Kensington is seeing a revival in development and an influx of young residents and entrepreneurs. But despite this upswing, the economy is still difficult for many business owners in this section of Philadelphia. Some owners sadly say business is steadily decreasing.
“Business has gotten worse. I’ve seen many small businesses close down,” said Paul Schweizer, owner of Schweizer Fire, Inc. on Frankford Avenue in East Kensington. Schweizer has been in business since 1979.
The economic situation in Kensington has been difficult since the large factories and mills that once filled this area closed down decades ago. However, there are promising signs of an economic recovery, if not through large industrial plants, at least through housing. The median price of a house in ZIP Code area 19125, which incompasses Kensington, has skyrocketed in the last five years. In 2005, the median price of a house was about $80,000. At the end of 2009, that average had risen to almost $180,000.
Oddly, the increased desire of people to live in Kensington, on at least some level, has not improved the bottom lines for businesses in the area. Several store owners on Kensington’s major business corridors of Frankford Avenue and Front Street said they had had difficult fiscal years, and – like Schweizer – had witnessed other stores closing.
Ashok Barma, owner of Live in Color, a clothing and accessories retail store on Front Street, said one issue is that the area lacked national chains that could draw people to local merchants.
“This area needs national chains,” Barma said. “There’s no national chain presence, and that hurts the businesses. There used to be a Rite Aid and a Dunkin’ Donuts here.” Barma added that the Dunkin’ Donuts store had brought people looking for breakfast, who then might shop at other stores.
“It doesn’t look bright,” Barma said. “Every year it gets worse, for the last three years.”
The New Kensington Community Development Corporation is trying to boost business activity. The organization focuses mostly on East Kensington, Port Richmond and Northern Liberties, including the commercial corridors of Frankford Avenue and Girard Avenue. Sarah Corlett, the CDC’s Director of Economic Development, said the transition from catering to the traditional Kensington residents to catering to newer clientele can be difficult.
“Business owners are trying to capture the new market,” Corlett said. She cited more visible storefronts and increased web presence as two ways in which stores are trying to capture the eyes – and hopefully, purchases – of the newer market.
The New Kensington CDC’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by the business owners.
“They’ve been trying to [unify businesses] and it’s a good thing,” Schweizer said. “There’s a lot of people trying to change it for the better.”
In contrast to compliments for the CDC, The City of Philadelphia does not receive kudos from business owners. Several complained that the City does not do enough to facilitate business, or even keep the neighborhoods safe or clean.
“The City of Philly is not working to be business-friendly,” Schweizer said. He noted that other cities give preference to businesses within their borders when they give out contracts, something he said Philadelphia needs to improve on.
Other cities “put a burden on the outside company. Philly doesn’t do that enough,” Schweizer said.
John Fiore, owner of Fiore Pizza on Kensington Avenue, said the City once held monthly meetings with Kensington business owners, but that they were poorly attended, and little follow-through happened.
“They have meetings to talk about the problems, but nothing changes,” Fiore said. “We get like seven or eight people.”
For anything to change for the better, Fiore feels the criminal elements have to go.
“They’ve got to be strict on the prostitutes and the crackheads,” Fiore said. “They’ve got to put up cameras on the corner. This is a very bad corner,” he said, pointing to the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Huntingdon Street.
Some of the trouble experienced by Fiore and Live in Color owner Barma could be attributed to their relatively recent beginnings. Neither have been open for four years yet. But, some long-time owners like Schweizer have also been having trouble.
Several owners cited changes in economic trends and customer attitudes as potential pitfall for their profit margins.
Schweizer said he once had steady work refilling fire extinguishers for large industrial factories, which were more likely to use the extinguishers than the retail stores that now occupy the former factory buildings.
“Now, it’s more offices instead of factories,” Schweizer said. “I used to be down in the Navy Yard once or twice a week.” Today, he said, many of his industrial accounts have dried up, replaced with much less profitable service businesses.
Barma said his business faces competition from products other than clothes and accessories that people might rather spend money on.
“Basically, everyone wants electronics. The iPods and such,” Barma said. To counteract the recession, Barma said he tries neighborhood advertising.
“We do grassroots marketing, like flyers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Barma said.
It is that kind of promotional initiative the New Kensington CDC and Sarah Corlett are encouraging businesses on Frankford Avenue and Girard Avenue to take.
“We’d like them to start their own marketing initiatives,” Corlett said. To help facilitate networking among the business owners, the CDC hosts a business breakfast each month, where owners can meet each other and collaborate on marketing, or discuss mutual problems.
“Most businesses are small,” Corlett said, which adds to the difficulty of bringing owners together, as many are busy at their respective stores or workspaces.
Many Kensington store owners expressed hopes of expanding and improving their businesses in the next five or 10 years. Yet, they also voiced their worries about the economy and the problems it posed. For them, the partial revitalization Kensington has seen hasn’t brought positive change yet.
“The economy will get worse. I’m hoping things will get better, but I don’t see that happening,” Fiore said.
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I agree totally with Fiore, we need to get rid of the crackheads that run all over at all times of the day and night. that is what drives people away from the city. The schwizers is what keeps them around. they own many homes in area and keep some of the crack addicts at their homes on frankford and amber. then give them drugs to work for them or do them favors