Grant Awards - Spring 2009 Recipients

The Merchants Fund opened offices in the summer of 2007 in downtown Philadelphia after a twenty-five year hiatus outside the City. The board has outlined an ambitious grant-making program to support small businesses in Philadelphia.

Absolute Abstract Art ($5,000)
http://www.absoluteabstractart.com/
The two owners have a successful shop on South 13th Street in the newly coined Midtown Village and are ready to open a second location on Passyunk Avenue selling graphic and moderately priced reproductions.  A recent article in the Philadelphia Magazine highlighted the tremendous growth of new businesses on Passyunk Avenue including the opening of the new Absolute Abstract. Always keen to grow the company an e-commerce strategy will round out the business platform.  TMF elected to fund an extensive upgrade of the web site to support web purchasing and more inventory on line for browsing.  In the internet age everyone pre-shops online to save time.

Bernard Katz Glass ($10,000)
http://bernardkatzglass.com/
Bernard Katz creates museum-quality hand blown and formed glass.  The artist has sold most of his work on the wholesale market and at high end craft shows such as the one sponsored by the Philadelphia Art Museum.  As a result of the economy he has to diversify his base so his manager, business partner and wife has opened up the gallery located adjacent to the studio space for regular public hours.  They have an aggressive marketing plan which they have worked on with a consultant from the Temple SBDC.

Blu-Hawk Uniforms ($7,500)
The owner operated successfully at Cheltenham Square Mall for 14 years but when the rent was drastically increased she decided to move to a smaller store on nearby Wadsworth Avenue.  She was able to retain her loyal customer base but trim her costs.   She plans an interior overhaul so she can add chef and nursing uniforms to her successful line of school uniforms.

Canine Clippers ($5,000)
This successful business has been in Manayunk for 27 years.  The current owner has had it for three years and is the third owner.  There is a succession plan in place when the owner retires. Canine Clippers has a dedicated clientele who appreciate the attention to detail and the friendly atmosphere of a neighborhood business. Located under the tracks increased visibility will go a long way to make the storefront pop out and improve curb appeal.   A major overhaul of the windows and facade are planned including brightly colored dog silhouettes playing along the border of the window.

Chef Ken's Cafe ($6,285)
Chef Ken provides stellar down home food at his Mt. Airy location.  Catering is a significant income stream and a new freezer will allow for fewer trips to the wholesaler, more food on hand for last minute orders and increased capacity.  This simple fix will stabilize and grow this popular business.

China Art Co ($10,000)
Located in the heart of Chinatown on 10th Street near the newly refurbished Chinatown Gate, China Art Co. is owned by Way Man Yip a community leader and resident. China Art Co. sells Chinese-made products for the tourist trade.  She wants to refurbish her storefronts in an effort to start the momentum to make Chinatown more attractive and appealing especially to the tourists with dollars in their pockets. The architect has produced several strong concept drawings which demonstrate how visual appeal can be significantly increased. The Chinatown CDC will provide matching funds. 

Community Acupuncture of Mt. Airy ($10,000)
Website: http://www.moonriveracupuncture.com/
Community acupuncture centers are a growing national phenomenon to provide sliding scale acupuncture care. Elise Rivers, teaches courses at the Won Institute for Graduate Studies in Glenside, PA, and will recruit recent graduates to work as her acupuncturists to gain experience as they work to launch their careers.  The business is located on a block with other health and wellness providers, and is collaborating with other area businesses serving whole foods and plans to act as a pick up location for a CSA grower and distributor.  The project is enthusiastically supported by Mt. Airy USA.

Cuddles-N-Care ($5,000)
A grant was made to lay down rubber matting over cement in the play yard of this day care center.  The center has earned the first star of KeyStone Star rating system (voluntary quality assurance program offered by the state).  Day care centers create great foot traffic for other businesses and support working families.

Devilfish, Inc. ($5,000)
http://devilfishink.com/
The committee made a grant for the relocation and set up of key computer and production equipment. This piece of the project should enable him to get back up and running and generating revenue. This company and several others were precipitously evicted from a commercial space off Front Street in Kensington.  The owner also provides space for his wife to run a framing company.  The raw space needs a lot of work to make it more professional: lighting, flooring, painting, dividing walls, ventilation, signage, upgraded computer screen, etc.  The owner/artist is actively involved with New Kensington CDC and produces all of the tee shirts for community occasions such as the Kinetic Sculpture Race.  He also designs the business directory--- one of the most successful in the city.

