I’ve previously posted about my favourite ice cream shops in Philadelphia, but there’s a ton of other great little shops to visit. Here’s a few that I’ve really liked, sorted into two categories: used bookstores and vintage/oddities. I’ve excluded all food places, including coffeeshops, roasteries, bakeries, dessert shops, grocers, markets, food trucks, and so on, because there are just too many of them.
I love [a] little shop.
Used Bookstores
Giovanni’s Room
Washington Square — 345 S 12th Street
One of Philly’s largest and oldest queer bookstores!
They carry both used books and a lot of new queer fiction,
as well as some secondhand clothing and other miscellany.
Wooden Shoe Books
South Street — 704 South Street
A small volunteer-run leftist anarchist bookstore.
They have a lot of leftist materials you wouldn’t see elsewhere and a lot of zines.
Mostly Books
Queen Village — 529 Bainbridge Street
With an unassuming storefront,
they have a HUGE two-storey warehouse of books in the back.
This is probably the largest used bookstore in Philly.
Molly’s Books and Records
Bella Vista — 1010 S 9th Street
What can I say?
It’s a small bookstore with records (or a record store with books) and good vibes.
Neighborhood Books
Graduate Hospital — 1906 South Street
A cosy bookstore with lots of well-organized fiction upstairs and graphic novels downstairs.
Book Corner
Logan Square — 311 N 20th Street
A used bookstore I think associated with the public libraries of Philly.
The Last Word Bookshop
University City — 220 S 40th Street
The nearest used bookstore to campus, which is super convenient for me.
Sometimes there’s a bookstore cat hanging around!
Open surprisingly late.
House of Our Own Books
University City — 3920 Spruce Street
A Victorian rowhouse turned used bookstore with teetering towers of books.
The fiction selection upstairs is very large and tends to be older and more literary.
The Book Trader
Old City — 7 N 2nd Street
A true labyrinth of a bookstore, with a similarly large and old collection of fiction upstairs.
They also have a lovely bookstore cat!
Bindlestiff Books
Spruce Hill — 4530 Baltimore Avenue
Just a quaint little bookstore, what more could you ask for?
Vintage, Thrift, and Oddities
South Street Art Mart
South Street – 530 S 4th Street
A very cool shop full of local art!
They’ve got zines, stickers, pins, keychains, cards, prints, clothes, and so on.
Little Devils Curiosities
Fishtown – 2158 E Dauphin Street
Imagine goth meets vintage.
You’ll find jewellery and trinkets of that aesthetic, spiders and skulls and sigils,
and some amazing taxidermy pieces too.
This shop is now closed 😔
Thunderbird Salvage
East Kensington — 2441 Frankford Avenue
A large vintage thrift store packed with everything from clothes to books to furniture.
A real treasurehunt of a shop.
Raxx Vintage Emporium
South Street – 534 South Street
High quality, curated vintage clothing and other oddities.
Note that they very much emphasize not being a thrift store!
A Four Foot Prune
Old City – 142 North 2nd Street
Less clothing but a wider range of cute vintageware,
including toys and household goods.
Jinxed
Fishtown; Spruce Hill; Graduate Hospital
Similar to A Four Foot Prune,
there’s three locations of antique furniture, houseware, and trinkets.
Philly AIDS Thrift
South Street – 710 S 5th Street
Sister store to Giovanni’s Room,
with a larger selection of clothing and houseware,
and a decent amount of books as well.
Buffalo Exchange
Centre City – 1520 Chestnut Street
A more traditional thrift clothing store with racks and racks and racks of clothes.
Safa Plant Co.
Manayunk – 4165 Main Street
A combination plant store and teashop.
Yes I know I said I wouldn’t include any food places but this place is really cute and I couldn’t not.