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Immigrant Marché opens a holiday pop-up in Center City Philadelphia

Immigrant Marché opens a holiday pop-up in Center City Philadelphia

Money Moves Philadelphia, PA local

The Welcoming Center's market program pairs immigrant-made goods with a banned-books selection from Making Worlds, as organizers search for a permanent storefront

Yesterday: WHYY profiles the Arch Street pop-up

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Immigrant Marché opened a holiday pop-up at 1218 Arch Street in late October, its second Center City storefront this year. The shop sells handmade goods from immigrant-owned businesses alongside a curated book selection from Making Worlds, a West Philadelphia cooperative that closed its physical store in December 2025.

The storefront is the retail arm of a Welcoming Center program launched in 2024 that coaches immigrant entrepreneurs on planning, lending and scaling. A pop-up gives them shelf space without a lease. Organizers are now looking for a permanent home.

Why it matters

A storefront lease is the most expensive first step for a new business owner. This program tests whether shared retail space can lower it.

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Key Indicators

2
Center City pop-up storefronts opened in 2026
The Arch Street shop follows a summer storefront at 11th and Ludlow streets.
~250
Entrepreneurs served by a city-supported Welcoming Center program last year
Philadelphia's acting commerce director cited the figure at the October 30 ribbon-cutting.
0
Permanent Immigrant Marché storefronts
Both retail spaces so far have been temporary; organizers want a year-round location.

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People Involved

LT
Layla El Tannir
Director of entrepreneurship and Immigrant Marché, The Welcoming Center
Running the Arch Street pop-up through December
 Anuj Gupta
Anuj Gupta
President and chief executive, The Welcoming Center
Leads the nonprofit that runs Immigrant Marché
YL
Yuli Marcela Vinces Lopez
Co-founder, ArtesinA
Selling jewelry and bags at the Arch Street pop-up
MK
Malav Kanuga
Co-founder, Making Worlds Bookstore
Curating the book selection at the pop-up
CE
Charlie Elison
Director, Philadelphia Office of Immigrant Affairs
City liaison to immigrant business owners

Organizations Involved

The Welcoming Center
The Welcoming Center
Nonprofit economic development organization
Runs Immigrant Marché and the Arch Street pop-up

Philadelphia nonprofit that helps foreign-born residents start and grow businesses.
MW
Making Worlds Bookstore
Nonprofit cooperative bookstore
Curates the book section at the pop-up; no physical store since December 2025

West Philadelphia cooperative bookstore that closed its storefront in December 2025.
PO
Philadelphia Office of Immigrant Affairs
City government office
Supports immigrant business owners; partners with The Welcoming Center

City office that coordinates services for Philadelphia's foreign-born residents.

Timeline

2020 November 2026

7 events Latest: Yesterday
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. WHYY profiles the Arch Street pop-up

    Latest Report

    WHYY reports the vendor lineup and a run through the end of December.

  2. Ribbon cut at 1218 Arch Street

    Retail

    Second pop-up opens inside the Center for Architecture and Design.

  3. First pop-up opens at 11th and Ludlow

    Retail

    A temporary storefront fills space freed when demolition work paused.

  4. Making Worlds closes its West Philadelphia storefront

    Business

    The cooperative gives up its brick-and-mortar shop.

  5. Welcoming Center launches Immigrant Marché

    Program

    The program begins placing immigrant-owned vendors in existing Philadelphia markets.

  6. ArtesinA founded by a Colombian couple

    Business

    Yuli Marcela Vinces Lopez and Andrés Felipe Muñoz start making handmade accessories.

  7. Making Worlds opens in West Philadelphia

    Business

    The cooperative bookstore and social center begins operating.

Scenarios

1

Welcoming Center secures a permanent Immigrant Marché storefront

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Layla El Tannir, The Welcoming Center

El Tannir has described both pop-ups as building blocks toward a permanent space, which she aimed to secure within a year. A year-round lease would let the program host a rotating group of vendors beyond the holiday season and give first-time business owners a fixed address to test longer commitments.

2

Pop-up closes in December and the program stays seasonal

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Implications of the current pop-up timeline reported by WHYY and PhillyVoice

The store is scheduled to close at the end of December, and no successor space has been announced. If the permanent lease does not come together, Immigrant Marché would go back to placing vendors at Christmas Village, Reading Terminal Market and short-run events, with no fixed storefront of its own.

3

Making Worlds and the Welcoming Center extend their partnership past the holidays

Uncertain Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Malav Kanuga and Anuj Gupta, both quoted at the October 30 opening

Making Worlds has had no physical store since December 2025, and the pop-up gives its curated selection a temporary home. If the partnership sells well, the two organizations could keep a joint book section running elsewhere, giving the cooperative a retail outlet without carrying a full lease.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1893

Reading Terminal Market opens (1893)

Philadelphia opened an indoor market where vendors could rent a stall instead of a storefront. The model spread the cost of a commercial address across dozens of small sellers, many of them immigrant-run food businesses.

Then

The market gave small vendors a downtown selling floor without a downtown lease.

Now

It remained a low-barrier entry point for food entrepreneurs and is now one of the stops where Immigrant Marché places its vendors.

Why this matters now

The Arch Street pop-up follows the same logic: share a retail space so a first-time seller does not have to sign a lease alone.

December 2025

Making Worlds closes its West Philadelphia storefront (2025)

The cooperative bookstore founded in 2020 gave up its physical location in West Philadelphia, leaving it without a retail address.

Then

The shop's books were left without a storefront in the city.

Now

The co-op returned to physical retail through the Immigrant Marché pop-up, sharing space rather than leasing its own.

Why this matters now

The partnership shows how a shared storefront can put a closed shop back in front of customers, which is the same thing the program offers immigrant entrepreneurs.

Sources

(3)
WHYY PHILADELPHIA.Today PhillyVoice