Blogs: Mom and Popaholic

Obama's 'tenuous' political dynasty

newsworks@whyy.org (Dick Polman) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:35:22 GMT

It's typically a waste of time to read the post-election analyses written by people on the winning side, because they tend to spike the ball and dance in the end zone. But I'll make a rare exception for veteran think tank scholar Ruy Teixeira, because he predicted the outcome of the 2012 election way back in 2002, when he foresaw today's demographic realities in his book The Emerging Democratic Majority; and, more importantly, because he's smart enough to know that today's Democratic majority could vanish tomorrow.

East Falls “Mom and Mom” pharmacy closes its doors

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks ) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

You know a movement has traction when you can sum it up in two words: buy local. Now more than ever there's a renewed interest in supporting locally-owned independent businesses in the face of big box retailers and certain price-slashing online Goliaths which shall remain nameless. Pharmacists Beth Dewan and Genevieve Levans, owners of the independent Falls Pharmacy couldn't agree more, even as they closed their doors for good on Thursday after 12 years of serving East Falls.

"Support any local business whether there's a butcher, whether it's the pizza place, anything. They give the local people jobs and that's what I think is so important," Levans said. Falls Pharmacy has been exactly the kind of business everyone hopes will benefit from recent buy local initiatives.

A mom-and-mom shop

"We're a mom and mom," Dewan said. Literally. During the course of the pharmacy's life span both women have married and had children, pictures of whom were proudly displayed in the store. The business grew alongside their two families, and like their families (both women grew up in the greater Philadelphia area and currently reside in Roxborough) had a vested interest in the neighborhood and the people who live there.

"We paid our local taxes, we paid our employees that were local and put money back in [to the community]. The chains don't really do that." Levans takes pride in the pharmacy's direct investment in East Falls. "Everybody that has worked for us has lived within walking distance."

Mail order competition

While local support for Falls Pharmacy remained strong through its last day, it was the lack of statewide support, which influenced the owners' decision to close. As a growing number of insurance companies institute mandatory mail order prescriptions, it has become increasingly difficult for brick-and-mortar pharmacies to compete. Mail order pharmacies offer drugs at a lower cost and can fill a 90-day prescription. In contrast, community pharmacies often pay more for drugs at a wholesale level, making their retail prices higher, and are limited to filling 30-day prescriptions. In addition, insurance companies that don't mandate mail order often incentivize it by instituting lower co-pays for that particular plan option. The bottom line is that it can cost many consumers more to patronize a brick-and-mortar pharmacy provided their insurance even allows it.

There were two bills in the Pennsylvania State Legislature, House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 201, designed to stop insurers and third party administrators of prescription drug programs called Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), from mandating the use of mail order pharmacies or offering incentives which in effect promote them. Despite a lobbying effort from independent pharmacies across the state, the legislation is currently languishing in Harrisburg, with HB 511 officially tabled in July.

Stalled legislation

The stalled legislation doesn't bode well. "I think it's going to be really rough in the next 5 to 10 years for retail pharmacy," Levans said. In order to make the best of a grim economic outlook, Dewan and Levans decided to sell. Several businesses came forward to buy out Falls Pharmacy, but the owners decided to sell to Rite-Aid on the condition that the chain would take care of the local employees. Jobs have been provided for Levans and Dewan as well as two other technicians who worked at Falls.

According to Levans, customers were sad to see the pharmacy close, but relieved to learn that the two pharmacists they've come to know over the years will remain nearby. Levans will go to work at the Rite-Aid in Chestnut Hill, while Dewan will make the short hop to the Midvale Avenue Rite-Aid.

Although newly employed by a chain retailer, Levans and Dewan haven't lost their determination to support other mom-and-pop or mom-and-mom businesses. "Even though we're going to Rite-Aid, we'll probably still go to independents."

Mt. Airy woman's love of animals created a business (and a dog-walking trip to Paris)

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Don't call Adina Silberstein a dog whisperer.

The owner of Queenie's Pets, a professional dog walking and pet-sitting service that serves Mt. Airy, Germantown, Chestnut Hill and Wyndmoor, takes a different approach than Cesar Millan when it comes to caring for man's best friend.

Chestnut Hill candy shop owner on Wonka-esque quest for unusual treats

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:00:00 GMT

When I walked into Zipf's Candies in Chestnut Hill, I'll admit that I was on the look out for Oompa Loompas, the diminutive and perhaps slightly sinister workers in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

Zipf's is a very small shop, however, so if Oompa Loompas lurked in its confines, they would have to be tiny, even by knee-high standards.

Plus, owner Alena Hackett assured me that there were no such helpers in the building, or on staff for that matter. She's the only one who makes the truffles for sale at Zipf's in an off-site kitchen. The rest of the candy is supplied by manufacturers both local and international.

Store history

Hackett purchased Zipf's from longtime owner and Chestnut Hill resident Muriel Kaplan in 2008, but the store has been in existence since the late sixties.

