Philly’s Chestnut Hill sees steady shopping crowd on Small Business Saturday

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For the past 13 months, Chestnut Hill native Gralin Hughes Jr. has been living his small business dream through Multiverse, a store he co-owns with his spouse, Sara Zia Ebrahimi Hughes.

“The idea of multiverse is that there are multiple realities and anything can happen,” said Hughes Jr., who is also an adjunct professor at Arcadia University. “We want to invite people who come in from all different backgrounds, different realities, different ways of living where all these things [and people] can exist together.”

Multiverse sells fantasy, magical realism, comic books, graphic novels, science fiction, collectibles and “nerd stuff” often created by local artists. The store was open during Small Business Saturday, an event promoted by the Chestnut Hill Business Association, which has many independent retailers among its membership.

“It’s been busy already so far. We had a great year,” Hughes Jr. said. “We have good foot traffic on the hill. It’s a destination for folks traveling.”

Small Business Saturday was launched in 2010 by American Express as a national initiative  to counter Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which primarily focuses on drawing shoppers to big box retailers and shopping malls. For Philadelphia retail corridors such as Chestnut Hill, the event allows the opportunity to drum up support for its independent businesses.

This year, the Chestnut Hill Business Association partnered with shop owners to offer free trolley rides dubbed a sleigh, for weary shoppers, trekking up and down the hill.

On Saturday morning, despite near freezing temperatures, hundreds of shoppers descended on Germantown Avenue, popping in and out of shops. The sidewalks were full on both sides of the street and parking along Germantown Avenue was scarce.

Courtney O’Neill, executive director for the Chestnut Hill Business District, said the corridor has always attracted independent mom and pop stores and shoppers who love the historic charm and the smaller store footprints.

“Some of the spaces don’t lend themselves to anything but maybe a quirky mom-and-pop store or a fun little bakery,” O’Neill said. “This neighborhood is almost like a little bit of an oasis, we’re part of the city but it’s really walkable and there’s lots of trees, flowers and green space. We try very hard to maintain that aspect of being able to breathe fresh air in the middle of the city.”