln Township, and traffic signal improvements in Upper Uwchlan Township. The borough of West Chester has received a separate grant of more than $800,000 to replace an old fire truck. And parts of the Brandywine Battlefield Heritage Interpretation Area, which straddle Chester and Delaware Counties, will get three new digital kiosks and 64 interpretive wayfinding kiosks at historically significant sites.
In case you missed it last week, East Vincent Township’s board of supervisors scrapped a draft ordinance that would impose restrictions on data center developments. The decision comes after community pushback over a proposed data center at the Pennhurst State School and Hospital site, an application for which will now go through a months-long review process.
West Vincent Township will hold a Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 5 to consider an ordinance that would grow its Open Space Review Board from five members to seven members and create a trails subcommittee.
The Malvern man who brought guns to the “No Kings” protest in West Chester earlier this year pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to possessing an unregistered firearm or explosive device. Kevin Krebs, 32, is scheduled for sentencing in March and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Valentin Lubinski, 26, of Malvern, was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison and $28,000 in restitution for the online sexual exploitation of minor girls and child pornography offenses.
Margaret Curran, 40, of Honey Brook, has been charged with arson and other offenses after allegedly starting a fire at Green Meadows Rehabilitation Center in Paoli, where she was a resident. (NBC10 Philadelphia)
A former West Chester University men’s basketball assistant volunteer coach placed nearly 500 bets on professional and collegiate games in 2022 amounting to over $176,000, a new NCAA report found. Khalif Wyatt has been suspended from 15% of the regular season during the first season of his employment if he’s hired by any other NCAA school. He currently works in the NBA’s G League.
There are updates on three roadwork projects in the county. Last week, PennDot completed its more than $2.6 million safety improvement project along the High Street corridor in West Chester and West Goshen Township, which includes new traffic lights at the University Avenue and Sharpless Street intersection, as well as pedestrian countdown timers, curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, and roadway resurfacing nearby. The department also completed repair work to the bridge on Swan Road over Officers Run in West Sadsbury Township, which had been closed since mid-October after damage from a crash. And Pennsylvania Turnpike has selected a contractor to widen the road, including between Valley Forge Road in Tredyffrin Township past Howells Road and into East Whiteland Township. Work to add one lane in each direction is expected to begin in late January or early February and will last about four years.
Was 2025 the year of the Philly crime show? The Inquirer’s Stephanie Farr makes the case that it was, thanks in part to HBO series, Task, which was created by Berwyn native Brad Ingelsby. The drama has been picked up for a second season.
It’s become increasingly difficult to score holiday tickets for Longwood Gardens. Can’t get into the Kennett Square mainstay? We’ve rounded up other holiday displays throughout the Philadelphia area.
Have dead strands of holiday lights? Several townships will recycle them, including Easttown (through Jan. 12), Upper Uwchlan (through Jan. 15), and West Whiteland (through Jan. 20).
As for Christmas tree recycling, East Pikeland Township residents can leave them curbside on Wednesdays in January or drop them off at the township yard waste recycling facility. Spring City residents can place trees curbside daily through Jan. 30 for pickup. West Vincent Township will recycle trees at the township building from Dec. 26 through Jan. 23.
Looking to join a “First Day” hike on Jan. 1? French Creek State Park in Elverson and White Clay Creek Preserve in Landenberg are among the state parks with guided options.
🏫 Schools Briefing
Coatesville Area School District opened a new STEM center at Rainbow Elementary School last week. The new center was funded through a partnership between the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and Peco.
🍽️ On our Plate
Popular cafe The Buttery closed its Malvern Train Station location last week as it looks to expand elsewhere. The closure comes shortly after the decade-old eatery opened a location at the Ardmore Farmers Market in September. The husband-and-wife duo behind it are also working to open a location in Bryn Mawr next year.
🎳 Things to Do
🎤 Dan and Dan: The acoustic duo will perform tunes at The Creamery. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 27, 7-10 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 The Creamery, Kennett Square
🍷 Chocolate Truffle Pairing: This tasting pairs Swiss chocolates with local wines. ⏰ Sunday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. 💵 $25 📍 Harvest Ridge Winery, Toughkenamon
🪄 Brandywine School Wizard Camp: Kids ages 6 to 15 can spend the day making a wand, learning to cast spells, and playing quadball. ⏰ Tuesday, Dec. 30, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 💵 $107 📍 West Chester Municipal Building
🏡 On the Market
Situated across from Radnor Hunt and on 4.2 acres, this sprawling stone and stucco Malvern estate has ample privacy. The five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom gated home has a two-story foyer, a sunken living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, an office with vaulted ceilings, a two-story family room with a stone fireplace, and an eat-in kitchen with high-end appliances. The first-floor primary suite has its own fireplace and deck access, as well as dual walk-in closets and a jetted tub. Other features include a finished walk-out basement, a screened-in porch, and a pool.
See more photos of the property here.
Price: $1.975M | Size: 6,278 SF | Acreage: 4.2
🗞️ What other Chester County residents are reading this week:
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