Fond Farewells, Friendly Hellos & A Focus On The Future: The Early April Edition
From restaurants and laser facials to luxury apartments and cookies, the new stores and projects pipeline is bustling.
The city is bustling, which anyone who has tried to get into Almyra on a Friday night knows.
When pulling together our latest round-up in our ongoing series of what’s closed, what’s opened, and what’s coming in Rittenhouse and Rittenhouse-adjacent neighborhoods, we were (pleasantly) surprised that our Focus on the Future is now up to 13 projects, and as there are more, including some that seem to pop up almost overnight.
And while January and February saw a number of closings, the number of openings in March outnumbered the closures – a good sign.
Below, you’ll find deets on the 1 closure in Liberty Place, the opening of a hair color bar, a custom clothier, and what may be the last of the athleisure brands to hit Walnut, and a future that shows 2 types of facials, 2 types of cookie shops, some of the best Mexican food in the area, an actual Sugary, seafood, and more in the neighborhood’s future.
Not on this list? A few other projects such as Flight of Jordan, Stephen Starr’s Italian version of Parc, and a brand-new Italian restaurant that we can’t wait to experience! So stay tuned 😉
Fond Farewells:
The Body Shop @Liberty Place | 📍1625 Chestnut St
One of the original cruelty-free UK beauty brands from way back in the 90s went belly-up sadly. The Body Shop entered bankruptcy in March and shut down all US stores. It’s impressive that they somehow survived in Liberty Place when there is a Bath & Body Works.
Friendly Hellos:
Architeqt Color Bar |📍1501 Walnut St, 5th Floor
Now open: the hair-coloring specialty salon from Washington Square West’s Architeqt at 1501 Walnut. It’s a different concept from most salons too, offering membership subscriptions. Some of the stylists (or colorists?) will split time between the two locations, or be permanently situated at the new spot. So far the Google reviews are pretty good!
Find them on Instagram here.
Maison Braun | 📍1721 Spruce St
This new retail opening is super interesting – a men’s (for now) made-to-order, custom clothier Maison Braun! PhillyVoice has the deets on Darryl Brown, the founder and head creative behind the brand, including the designer he admires most (hint: it rhymes with gourd) and more, including the fact they offer over 2,000 fabric choices, and clothing options from formal wear and custom suits, to sweatshirts and t-shirts. You can also pop in for a casual, no-charge chat.
Stop by to say hello and follow them on Instagram here.
Vuori |📍1625 Chestnut St
Vuori – the second athleisure store to open on Walnut St this year after Alo Yoga – is open and bustling, less than a year after its predecessor, Scotch & Soda closed up due to financial struggles overall. The store fits in nicely between Brooklinen and Bluemercury, and it’s a good fit for the workout boys and girlies in the neighborhood.
Walnut Garden |📍1708 Walnut St
IT’S BACK! The chicest and funnest use of empty space that was transformed into a hangout place is back on April 4th, and it’s more fun than ever, judging by the recent press release:
- DJ every Wednesday
- MORE foliage, flowers, and trees (however, we’ll be the judge of that lol)
- Vegan and vegetarian options
- Heaters and fans!
- An eclipse viewing party
More foliage or not, we will be there, and remember: they have 2 TVs and a tent to dip under should it start raining. Oh, and a bouncer – so bring your ID and leave the mace at home (a story for another day and no, it did not belong to us).
Focus on the Future:
The Josephine | 📍1620 Sansom St
The area’s biggest and likely only new luxury apartment building to debut this year, The Josephine at 1620 Sansom St, is getting ready to debut its showroom, with move-ins tentatively slated for summer but nothing has been confirmed yet. They did drop an Instagram teaser post so get acquainted with them with our deep dive on 1620 Sansom St that includes recent photos as you wait for showings to begin.
Glowbar |📍42 S 17th St
There’s something really special happening in Rittenhouse where brands that are resonating with people we’ll call “hip” (for lack of a better word) are now opening up brick-and-mortar. In this case, it’s Glowbar, the hot fast facial chain that’ll deliver a custom facial while you grab coffee at the Swedish Konditori next door. Or a sub from Jimmy John’s – RTO demands sustenance, after all.