Fairmount CDC ($5,250 Group Grant) and Brewerytown CDC ($1,250 Group Grant)  
http://www.fairmountcdc.org/  and  http://www.fairmount.biz/
The committee elected to support web upgrades for both entities. Fairmount CDC has taken a leadership role for Brewerytown to jump start the Girard Avenue merchants association.  High quality web sites will drive traffic to area business especially if links are made to tourist web sites and all the local museums.

The Green Line Café
http://www.greenlinecafe.com/
The owners requested $10,000 toward a total cost of $11,664 to purchase Adelo Café POS software, computers, scanners, register display and installation for three cafés located in West Philadelphia (4239 Baltimore Avenue, 231 S. 45th Street, 3649 Lancaster Avenue).  The business is run by two brothers-in-law.  The company started at the Baltimore Avenue Location across from Clark Park in 2002 (on the Green Line).  They sell fair trade coffee products and are members of the Independents Coffee Coalition. The growth of this company is dependent on small margins of profitability. A point of sale cash register system will help them track their ups and downs to tighten ordering, track maximum hours of operation, good and bad stock, etc. When a retail sales component is added at the newest location on 45th Street there is an inventory component. At present there are no credit purchases but with the new system they can set up advance purchase gift cards. Small cafés can take a beating on credit fees so this will allow for a cost-effective credit system for loyal repeat customers. They are active SBN members.

Is-a-bella Pizza ($20,000 loan match)
http://www.is-a-bellapizza.com/home/
 A loan match was approved for an $80,000 loan to refurbish a traditional pizzeria.  Passyunk is a food destination with a mix of ethnic (French, Mexican, Italian) and American food.  The owners want to refurbish the exterior to include seating, upgrade the façade with plantings and improve the mechanicals and roof.  The building sits on a triangle and has two long street fronts. The project is scheduled for late summer when the restaurant business has a traditional lull.

Klein's Supermarket ($5,000)
 http://kleinssupermarket.net/index.html
This grant contributes toward the purchase of new energy efficient freezer cases.  This family-run (3 brothers and the fourth generation) grocery store is over a hundred years old and is a mainstay of the Fairmount neighborhood.   The local CVS has cut into the market share stocking more food goods at discount prices.  Trader Joes and Whole Foods are also relatively new to the neighborhood and also have stirred up the competition. The condo association/landlord is also requiring a new awning and signage to spruce up the exterior (much needed).  Ken Klein writes a "produce" column for the local newspaper each week.

My House Cookies ($20,000 loan match)
http://www.myhousecookies.com/
This woman-owned and operated company makes scones, cup cakes, cookies and other homey premium baked goods. The company just relocated from the suburbs to the Parkside neighborhood to an existing commercial kitchen already fitted with a hood and drains.   The $80,000 loan is all about growth and adding additional capacity for production and finishing the kitchen build out.  A successful contract with Williams Sonoma last Christmas was both a boon a bane testing the capacity of this company to handle large orders (150 a day).  Scaling up will allow them to handle the next contract more effectively (fall 2009).

Schwartz Hardware ($7,690)
The committee made this award to renew the appearance of the façade including replacing the faded signage, the broken front display windows and generally sprucing up the exterior. There was a condition imposed on the owner and the CDC to clean up the interior as well.  A nice exterior requires the same attention be paid to the interior. This second generation family-owned hardware store is located below the St. Joseph University area. It is nested in a row of two story 1920’s commercial properties which are in various states of disrepair.  This is a great demonstration project for the neighborhood.   A retail and merchandising consultant is on board to oversee the project and make sure that the inside and outside are harmonious and visually appealing.

Self Service Laundromat ($6,000)
 The committee made an award to purchase a coin and change machine for this newly renovated laundromat located in a low resource neighborhood.  This company has truly been running at a loss in the past because the owner was not charging enough.  She is working with West Philadelphia Financial Services to finance the last phase to lease or purchase of all the required washers and dryers.

Sustainable Manayunk ($3,000 Group Grant)
In an effort to stimulate business and go green a “Buy Local” campaign is critical to the growth and sustainability of Manayunk. The MCDC is partnering with local businesses and residents to create a brand identity, run a kickoff event, offer reusable shopping bags with the brand logo and create marketing packages to attract new businesses.  Curtis Jones (Councilman) has declared his intention to make his ward "the greenest in the City".