The new-ish storefront of Germantown Espresso Bar, which has been long-awaited since the end of 2023. (GIH | Rasheed Ajamu)
As we step into 2025, the Germantown Info Hub is excited to share insights on upcoming events, projects, and updates focused on our local businesses. With the dawn of this new year, we find ourselves at the Quadranscentennial of the 2000s — another word for 2025!
As your go-to hyperlocal news source for Germantown, we have our fingers on the pulse of the community. In this spirit, we present a list of anticipated developments throughout the year.
Germantown Visitor Center
You won’t find them online. But you might find them on the corner of Germantown and Penn – if you catch them at the right time. Germantown natives and married couple Charles and Kathy Sutton are the owners of G-Town Tees, which is a print and embroidery shop.
It’s part of the legacy they want to leave Germantown — and that’s not all.
The Suttons want to convert the space directly next door, which they currently use as an extension of their business, into the Germantown Visitor Center. They disclosed this during a conversation with the Suttons and a tour of the space during a stroll in the neighborhood.
We’ve followed up to see if they wanted to share more with the neighborhood. Charles responded with the following.
“We hope to have a soft opening in March 2025, followed by an official opening in April 2025. The most difficult barrier is the creation of a KIOSK that can supply the user with information about Germantown. Additionally, we hope to provide a place where craftspeople and artisans can show their products both in the center. We will attempt to create short videos of the craftspeople and artisans producing their items.”
We look forward to seeing this new hub blossom as an intricate part of the community.
Germantown United CDC
The Germantown United CDC underwent significant changes last year as it said goodbye to its former executive director (ED), Emaleigh Doley.
The Germantown native sat in the highest solo seat of GUCDC for three years but was with the organization for almost nine. During that time, Doley led the organization through immense challenges like the passing of the inaugural ED, Andy Trackman, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early November 2024, the organization welcomed its new ED, Leo Dillinger. Dillinger, a Mt. Airy resident, was previously the director of operations for the Manayunk Development Corporation and the Manayunk Special Services District.
While residents can look forward to new horizons from the organization, there are some loose ends we have our eyes on. One particular is the Germantown Community Identity Project, which was introduced as an initiative to uplift the small business community through a shared community logo, tagline, and color palette.
Residents participated in a community survey two years ago to get the ball rolling. This year, Germantowners were supposed to have a review to see designs and see their installation. The Germantown Info Hub was able to speak with GUCDC at the end of 2024, and they said that neighbors can expect this project to pick up early this year, with plans for street banners and other visual elements to debut later in the year.
See GUCDC’s full December 2024 update on their website.
It would also be a disservice not to acknowledge the work the CDC has been doing to connect neighbors to each other and valuable resources.
This year, we saw GUCDC host a series of Tangled Title workshops to maintain home ownership and generational wealth within the community. Those and other services were highlighted in prior GIH reporting this year.
In the year’s final quarter, GUCDC upgraded its role as a community connector by implementing a new monthly print community calendar that folks can find around the neighborhood in places like Weavers Way and Gaffney’s Fabrics. Those events can also be found in weekly roundups on Instagram and its website’s calendar.
Through it all, we wish the GUCDC a successful year and beyond!
Cafè’s and Coffee Shops
There’s never a shortage of coffee in Germantown, with the many places to grab a good ole cup of Joe.
Some sites may be in and out and offer a robust variety of treats, from donuts to water ice, like Quality Donuts on Greene Street. In others, you may sit in, grab a read, and occasionally people-watch in the window like Uncle Bobbies on Germantown Ave & Church Lane. And at Ultimo on Wayne Avenue, you might meet a friend to grab a pastry and sit outdoors and chat.
In 2025, we’re looking forward to seeing these beverage hubs and third places bloom in Germantown in the biggest way.
Germantown Espresso Bar 2.0
Though the coffee bar was supposed to return to the neighborhood on the cusp of Germantown’s borders near Johnson — after closing its original doors on Maplewood Mall in late 2022 — the doors still have not reopened.
The owners last updated the community about the ongoing progress at 6369 on December 14, saying, “Things are getting VERY illuminating… news and updates very very soon.”
Umoja House
Umoja House, which doubles as a bookstore, is only a block away from the Espresso bar. The store launched in 2021 before taking a long hiatus and reopening in 2023. It has served as a third place in Germantown, offering works of people of color–particularly Black authors.
In 2024’s fourth quarter, Umoja House abruptly closed without indicating when it’ll reopen its doors. GIH anticipates the future of this space.
Coffee With Company
In early 2024, Germantown business owner Rashidah Robinson shared her plans to help revitalize the Chew and Chelten business corridor to what she remembers, as a child, spending summers in Germantown.
She was also one of many community stakeholders who sought to see an end to the smoke shop on the corner of the intersection, which they felt escalated crime incidents. She stood firm that it was a roadblock in her vision of a thriving business corridor, stating it “won’t help the neighborhood grow.”
Alongside a daycare and commissary kitchen, Robinson looks to open a coffee shop, which has since been crowned Coffee With Company. On top of the usual coffee shop offerings, Robinson has applied for an alcoholic beverage license to serve some adult drinks.
She hopes it will serve as a community hub, especially for older neighbors. In her original interview with GIH, she hoped it would “bring some sense of social gathering and entertainment to the neighborhood.”
With occasional update sightings on Instagram, we hope to see the official launch of Coffee With Company this year.
Honorable Mention: 147-53 Berkley Street
The Germantown YWCA wasn’t the first time Weinstein tried to file for a property using Act 135. He tried to get control of two vacant factory buildings at 147-53 Berkley Street this way. Eventually, it was settled when Weinstein purchased the building in August 2020.
That building will allow the Attic Brewing Company, which sits next to the property, to open a cafe. The buildings will also provide space for start-up businesses and organizations, which Weinstein previously told the Germantown Info Hub will be available in early 2025.
While many conversations haven’t happened robustly about this project, it particularly interests GIH because it is one small piece of a more potent transformation of the south lower side of the neighborhood.