At one point, Kaplan's husband Martin owned the business next door, The Pipe Rack. The Kaplans worked in neighboring shops for years. Day-to-day operations at the two stores were so intertwined that Zipf's staffers would run to The Pipe Rack to use the credit card machine.

By the time Hackett came along, operations at the two shops had been separated.

The Cheltenham native had just returned from college in North Carolina where she worked as a kitchen manager at a shop called The Chocolate Fetish.

It was there that she learned to make chocolate truffles, frogs and barks.

On her return to Philadelphia, she heard that Kaplan was looking to sell Zipf's after nearly 40 years as proprietor. Hackett made the deal and stepped into a role that every child dreams about at some point: owning your very own candy store.

Hackett is, and is not, Wonka

Confectionary skills aside, Hackett is by no means the quirky, top-hat wearing manchild I expected a candy shop owner to be. (I'll cop to being unduly influenced by Gene Wilder's 1971 portrayal of Willy Wonka, though.)

Instead, she's hatless and personable behind the store's well-stocked counters. She mans the scale with poise — chocolates are sold by weight — and is quick to help me select the appropriate licorice for my amateur palate acquainted only with Twizzlers.

If there is a little bit of Wonka in her, it becomes apparent in her quest for unique treats.

"I'm always looking for unusual candies," she explained.

Like bushes that grow lollipops or mushrooms that spurt whipped cream? Not quite that unusual.

For the most part, unusual candies tend to be ones that are made in other countries and not often sold in the U.S.

For example, Cadbury, a celebrated English candy manufacturer known in this country for its crème eggs, produces a number of chocolates and other treats specifically for the European market that never reach American shores.

Hackett would love to bring these unusual candies to an American audience. She said she feels they would be right at home alongside the salty licorice imported from Switzerland and the Netherlands, the German Marzipan and her own Philadelphia truffles.

The mix of both domestic and imported candies hand-picked by Hackett is what makes the offerings at Zipf's unique.

While you won't find a Milky Way bar here, or Oompa Loompas for that matter, the selection is pure imagination.

How chitchatting on road trips created a Manayunk cigar shop

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

When I asked Vasil Dergunov, owner of Ashes Cigars, how long his business has been open on Main Street in Manayunk, he gave me a very specific answer.

"One year, 10 months and 21 days," he responded.

Proprietors of a 92-year-old Germantown Avenue business reflect on prom fashion

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

When it comes time to talk prom fashion, the penguin suit always gets short shrift. Everybody wants to talk about fussy, frilly gowns. But for Frank Fighera Sr. and Jr., the tuxedo is king.

Sweet dreams and adaptation served up by family owned bakery in West Oak Lane

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David for NewsWorks) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:00 GMT

West Oak Lane bakery and café Sweets by Sonya is the result of what happens when two dreams collide.

Locs, fashion and natural style at Rasa Salon

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David, for NewsWorks) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

This is not a beauty shop story. This is not even a hair story, really. This is a story about a paradigm shift, a radical change in the accepted way of thinking about something. I'm letting you know up front, because paradigm shifts in progress are tricky things to catch. They don't happen so much as evolve, and they often evolve at a snail's pace.

Designers sew and tell at East Falls boutique

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David ) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

There's something about The Red House, a boutique and sewing studio on Midvale Avenue, that brings out the Denise Huxtable in me. Once inside, I find myself with the irrepressible urge to sew stuff, but much like Denise, the second oldest daughter in the fictional Cosby Show clan, I'm not very talented with a needle and thread. Her attempt to copy a designer shirt for her brother Theo ended in an absolute fashion disaster, and I've experienced similar hem hijinks and seam snafus.

I am not about to admit this to Dahlia Wigfall or Cyan "Blu" Jeffries, the teaching artists who call The Red House their home. Known simply as Blu and Dahlia, they've combined efforts, and more recently companies, in order to provide inexpensive sewing classes to local residents.

For Dahlia, the interest in fashion runs deep. In 2003, she started Breakfree Design Group with her mother, artist Andrea Coffey. Breakfree is a non-profit dedicated to teaching youth to design, manufacture and sell their own clothing and accessories with an eye toward fostering fashion entrepreneurship. In addition to directing programs for the non-profit, Dahlia also began designing and producing her own clothing out of The Red House.

One house, many hats

"The Red House has a lot of functions," Dahlia explains. Initially it served as a headquarters for Breakfree Design Group and a place to showcase student work. Today, it continues to house the non-profit, but it's also become a space that wears a number of different hats—part resale store, part sewing workshop and part fashion boutique.

Blu first stepped into this versatile space as an intern. A designer in her own right, she started her own company Exodus Designs in 2005 and as part of her business plan "had wanted to do an after-school fashion program." Her interests overlapped with Dahlia's and over the course of her internship, the two became friends. Eventually they decided to join forces and they merged companies earlier this year.

The obvious name

"When we merged we had a little bit of trouble coming up with a name," Dahlia says. Both women had grown attached to their individual labels. "I think we went through a couple of different names and then we had a friend over one evening and he was like, 'well, why aren't you just BluDahlia?' It's so obvious!"

