South Street Beat

South Street Off Center

South Street Headhouse District’s new headquarters, located in the iconic Zipperhead building, connects the Street’s past, present, and future.

By Austin Benning Photographs by Shannon Pepe for Philly PR Girl

Zippers are points of action. They are the nexus of the fabric world, joining two sides with a toothy smile or releasing opposite pieces with a metallic sigh. They offer flexibility, openness, and a more unified approach than an old-timey button. So it’s fitting that South Street’s most famous zipper, fixed to the facade of the once-iconic Zipperhead building, is now South Street Off Center, the new headquarters for the the South Street HeadHouse District (SSHD), Philadelphia’s second-largest Business Improvement District (BID).

“Our main goal is to connect the dots between present and future,” says Rick Millan, the owner of the 80s’ counterculture shop and now SSHD board chairman. Next to him in the Off Center’s flexible gallery space sits Mike Harris, longtime SSHD executive director. They each speak to the vision of this new headquarters, its placement, and their hopes to create a greater point of access for the community. Harris points to the 300 years of rich cultural fabric sewn by Eastern European immigrants, Black communities, hippies, punks, and the many proud people who can claim a piece of the South Street story.

“It’s a difficult line to walk,” says Millan, looking up from his glasses. His message is clear. Restyling a counterculture mecca into the storefront for a BID, even one for whose board he is now chairman, comes with a sense of a conflicted identity. One may liken it to seeing Keith Richards at the opera or Alice Cooper hosting a charity golf tournament. But like most things on South Street, this is a welcome complexity. Making a space open to all those who share its history takes time, effort, and thought. And one can’t help but feel the effort as the final touches are made before “The Unzippering” launch party.

The space is getting its last look before the doors open when the team would love for you to stop by. When you do visit, the one likely holding the door will be Dana Feinberg, longtime Queen Village resident and the Off Center’s relationship and program manager. For the uniniti-

At the launch party, Rick Millan, SSHD board chair and former Zipperhead owner, unzips the Off Center door as SSHD executive director Mike Harris and SSHD relationship and program manager Dana Feinberg look on.

It was Standing Room Only when the neighbors came out to celebrate the “Unzippering.”.

ated, South Street Headhouse District, like other BID offices, supports municipal services and assists in business development and connections between the district’s landlords and businesses, including prospective ones.

So what does all that mean? Feinberg explains that SSHD fields questions and concerns about regulations, assists with funding for security, keeps the streets and sidewalks free of litter, and often helps businesses with events. For example, a Passion 101 Class, hosted by the Passional Boutique & Sexploratorium, was held at Off Center. When Jim’s Steaks had its tragic fire, the Off Center acted as a home base to plan next steps. Its team helped orchestrate South Street Fest, an open-air celebration for the purveyors and lovers of food, crafts, and nostalgia. Many of the murals seen around the district were commissioned by the SSHD board. Many non-commissioned murals (read, graffiti), stickers, and signs have also been removed at their direction.

And while there are more bureaucratic duties, they hardly tell the story of a place brimming with intention and ambition. Inside, Feinberg will happily show off the community cork boards and the plans for an interactive way-finding guide for newcomers, which will be right next to the welcome desk where large prints from South Street’s past and present will hang. Around the corner, passing through a muraled archway is a gallery and meeting space for the community.

This vision was built from inside and out, with members of the district helping to sculpt the space. The Off Center space was designed by Sabrena Wishart, an interior designer whose business, Worm’s Emporiums, is located right around the corner. Duncan Brittin of Eyes Gallery sourced the aforementioned prints from historical archives and sifted through the Zipperhead ephemera lining the gallery space. Even “The Nicoles,” owners of the South Street Art Mart, stopped by on my visit to drop off a Ghostbusters-themed Halloween card. Creating the Off Center has been a neighborhood effort, and its central storefront access feels indispensable. But that’s not how it always was.

The old office was located in the Headhouse Shambles at 2nd and Pine, above the location of the weekend Farmers Market. One had to venture up an 18th-century corkscrew stairway to take a meeting. It was far from the center, which is why the new location stands as such a bold statement. This is a place aimed at a 21st-century sensibility, made to welcome those who see South Street as the destination it is—a place where sneaker shops and vintage boutiques now reign supreme, a street open for strolling on the weekend, a mecca open to neighbors, families, tourists, partiers, sports fans, live music fans, cheesesteak-line waiters, and those looking for the latest threads or unique gifts.

“I very much feel folks look for that unique experience when they come here [to South Street]. Every nook and cranny has texture, has something unexpected, from Isaiah Zagar to a candle and seltzer bar at Loomen Labs,” says Feinberg. “When people say, ‘It’s not how I remember it.’ Of course it isn’t!” For Feinberg, South Street has always been a place for the present moment—whether as a

The current exhibition, Keep an Open Mind, features a blast from the Zipperhead past.

Millan with Councilmember Mark Squilla and SSHD executive director Mike Harris at the official opening. weekend watering hole in the 18th century or a place for Eastern European immigrants to hock tailored fabrics from their windows and wooden carts. She wants to support the rich and ever-changing looks on South Street. “People don’t want a mall, she says. “It’s why vintage has thrived here. They want local soaps. They want those interesting stickers, that T-shirt you can only buy here. They want to connect to this community.”

But supporting a place defined by a changing identity poses an interesting challenge. Harris, Feinberg, and the board must find ways to balance the demands of new business ventures against the many—sometimes mercurial—needs of those who own the spaces. When Neighborhood Ramen was looking for an additional location in the district, the SSHD board connected them with a partner who understood the vision of bespoke noodles. When storefronts lay vacant, the board pushed for artists to have displays in the windows—a longstanding South Street tradition. Serving stakeholders, business owners, patrons, and residents takes patience, touch, and, most of all, a singular belief in what a place can be.

South Street was always a refuge for those who don’t quite fit the norm, for those a bit off center. So for Feinberg, Wishart, Millan, Harris, Brittin, and all those pitching in, SSHD’s home base Off Center was created with open doors, ready for new ideas and every variety of human. That’s not just some high-minded ideal; for SSHD, it’s a South Street tradition they’ve chosen to embrace. If you walk by 407 South Street, you will see an old wooden cart in a window next to a liquid latex mask featuring exposed brains from an open zipper. It’s all history—all teeth joining together to connect a single story. And those at the Off Center, staff and neighbors alike, hope you’ll stop by and help imagine its future. ■

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