January 03, 2022
Google Maps/Street View
Riverwards Produce opened its first location at an old fire station in Fishtown, shown above, in the summer of 2016. The business now plans to expand to a second location in Old City.
Fishtown grocer Riverwards Produce celebrated the new year by revealing plans to expand this spring to a location in Old City.
Owner Vincent Finazzo shared the news on Facebook with a photo of skylights at the upcoming location, whose address he has not yet revealed. Finazzo indicated that the new wholesale market will be an adaptive reuse project.
Heres to looking up for 2022. The ceiling at the new market is beautiful and baths the space in rich light....
Posted by Riverwards Produce on Saturday, January 1, 2022
"I never want to open a market in new construction," Finazzo wrote in the post. "There is something about saving a space and breathing new life into it that just feels intrinsic to what a market is. The new Riverwards is being restored meticulously and historically registered so that it can be enjoyed by the public for years to come."
The market also shared a picture of the interior of the new space.
The story is not over, it’s just getting started. RWP2 opening spring 2022. I can’t wait to show you what we have been up to. ✌🏻🌱
Posted by Riverwards Produce on Friday, December 31, 2021
Riverwards Produce began as a series of pop-ups at a Fishtown garage in 2016. The business quickly caught on in the neighborhood by offering fresh, locally-sourced produce – including the ugly ducklings that don't make it to bigger markets – and moved into an old corner fire house at 2200 E. Norris St. that July.
The market now sells to both residents and local restaurants and stocks products from a number of local businesses. It has streamlined its wholesale business in recent years to emphasize sustainable relationships with local farmers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The planned expansion to Old City comes even as Finazzo and other Philadelphia grocers navigate ongoing supply chain issues that have disrupted the pipeline of materials used to package various products.
Finazzo reflected on the daunting process of opening the Fishtown market inside a space that had been in disrepair for years prior to its transformation.
"When I first laid eyes on what is now our market my gut reaction was, no way, its too big. Something about the space left this spark with me and just knew I had to make it a market," Finazzo wrote in a Dec. 30 post. "The space that was once too small now is perfectly packed with as much fresh goodness as we can fit."
An opening date for the new location in Old City has not yet been determined.
