News about small businesses in Kensington, Philadelphia — from bodegas and restaurants to shops along Kensington Avenue. Local owners share what it takes to run a business here.
Tables of tamales, family recipes and new twists filled The Lighthouse as residents and visitors came together for a fourth year of tradition and community.
Arts & Culture
Neighbors and community organizers gathered at the Kensington Engagement Center to kick off Co-Creating a Greenprint for Kensington, a workshop series organized by NKCDC focused on expanding and improving safe public green spaces.
A year in photographs from the neighborhood, made close and over time.
Small Business
Applications are open through Dec. 31 on the Merchants Fund website. Priority will go to small, locally owned retailers operating in low-income neighborhoods.
Small Business
This year’s holiday gift guide highlights creative, hyperlocal gifts that support Kensington’s artists, makers, and small businesses.
Small Business
What began as a small salvage business in 2016 has grown into a community cornerstone. George Mathes’ Thunderbird LLC now unites Kensington through vintage treasures and local events.
Arts & Culture
The Emerald Street Community Farm will race in the Kensington Derby and Arts Festival on Saturday October 25th.
Small Business
Today there are nearly 12,000 Latine-owned businesses in the city, but it wasn’t always like this. Success now is the result of generations of hard work.
Small Business
Crystal Ortiz, owner of candle-making shop Waxery, opened her business as a way to give back to her community and make a space for residents to have fun not too far from home.
Small Business
The Medicine Shoppe on Kensington Avenue remains one of the few remaining places in the community to offer quality hospice partnership and medical care.
Arts & Culture
The Harrowgate area will see increased funding as part of the City of Philadelphia's celebration of America's 250th birthday.
Small Business
At Martin's Deli, staff maintains the community feel established by family owners who came before.
Small Business
At Lee’s Dumplings and Stuff, chef Gally Lee offers fresh, original dishes rooted in his immigrant upbringing and commitment to accessibility.
Small Business
Vizion Gallery on Kensington Avenue offers artists a place to practice, vend and find community.
Accountability
An ordinance that expands a business curfew currently in effect in a section of Kensington will be enforced in much of North Philadelphia and more of Kensington in 60 days.
Accountability
A new overnight curfew ordinance could take effect on September 11. It would expand a similar curfew enacted in Kensington in March 2024.
Small Business
Lua Vietnamese Restaurant is a new addition to Kensington Avenue. Owner Jasmine Phan spent years delivering homemade meals before launching her first physical space.
Small Business
Longtime Kensington resident Ligia Rodriguez runs San Expedito Botánica — a neighborhood shop offering spiritual healing, warm meals and community care.
Small Business
Born and raised in Kensington, Austin Wright launched Ava’s Farm — a local produce market and nonprofit that offers free meals and youth programs to residents.
Kids in Kensington
The Norris Square Neighborhood Profile, released in July, explored rising housing costs and other shifts in the neighborhood. This resource list points residents to support.
Clean Streets
In Kensington, a neighborhood already grappling with public health challenges related to the decades-old open-air drug market and opioid crisis, residents say the AFSCME District Council 33 strike exposes longstanding problems including illegal dumping, homelessness and a lack of city support.
Accountability
Students from Gloria Casarez Elementary School in Kensington lined up to testify in support of the legislation, carrying handmade signs that read: “No needles,” “Don’t sell drugs,” “I just want to be a kid,” “We want to be able to play outside,” and “I want to feel safe.”
Arts & Culture
The Kensington Engagement Center is a hub for community connection and better resource access as part of the organization’s “Co-Creating Kensington” process.
Arts & Culture
This year’s gift guide features a mix of new and returning businesses, plus local toy drives and organizations you can support this season.
