November 16, 2022
Provided image/MIKE PRINCE
Kismet Bagels is expanding, opening a new store in Rittenhouse at 1700 Samson St. and will be selling bialys at Reading Terminal Market. Pictured above are Alexandra (left) and Jacob Cohen.
Business is booming for the husband-and-wife duo who own Kismet Bagels.
Alexandra and Jacob Cohen are on the verge of expanding their business for the second time in 2022 with a new storefront in Rittenhouse. The shop which opened its first brick-and-mortar location earlier this year in Fishtown, will open a second store at 1700 Sansom St. in December.
Kismet Bagels is taking over the 600-square-foot space formerly occupied by Sip-N-Glo Juicery and Green and Grains. Like the Fishtown location, the store will operate Tuesdays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. or whenever they sell out. They store is takeout only.
"It's been a crazy two years, especially the last several months since we opened in Fishtown," Jacob said, "but we're excited for this next step, and we are ready to open in Center City, where there is a ton of foot traffic. While we love being represented in different parts of the city with our wholesale operations, being able to now have a shop in both Fishtown and Rittenhouse means we achieve another huge milestone of ours."
The menu at the store will include bagels, bagel sandwiches, potato latkes and coffee from Moonraker Coffee Roasters in Kensington.
The expansion to storefronts follows a 700% increase in sales following multiple successful partnered events.
During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Cohens began baking bread after their jobs were put on hold. That hobby turned into a craving for bagels. Eventually, their recipes became a hit, so much so that the couple began selling bagels to friends and family After that they began participating in pop-up events in 2021.
Back in April, Kismet estimated it produced nearly 17,000 bagels and 500 pounds of cream cheese a week.
Besides its current store and future store, Kismet's bagels and schmears are sold at retailers like, DiBruno Bros, Riverwards Produce, The Rounds, OCF Coffee, and local farmers' markets. You can order their bagels on the third-party delivery service GoPuff, as well.
The Cohens are also on the verge of opening a stall inside Reading Terminal in December, where they will sell bialys, a kind of bread roll resembling a bagel that, instead of a hole in the middle, have a indentation at the center packed with cooked onions or poppy seeds.
"Between the Reading Terminal Market bialy stand and this new location, we aim to serve as much of Philly as possible," Alexandra said. "We have more big goals on the horizon, but we're grateful for this opportunity and the ability to reach more and more people in our city."
