Meet Rebecca! The woman who is bringing ethically sourced products to you and your family.
Bio
Meet Rebecca! Rebecca grew up in the PA suburbs and has been living in Philadelphia for the last 20 years. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art with a double major in Art History and Photography. Rebecca worked in a number of art institutions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, for 15 years before opening Minnow Lane.
Origin Story
Rebecca never had plans of opening up her own small retail business. In 2013, she was expecting her first child and started researching baby products that held up to the same ethical, sustainable, and health standards as the products she would buy for herself. It wasn’t long before she realized those products were considerably hard to come by for children. She found herself digging extensively online because there weren’t many physical stores that carried those products.
Flash forward to early 2015. When her child was about 18 months old, she started thinking seriously about the need for a local neighborhood brick and mortar shop specializing in eco-friendly baby and parenting products. She teamed up with her business partner, Rita Greiman, wrote a business plan, signed a lease, ordered inventory, and opened 6 months later in September 2015. “I felt called to create a space that provides for my Fishtown community, just as I would my own family, with all natural, earth-friendly, socially conscious, toys and products made with toxin free, renewable and reusable materials.”
Minnow Lane is one of the only providers in the area of a wide variety of ethically sourced, sustainable, and non toxic developmental toys, clothing, and nurturing products for children and young families. Not only does Minnow Lane function as a retail store- -the shop also holds a number of recurring classes and workshops for new and expecting parents. Classes include infant/child CPR training, Breastfeeding 101, Childbirth Preparation, Infant Care, child development classes, and much more. The shop has a back area (outfitted with sofas and a kitchen) open to the community for weekly local parent meet-ups, or for a place to just relax when passing through with their children.
Roses and Thorns
Since opening, the shop has grown significantly over the last six years…much like the neighborhood! Rebecca has gotten to know many new families and has even established strong personal friendships with many of them. In addition to being able to promote her mission for more sustainable, earth friendly products, her favorite part of the business are those relationships with customers and neighbors.
Although Minnow Lane has an online shop where everything is immediately available (for pick up or ships out same day), Rebecca faces difficulties when it comes to online competition and the perception of instant gratification. Because of this, she works hard to special order anything that might not be in the shop at a given moment in hopes that people will continue to see the value in supporting a small neighborhood business.
2029 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125
(215) 291-1875
https://minnowlane.com
@minnowlane
