A couple of readers have checked in over the last couple of weeks, giving us the heads up that some construction activity is taking place at 731 S. 22nd St., in a long-dormant commercial space. The last tenant in this space was a shop named Flower Ring, which we don’t recall being in business for at least five years and probably more.

The building

We stopped by to ask the guys at the site if they could shed any light on what’s happening there, but they only knew the specifics of their present task, digging out the basement. At this time, that’s the only permit we’ve been able to find for the property, but you’d have to think that it will be followed by something else, no? The contractors are Greensaw Design, the same folks that did the buildout…

Many locals were pretty upset when South Street institution Pinky’s at 1824 South St. closed a few months back. Though the space was getting creaky, the breakfast offerings remained a popular and affordable choice for both neighborhood residents and employees at Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse across the street. We’ve seen some work going on in the space in the past couple of months, but couldn’t get any information about the new business taking over.

New restaurant?

Looks like it

A reader tipped us off that Sunny Point opened this week, and it’s… well… Pinky’s. The interior has been tidied up a bit, and the menu has expanded tremendously in terms of vegetarian options, but its otherwise the same place, with some of the same people working behind the counter. We called over there to…

Poring over the zoning dockets as we often do, we noticed a complicated list of variance requests for 2313 Frankford Ave., and quickly realized we were on to something huge. Pizza Brain, the planned concept for this space, has been getting quite a bit of buzz this year, and deservedly so. Who else, after all, is opening a pizza shop/pizza museum/neighborhood hangout/performance space these days? Who other than owner and pizza mastermind Brian Dwyer is calling Guinness World Records to award them with the record for Largest Pizza Memorabilia Collection? Who else has a pizza memorabilia collection, anyway?

This guy

Dwyer, along with a couple of partners, will be taking a former flower shop and turning it into Fishtown’s pizza nirvana. The property, which is 120′ deep and goes all the way…

Since it’s Labor Day weekend, we figured we’d give you a quick update on the progress for the commercial spaces at the former Union building at 21st and South Sts.

Massive building

First, the good news: Doggie Style opened for business this past week. No signage yet, but otherwise they’re good to go.

Doggie Style, from the outside

City Fitness still seems to have quite a bit of work to do, though they’ve done plenty of framing inside and we don’t know about their progress in the basement. According to an email from a couple of weeks ago, the grand opening will happen between mid-September and mid-October. From what we can tell looking in the window, we’re thinking it’ll be mid-October at the absolute earliest.

Plans for the first

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In yet another case of a business opening up across the street from another business that does virtually the same thing, Palm Tree Market will soon be opening at 2nd and Christian Sts., in the space that was formerly occupied by Hot Waves Salon.

A couple of years ago. Image from Google.

Building has a new look

Preparing for the new market, the facade has been altered slightly to add a handicap accessible ramp. Unfortunately, this meant eliminating the classic corner column that you see around town in many corner retail spaces. It’s a shame to remove that historical element to the building, but at least it was for a good reason- so that everyone can have access to the new store.

For those not familiar with Palm Tree Market, it’s a gourmet market and…

A new 7-Eleven popped up on the southwest corner of Broad and Race last week on 7/11, which was also, conveniently, Free Slurpee Day.  This new 7-Eleven location is one of many to come in the greater Philadelphia area, thanks to a mega expansion strategy the company is currently pursuing. Gone are the days of your typical seedy 7-Eleven; these new locations are bigger, brighter, cleaner, and more centrally located to lure in people from all walks of life.

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