❗ Parker says yes to the Sixers arena

🏟️ Parker Says Yes to Center City 76ers Arena

The mayor announced yesterday that her administration has reached an agreement with the NBA team to allow them to build an arena in Center City. To finalize the deal, City Council has to approve a set of related legislation. [@PhillyMayor on X]

🏫 Possible School Closures

A soon-to-be developed master plan for district facilities is likely to include closures, colocations, and “repurposing” of existing school buildings, according to the Board of Education president. [Chalkbeat Philadelphia]

✨ $100 Million Old City Redesign Proposal

A new “Historical Philadelphia Vision Framework” put together by several local organizations looks to add plazas, signage, seating, wider sidewalks, additional pedestrian crossings, and more around Philly’s historic district. [Inquirer 🔒]

• Related: Is Old City ready for the semiquincentennial? [City Cast Philly 🎧]

🌳 Why Is Philly Great for Gardens?

We’ve got some history on Philly’s public and private gardens, plus tips for the best ones to visit. [City Cast Philly 🎧]

If you’re in Rittenhouse Square and walk four minutes south, you can get an elaborate cookie almost as big as your face at Blueprint Cookies. Or, you could go four minutes east of the park, where you can get a different huge cookie (for about the same price) at Chip City Cookies.

Later this year, an eastbound stroll could also take you toward hefty cookies at the forthcoming Levain Bakery, and a short venture north of the park could bring you to yet another big cookie from the soon-to-be Taylor Chip shop.

Gourmet cookie shops have been proliferating throughout the country in recent years, and several brands have been descending upon Philly — specifically, Rittenhouse — over the past year. Each of the chains setting up shop in the area offers something a little different, but once they’re all open, this section of Center City will be chock full of options for massive, handheld confections that cost about $5 or $6.

What’s behind this trend? Hey Philly got in touch with the newcomers to ask what’s up.

Why Rittenhouse?

Hey Philly posed this question to the cookie newcomers, and their answers essentially boiled down to this: The neighborhood is popping.

Peter Phillips, CEO and co-founder of Chip City, called the neighborhood “a really strong market with a lot of great food brands,” which made it a “natural” place for his company to put down some roots in Philly.

Taylor Chip CEO Doug Taylor agreed on the area’s allure. “If you're gonna be in Philly, if you're trying to make a splash, you go to Rittenhouse and you go to Frankford [Avenue],” he said. (Taylor Chip is also planning to open a location in Fishtown.)

Confidence in a Crowded Market

It’s undeniable that each of these shops are facing competition from each other — and that’s not even to mention the two Insomnia Cookies locations within a half-mile of the Square, including the Philly-based company’s flagship store.

But none of the cookie sellers Hey Philly interviewed seemed too worried about that.

Taylor compared it to the numerous sandwich and pizza shops that exist — just because Middle Child is super popular, for instance, doesn’t mean that other sandwich shops can’t also do good business, he said: “Everybody has their lane and their space.”

From the perspective of the Blueprint franchisees, the proliferation of gourmet cookies in the area actually makes them feel better about their choice to bring the brand to Philly.

“Chip City, Levain — they're much, I would say, bigger, more established companies than us at this time,” said Johnny Ciarlante, one of three partners in the Philly Blueprint shop. “So the fact that they are putting locations in Center City Philadelphia kind of shows that there's a demand for it … I think them moving [in] almost solidifies our decision to open up in Philly.”

Here To Stay?

Some folks in the comment sections of posts about these new shops have pointed out that it feels like cookie shops are popping up the way frozen yogurt shops did back in the early 2010s. And that kind of makes you wonder … will this sort of business — and these local shops — last?

Once again, the Rittenhouse Square cookie mongers didn’t seem too concerned about their products’ longevity.

“I think cookies are here to stay as a product line,” Phillips said. “That’s been exhibited by continuous growth. I think the power of social media sometimes can bring things to the forefront — but that doesn't mean that they weren't already doing well to begin with.”

Meet the Cookie Shops — and Find Out Why They Think They Stand Out

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