Dom Fixes Bikes
Photograph by Jeff Fusco You know all those articles you’ve seen about Kids Today, and how All They Do Is Mess Around Online? Dominick Pecora is the perfect antidote to that world of woe. Last year, the 16-year-old was honored as one of Time magazine’s “Kids of the Year” for the ingenious business he started back when he was just 10 and had his eye on a pricey mountain bike. He figured out how to repair bicycles via YouTube, then put his knowledge to work out of his parents’ house, then a rented garage, and finally the storefront known as Dom Fixes Bikes. He not only saved up enough dough for that bike he yearned for; with the help of sponsors and donations, he gave away 260 free bikes to local kids last year. “My bike represents a lot of freedom,” he told Time. “It’s like that for a lot of other people as well.” 393 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355, domfixesbikes.com.
Herman's
There’s something to be said about a tiny cafe and micro-roastery that can look a seething global pandemic right in the eye and not so much as flinch at the idea of going toe-to-toe with it. There’s even more to be said about the creativity it takes to completely transform, to wholly rebrand, to expand in ways nobody expects, at a time when fear and tragedy can be so debilitating. Herman’s did both. Owners Matt Falco and Amy Strauss were able to turn their converted-auto-repair-shop cafe into a pop-up hub for aspiring chefs and business owners in need of a home, a retail pop-up outlet for vintage brands and plant shops, and a boutique market with an enviable collection of imported pastas, tinned seafood, chocolates, and more food-things you never knew you ever wanted, let alone needed. When the pandemic forced so much of Philly to become less, Herman’s became more, for the neighborhood it’s in and for all of us who needed some inspiration, hope and delicious things in especially trying times. 1313 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, hermanscoffee.com.