BluDahlia is the fashion brand that represents both designers. The clothing and accessories for sale in the boutique section of The Red House all bear this label. BluDahlia's style can be characterized as funky, ethnic chic, with many of the clothes created from reconstructed garments. The line also showcases collage, embellishment and appliqué techniques, most of which are on display in one of their signature pieces, a denim bolero jacket made of repurposed jeans.

Clothing is manufactured on the premises by local talent from the community. The sewing classes offered by The Red House are a means of finding and cultivating that talent.

Classes for all levels

"We have three different classes that we offer. The first class is a basic beginner sewer class, and a lot of the students that come in for the beginner class, they don't know how to even use the machine, or what to even do when they sit at a machine," Dahlia says. The beginner class covers fundamentals like threading a sewing machine and general machine use. During the class students make their own cell phone pouch which, it turns out, is a task that's great for rehearsing the basics of sewing.

For those who already know the basics, Blu and Dahlia offer classes on pattern use and pattern making. Classes are small and open to all ages. There's a maximum of five students per class, so there's plenty of individualized attention and no room for ill-sewing Denise Huxtable-types to hide.

The Red House may not be as well known as, say, the house of Versace, but with affordable sewing classes designed to groom budding fashionistas of all ages, its gaining ground one stitch at a time.

Huldra Press helps conquer the fear of blank books

newsworks@whyy.org (Erica David) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Perhaps you've heard of bibliophiles, but today I'm talking about bibliophobes with Marianne Dages, owner of the letterpress studio Huldra Press. The word bibliophobe is fancy pants talk for people who are scared of books, or for my purposes, people who might be a little intimidated to make that first mark in a blank notebook or journal.

Dages is an artist, printer, bookmaker and authority on the subject. She's been making custom notebooks for the past seven years.

"I started making books like this because I was always kind of afraid of starting a perfectly white, blank book," she said. "So, my idea was to make it a little bit more welcoming to start with, and already kind of started with different paper to inspire you to use it in whatever way you wanted to."

Blank book bullies

Dages's notebooks are unique creations with interiors sourced from vintage paper. The pages don't always match and they're not always blank. One page might be graph paper. The next might bear the crisp blue-lined grid of an accountant's ledger or library check-out card. Occasionally, there's a page with a photo or illustration taken from science, natural history or even vintage children's books, to fill in an otherwise intimidating blank.

The elegant leather-bound and hardcover journals have an artistic quality that customers are sometimes reluctant disrupt with writing and sketches, but Dages encourages them to do just that.

"It's a little handmade thing in your life, but that doesn't mean it has to be treated preciously," she said. "People say, 'I don't know what to write in my book. I feel like I have to think of something amazing,' but I encourage people to use them for anything. I mean, I use them for grocery lists."

The paper hunter

A grocery list on such hallowed paper? It's actually not so hallowed. Dages scours thrift stores, used bookstores and other secondhand haunts to find the material for her notebooks.

"Everybody basically knows I'm looking for paper," she said, noting that friends sometimes drop by her studio at Globe Dye Works in Frankford with sheets of scrap.

Dages has only had her studio space for a year-and-a-half but she's been making journals, letterpress stationary, cards and art prints for the past seven years. The studio houses a Platen press from the 1920s and two antique turn-of-the-century paper cutters acquired from retiring printers and print shops closing their doors.

Having the studio space has helped Dages to dedicate more time to her business. Initially, she was working two part-time jobs in addition to running Huldra Press, but an increase in business has allowed her to leave one of those jobs behind.

She still currently works as a letterpress tech at the University of Pennsylvania, but it speaks directly to her profession by allowing her to teach others the techniques of setting movable type and creating plates to produce printed images.

A press is born

To see her now, you'd never guess that Dages wasn't born with printer's ink in her veins. Her letterpress business actually grew out of a whim. After graduating from the University of the Arts as a photography major, she took a class in bookbinding and fell in love with the process.

Shortly thereafter, she took a letterpress class and continued to explore the two mediums. Making books became an outlet for her artistic inspirations, which include natural history, mythology and folklore. The influence of folklore is reflected in the name of her company and the philosophy behind her work.

"I found the name Huldra in Scandinavian folklore. It's a woman with a fox's tail, and it also has the meaning of hidden people," she said. "I kind of like this idea of hidden hands working on things, that idea of overlapping worlds, people we can't see that are helping us."

Hidden helping hands

As a bookmaker, Dages functions something like those hidden people of folklore. When customers purchase her work, they're taking home something made by her unseen hands.

It's not always so mysterious, however. You can find Dages at local craft fairs, like the upcoming Crafty Balboa on Saturday at the Broad Street Ministry, and online.

Dages has found a way to conquer the bibliophobe's fear of a blank page with notebooks that she has "already started" with repurposed illustrations and vintage lined paper. She's created a space that anyone can fill in, adding to the beauty of her creations.

"The thing I love about [journals]," she said, "is that they become more interesting as they're used, as they're worn."