Back in 2010, the first Nesting House location opened its doors in the Mount Airy neighborhood. This store wants to break the "traditional route of consumerism," offering high quality used goods in a setting that's more boutique than thrift store. They realized success and continued to grow, and in 2013 they opened a second location in Collingswood, New Jersey.
Now, two years later, owners Jen and Chris Kinka are poised to open a third location at 4501 Baltimore Ave. in West Philly. Before their projected August opening, some involved renovations must be done. According to Jen Kinka, they'll be renovating the entire building which means refinishing crumbling interior walls, rewiring, and fixing the heating system.
“We just couldn't logistically figure West Philly out two-and-a-half years ago,” Kinka said. But they wanted to. Before they opened the Collingswood location, the Kinkas had their eyes on two Philadelphia neighborhoods: East Passyunk, and West Philly. They already had a number of customers who drove out to their Mt. Airy Location from West and South Philly. So they knew that's where they wanted to be.
When it came time to pick a second location, they were leaning toward South Philly. That's until Cloth opened on Passyunk Avenue. According to Kinka, they city was so big and it made little sense to open another Nesting House nest door to Cloth. In the meantime, they opened in South Jersey, and continued discussions with Jon Potter, an economic development manager at University City District. For the past two years, Potter had been scouting a West Philly location for the Kinka's. When the chance to open on Baltimore Avenue popped up, they jumped on it.
The Kinka's are looking forward to doing business in a neighborhood steeped in DIY and a small, local business ethic. You may remember some neighbors fought the opening of a Subway on the other end of the block before it opened. That Subway closed last winter. In its place, Cafe Renata is coming soon.
We're glad to see that, in the coming months, these two local businesses will join the Baltimore Avenue commercial corridor. With the ZBA recently approving the proposal for 132-units at 43rd & Baltimore, there will be even more residents taking advantage of both in the coming years. And as you can see in the photo above, there's still room for more new businesses, we'll see who shows up next on the scene.