NextFab has announced plans to close its South Philadelphia location and consolidate resources into its North Philadelphia location by the end of the year, writes Sarah Huffman for Technical.ly.
According to NextFab’s director of marketing Rebecca Ledbetter, the goal is to better serve the artists and community in that neighborhood.
“After the pandemic and seeing the need and what the market needed, we realized that two larger Philadelphia locations just wasn’t as needed,” Ledbetter said. “We thought we could serve a better maker-entrepreneur community by combining into one big location.”
The North Philly space was selected over the South Philly one because of the partnerships it has with local businesses and the opportunities for educational programming.
The building’s modular layout is also equipped with jewelry and textile spaces that aren’t offered at the other location, making it the more ideal space for working on big projects.
According to Ledbetter, NextFab is planning to expand the number of private studio and office spaces at the North Philly location.
NextFab has about 600 members, with a larger community of artisans, creatives, and hobbyists coming from Kensington and Fishtown. The North Philly space is built to serve them better.
“We’re just really excited to serve more of a making community, [with] more educational programming out of that location,” Ledbetter said.
Read more about NextFab’s future in Technical.ly.
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