Ice Cave owner Po Chang and dessert chef Jessica Wang in 2016 (Photo by Rana Fayez)

UPDATE (3/11/2023): Ice Cave has reopened under new ownership. More details are coming soon.

(2/16/2023): The local favorite, Ice Cave dessert shop, is closing after more than six years of operation.

The family-owned business opened its first shop serving Taiwanese shaved ice treats in 2016 at 4507 Baltimore Ave., and then moved across the street to 4520 Baltimore in 2020. Ice Cave received a lot of support from the community during the move and was able to survive through the COVID pandemic.

The reason for the shop closing is personal. The owners, Po Chang and Jessica Wang, are moving away from Philadelphia and want to spend more time together as a family, which has been very difficult while running the business. Here’s a part of the message posted on Ice Cave’s Facebook page by Chang: Continue Reading

Blk Ivy, a new concept clothing shop dedicated to the fashion of the civil rights era, has opened in West Philly, at 3605 Lancaster Ave.

Created by well-known Philly sustainability focused fashion icon, Kimberly McGlonn, the store will stock hand-curated thrift and vintage items associated with the fashion of the civil rights movement from 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education, when the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional) to 1972 (the presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to U.S. Congress).

The opening of this shoppable museum took place last week, just as Black History Month kicked off across the country.

This concept shop will bring sustainably sourced fashion to a larger audience, particularly those interested in vintage and thrift shopping. The retail destination highlights the style of civil rights figures such as James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and Angela Davis with a particular focus on their connection to the city of Philadelphia. The store also showcases rare vintage vinyl, first edition books, and current authors writing about the continuing fight for civil rights. Continue Reading

Vagrant Cafe, located on the corner of 45th and Baltimore, has closed after two years of operation. The Baltimore area-based business that opened its West Philly location in January 2021, has recently cut the number of its brick-and-mortar locations, which also affected their West Philly shop. The space, which prior to Vagrant Cafe was occupied for many years by Milk & Honey, is again available for rent.

This is the second coffee shop that closed on Baltimore Avenue in the past year. Greenstreet Coffee, located just a block away, near 46th and Baltimore, closed after a fire in spring 2021, less than a year after opening. The space was renovated and is now occupied by Doro Bet Ethiopian Chicken House.

Despite these closings, there are other cafes within one-two blocks – Alif Brew and Green Line Cafe on Baltimore Ave., Dottie’s Donuts on Springfield Ave. and Knockbox Cafe on 45th St.

Here’s a roundup of some news and events at local businesses.

Hakim’s Bookstore, Philadelphia’s oldest Black-owned bookshop located at 210 S. 52nd St., will soon be honored with a blue historical marker from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). The store was founded in 1959 by Dawud Hakim, an African American scholar, author and publisher.

Throughout the years, the store has provided the local community with Afrocentric and often rare literature with a focus on African American history, culture, and racial justice. After Mr. Hakim’s death in 1997 at the age of 65, the business has been run by his family members. Yvonne Blake, Mr. Hakim’s daughter, is the current owner of the store (since 2013). For more information about Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop, visit its website or Facebook page. Continue Reading

UPDATE (1/28/23): Supremo Food Market has reopened after a new inspection by the city health department, carried out on Jan. 27, deemed it safe to reopen. The store remained closed for more than a week.

(January 23, 2023): Supremo Food Market at 43rd and Walnut has been closed since Thursday because of numerous health code violations, including evidence of mice.

An inspector from the city health department noted a “gnawed package of cookies” on a store shelf, a dead mouse under one of the shelves and mouse droppings at various locations in the store, including “on the cutting board and the plastic sealing machine in the produce area,” according to an inspection report posted today. The report is the second in four days citing “imminent health hazards” that led to the closure of the supermarket last Thursday.

Supremo will be closed until at least Wednesday morning, according to the report.

Calls to the supermarket for comment were not answered.

Supremo was closed briefly in October for similar violations.

An artist’s rendering of the planned six-story office building with a ground-floor McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut.

A six-story mixed-use building is planned for the northeast corner of 40th and Walnut Streets, where a neighborhood fixture, McDonald’s, is currently located, according to an announcement by Penn’s Office of Facilities and Real Estate Services. The new, 50,000-square-foot facility will include a fully-modernized McDonald’s on the first floor of the building. Continue Reading