I think at this point, quite a few people (in Philadelphia, at least) know that we are about to move out of our Chinatown production studio and back to our Northern Liberties storefront location, although we haven't really made an "official" announcement about it up to this point. Basically though, we will be relocating on March 29th, and will be reopening on April 5th. Which means that we'll be closed from March 26th through April 5th (if you have an order to pick up, you can still come grab it after we move, and we will still be shipping orders out although there may be a day or two delay if the order comes in on the 28th or 29th).
We're incredibly excited about our return to 608 N 2nd street. First of all, we will be able to be more of a part of the cycling and arts communities here in Philadelphia. Our current studio space is amazing, and to be honest, there is more than a little sadness that comes with moving out of here. But at the same time, it's a far from ideal spot as far showcasing our staff and product goes, and it's not exactly the most accessible and inviting place in the world. Its function as primarily a "production studio" dictated an awkward schedule that included a small chunk of saturday hours "by appointment only". And there's not much else around as far as shops and places of interest. The Northern Liberties store, in contrast, can be open all day on saturdays, and is surrounded by a number of cool shops and restaurants. We've had a good amount of time to plan out how the store will be set up, and we're happy to be able to arrange things so that when people walk in, they'll not only be presented with new displays and a ton of bags, but they'll also be able to see these bags being made right in front of them.
The best part about returning to 608 is that we will be able to host parties and openings again! Starting with our grand re-opening party on saturday, April 9th, we plan to hold events in the space every month or two. We'll have local artists' work in the space, we'll have bag shows featuring artists from around the world, and we'll have product launches and parties. Additionally, we're working with some of the artists from the Compound Warehaus, who will have full reign over one of our window displays, keeping things looking awesome all around.
So overall, there's a lot about to happen over here, and we're really happy to be at the starting point of yet another new venture! One side note; we can say we're 99% certain that there will not be an April/Maypril Fool's fun ride this year...we just have too much going on during that time period. We do plan to have some different events that should help make up for this, though, and I believe Neighborhood Bike Works is planning and event in April, so hopefully we can help to swing a lot of people in their direction.
Looking forward to welcoming everybody to the new shop in April!!!
