After more than a year’s wait amidst a saturated coffee market in West Philly, a Kensington coffee shop, ReAnimator Coffee, is indeed expanding into Garden Court on the 4700 block of Pine Street. With a planned opening in mid-November, ReAnimator will join the ranks of independent coffee shops like The Satellite Cafe, Coffee Market, Green Line Cafe, Milk and Honey, United by Blue and others. ReAnimator Coffee’s new location will be based out of Garden Court Plaza apartments, a complex that was recently acquired by the Post Brothers.

ReAnimator co-founder Mark Capriotti and his business partner Mark Corpus both believe that the area calls for a brick and mortar shop because bulk coffee bean sales have been doing well at ReAnimator supplier Mariposa Food Co-op; they both also believe they have something new to introduce to the area. 

“We have a lot of loyal customers out there. We personally feel like our style of coffee is underrepresented in West Philly,” said Capriotti. “The lighter roast focused on inherent taste and quality of the coffee itself. Single origin coffee… rather than dark roast espresso-based drinks; which is fine, but stuff is covering up what is supposed to be a naturally occurring sweet and acidic beverage.”

But why open a store in that building in particular? The cofounders also run Café Ipsa in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, which is also in a Post Brothers-owned building. With an expansion already in mind, it made sense that the two business owners continue their working relationship with their current landlord.

The new shop will offer a more expanded menu with croissant and bagels offerings. “We wanted to have a little more interesting food options and branch out from what we’re doing right now,” said Capriotti.

Expected business hours post-opening are 7 a.m. – 6.p.m on weekdays and 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. on weekends, but hours will be subject to change based on initial customer feedback.

To learn more about ReAnimator Coffee, go to their website or Facebook page.

– Rana Fayez