The Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia has been without a full-scale market for over 30 years — but that changed this year. Riverwards Produce, the small-batch grocery store based in Philadelphia, opened a new location in the Old City neighborhood in late March to service local customers.
“I am passionate about providing local, fresh produce and products for the community so that our customers can create good, nourishing, complete meals with the ingredients that they find in our market,” founder and owner of Riverwards Produce Vincent Finazzo said in a statement. “When customers come to Riverwards, we encourage them to ‘unplug,’ check out our quality product offerings, talk to our trained staff about how to incorporate new ingredients into their meals and truly enjoy their shopping experience.”
The location, at 146 Bread Street, is the store’s second Philadelphia location after its Fishtown neighborhood store. The market will offer fresh, local produce, meats, breads, a bulk section full of nuts and grains, cheeses, vegan products, grab-and-go meals, and, new to the Bread Street location, a made-to-order juice bar.
Riverwards Produce was founded in 2015 as a wholesale supplier for restaurants in the Philadelphia region. As demand for the produce grew, friends of Finazzo suggested he open a pop-up shop in Fishtown in a friend’s garage. That idea eventually morphed into the first location of Riverwards Produce, located in an old firehouse.
A big proponent of preserving local architecture, Finazzo chose a historic building in Old City for the second location, rehabbing it to its original glory rather than using all modern fixtures, similar to the first location.
Take a tour of the newest Riverwards location here.
