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Better Know a Business: Neil’s Furniture

Frankford has a wonderful history of family run businesses, passed down over the decades from parents to children. Neil’s Furniture, located at 4831 Frankford Avenue, continues that tradition.

Rebecca Goldberg has been working in Neil’s, her father’s shop, for ten years, and took over the business when her father passed away in 2010. The way she runs the store is a true tribute to her father – her focus on customer service and the creation of a community space would make her father proud.

Neil Goldberg came from a long line of furniture salesmen. His father and uncles owned a furniture store in Kensington, and his grandfather delivered pieces on horse and buggy. Neil opened his own shop on Paul Street here in Frankford in 1979, and about five years later moved to their current location on the Ave. He loved being a part of the Frankford community, and his clients became his friends, stopping by the shop at 4:00pm for “Heineken Hour”. He never advertised – a testament to him as a person and the quality of his work. He remembered everything about his customers, from their kids names to the types of furniture they bought.

Since taking over the reins for her father, Rebecca’s learned a lot about running a small business and how difficult – as well as fun and rewarding – it can be. Most importantly, she’s developed a passion for furniture she didn’t know she had. She started out her career working with animals, but has since developed a true love for interior design and a quality piece. She’s taking interior design courses, and in the years to come hopes to incorporate that new element in to the business. And, like her father, the people are her favorite part of working in Frankford.

Rebecca and her partner in crime, Chuck, are here for the long haul. They’re open from 10:00a to 6:00p Monday through Saturday, and offer flexible lifetime lay-aways as well as carpet installation. So stop on by and take the time to chat with Rebecca and Chuck – and ask them about Neil.

 

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Another Day, Another Round of CDC Events

The Frankford CDC just can’t stand sitting still, so on Tuesday we held not one, but two, business spotlight events. We started our day at Frankford High School, where we teamed up with the Student Success Center to hold a round table discussion focused on owning your own food business. The panel consisted of three women entrepreneurs based here in Frankford, Lily Fischer of A Cupcake Wonderland, Tegan Hagy of Philly LoveBar, and Therice Denby of Denby’s Sweet Sensations (4428 Frankford Ave). All shared great insight in to the hard work involved in being a small business owner, their decision making processes, and where they see their businesses headed in the next few years. As always, the Frankford High School students were wonderful, and asked some great questions!

In the afternoon, we headed over to Aria’s Frankford Campus for our first Business Spotlight Day. As you may remember, Aria and the Frankford CDC are launching a new program whereby four Frankford businesses, four times a year, set up a table for an afternoon in Aria’s cafeteria and get to know Aria staff who might not ordinarily find themselves shopping on the Ave. We had a great time speaking with Aria’s dedicated staff, and think some great connections were forged!

Stay tuned for more information about coming events, and for details about how to get involved! And if you have an idea for a business support event, we’d love to hear from you! Just call our offices at 215-743-6580.

 

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Frankford CDC Brings Expert Architect and Planner to the Ave

Good design is a crucial part of a successful business and a thriving business district. That is why we were thrilled to bring design and architecture expert Kathleen Lambert directly to our business corridor this past Tuesday. Ms. Lambert, who has over 20 years of experience in architecture and planning, spent an hour with each participating business, discussing everything from interior design guaranteed to bring more customers in to the shop to facade changes intended to create a safer, more welcoming main street.

Ms. Lambert’s visit is just another in our on-going series of business development events. Over the past year, the Frankford CDC has held individualized counseling sessions with SCORE, Third Federal Bank, and the Small Business Administration, and we have ever intention of continuing to bring the experts right here to our community. The CDC believes that facilitating these opportunities for our business owners, and bringing resources right here to Frankford, is a critical part of our job.

We hope that Ms. Lambert will join us again, though we realize that the CDC and our partners on the Avenue now have the hard job: following up on all of her excellent recommendations!

If you’re interested in making an appointment with Ms. Lambert, please contact the CDC at 215-743-6580.