The team is aiming for an opening date of April 15th. You can find opening specials here and follow their Insta for updates.
DaMò Pasta Lab |📍100 S 21st St
Nestled between the Japanese donuts and boba tea place Mochi Ring Donut, and the new Spanish tapas place, Taste of Spain, will be DaMò Pasta Lab, the casual Italian pasta place. Or as we call it, the Chipotle of pasta where you can mix and match pasta to suit your style. If you want to check it out in advance you can find it in Washington Square West.
Little Water 📍261 S 20th St
Foodies were caught off-guard when Twenty Manning announced they were closing. What was also surprising was the fact a brand new coastal restaurant called Little Water was going to open in its place, from hip restauranteurs Randy and Amanda Rucker who own East Passyunk restaurant, River Twice. The hype is real and the foodies are primed, so expect a mad rush when they open their doors. But maybe we can get into My Loup then?
Levain Bakery |📍1518 Walnut St
A New York staple that’s been slowly expanding across the country, Levain Bakery’s lusciously huge cookies are now coming to Rittenhouse at the space formerly occupied by My.Suit. Swipe through to see the gorgeous space that it’ll occupy when it eventually (hopefully soon!) comes. Shoutout to the lovely Chris P for letting us know!
Taylor Chip |📍1809 Chestnut St
Speaking of cookies, we dropped the ball on following up with Taylor Chip, the Lancaster-based cookie store that was supposed to open last year. But life is busy when you make the Forbes Under 30 list and opening a store in Rittenhouse is challenging, to say the least, so kudos to them! The cookies are probably amazing and we can’t wait to sample them in person.
Tequilas |📍1602 Locust St
📷: Google Maps
We’re still (now anxiously) waiting for Tequila’s, the only place you can find a rose margarita in the neighborhood, well over a year since it closed due to a bad fire. Why has it been this long? Well, glad you asked! They took the opportunity to rebuild it (literally) to fit the current neighborhood’s wants. Hearing it may have a coffee bar and a tasting room, but it kept the beautiful bar.
Equinox |📍1909 Walnut St
A lot of New Yorkers’ favorite go-to gym for eucalyptus towels, Equinox, is finally opening up a Philly location and it looks hot! It won’t open until this fall but you can sign-up for early deals and they’re reaching out now so check out our Equinox Philly roundup and then reach out to them to get on the list.
The Sugary | 📍 251 S 21st St
Soon, everyone who lives near Friday, Saturday, Sunday will have a very chic dessert boutique option in the neighborhood, The Sugary. It’s a custom dessert place from East Falls that is opening up its first storefront where Latimer Dry Cleaners was, and we’re totally down with it because they’ll be offering desserts, specialty treats, cakes, and coffee. And judging by their stunning cake designs, we’re 99.9% sure this will be a very popular place to find your holiday sweet treats.
Fishtown Seafood |📍 333 S 22nd St
This one is coming from – you guessed it – Fishtown! Fishtown Seafood is going into the old Anima space at the corner of 22nd and Pine, opposite The Goddard School (so Rittenhouse adjacent). They bill themselves as a new school fish shop, and their Instagram is filled with helpful tips and knowledge for the home chef. phlspecial mentioned they will possibly be holding classes like oyster shucking 101, so if you’re looking for fun, foodie things to do, keep it in mind!
Skin Laundry |📍 123 S 16th St
Rittenhouse denizens will have ZERO excuses to not have glowing skin as the neighborhood will have another facial option, joining the coming Glowbar, recent arrival LaserAway, Heyday, Rescue Spa, and more. Skin Laundry, a subscription laser facial chain from New York, will be coming to the store formerly occupied by Kimberly Boutique (RIP). Work has begun and they’re hiring so we’ll keep you posted!
Know of anything else coming or in the works? Shoot us an email here so we can watch their progress together.
