Chestnut Hill resident Kathleen Hogan is a champion of new and existing businesses in East Falls.

by Elizabeth Coady

Eight months into her job as executive director of the East Falls Development Corporation, Kathleen Hogan is proving her street cred as a promoter of new and existing businesses in the scrappy "urban village'' that borders the banks of the Schuylkill River.

In a phone conversation, Hogan, who declined to disclose her age, quickly recounted the latest goings-on with businesses in the hilly “gateway to the northwest” neighborhood. There's the new LeBus East Falls restaurant that opened in February at the corner of Ridge and Midvale Avenues, the former site of Johnny Mañana.

A few doors down is the Famous 4th Street Cookies bakery, whose owners are searching for a coffee vendor to occupy their as-yet unused in-house retail space. A block away at 4056 Ridge is the pop-up The Red Lady Speakeasy, serving cocktails and music Friday and Saturday nights through May. When that closes, in its space will be a retail and production space for women's clothier Alice/Alexander.

Around the corner, at 3507 Midvale, is the newly opened Vault & Vine flower and gift store in a shimmering space that includes a greenhouse and cafe serving coffee and sweet cakes. Coming soon at 426 Conrad St. is Milo, a vegetarian restaurant by Chef Craig Wilson, formerly of the highly touted Gigi Italian Bistro in Manayunk.

And at 3401 Conrad St. sits the new location of The Artist Haus, where owner MacKenzie Day operates a beauty salon and sells eclectic apparel. Day had rented across the street in the space occupied by Milo before buying her current mixed-use building that she's extensively renovated. "My realtor said, 'You should consider East Falls,'” recounted Day, 31, about her search for a location for her salon. "I came here and said, 'Oh my God, it's perfect.'"

Three years later, Day committed to buying into the neighborhood. "I definitely want to invest in the area because I love it,'' said Day, who settled on her new property last September. Of Hogan, Day said, "She's awesome. She's just been great about getting support from the locals.''

Connecting is essential to Hogan, who relocated to Philadelphia five years ago from Chicago, where she operated the children's retail store Zozo before moving it exclusively online. The store was an Amazon merchant and got a nod in the now-defunct children's magazine, Cookie.

"Small business development is something I really understand,'' said Hogan, who lives in Chestnut Hill with her husband and their two children, ages 17 and 21. "It gives you a lot of cred because they see you as one of them. These are my people,'' she said of the area's merchants. "I feel like I understand the ins and outs of from A to Z."

Hogan said the East Falls Development Corporation has ambitious beautifying plans for the area and will seek community approval to apply to the city's Department of Commerce to become a Business Improvement District, which would enable them to add area services and security.

More immediately, Hogan, an avid bicyclist who bikes to work several days a week, is exploring bringing a bike-share program to the area. Another idea she's working on is implementing a storefront pop-up theater that would show independent and cult classics, similar to the program run by South Street Cinema. Already in the works is a neighborhood block party this summer on Conrad Street.

Peicha Chang, owner of Vault & Vine who has lived in East Falls for a decade, previously rented out a 250 square foot storefront on Conrad. Her new space measures 4,600 square feet, including 2,000 square feet of retail space and a second floor meeting room where she offers workshops and where local groups hold meetings.

A former board member of the East Falls Development Corporation, Chang says Hogan is visible in the East Falls community, where the median age is 33, the average home sells for $237,450. and household income is $71,000.

Hogan, who credits Philadelphians with being "unusually nice," says it's her "outsider's perspective” that helps her “see things fresh.''

For more information, visit https://eastfallspa.com.