About a year and a half ago, a store called Momoyo opened at the corner of 20th & Brandywine, specializing in bubble tea, fro yo, and oddly, dog treats. Then the business got closed down, ostensibly due to a zoning problem. They reopened in the spring, and installed some funky panels on the storefront, revealing some nice-looking old signage in the process.
We passed by last week, pondering a bubble tea, and discovered the store to be closed and the paneling removed. Now, the storefront looks like we suspect it did many years ago. Probably better, even.
The owners of the business tried to sell their establishment earlier this year for $150K before slashing the sale price to $65K. It seems they found no buyers are were forced to shut their doors. Does anyone in the neighborhood have any insight into what happened here? Was business just not strong enough to sustain the place? Did the paneling, or rather the violation due to the fact that it didn't fit into the context of the historic district, sink the business? Or is there something else going on here?
Whatever the cause, it seems like Spring Garden has a vacant storefront on its hands. We tried to look inside to see whether any equipment remained, but we couldn't tell. Either way, we hope that another operator steps into the space soon, bringing another amenity to the neighborhood. Just not another cafe, ok? For purely selfish reasons.