A gunpoint robbery of a business was reported over the weekend, a third commercial robbery in the area in the past week. A convenience store on S. 45th Street between Locust and Walnut, Philly Halal, was robbed on Saturday night, and shots were fired at the owner outside of the store when he tried to pursue the robber, according to police.

The business owner told police that an unknown male wearing a mask and armed with a handgun entered the store at 9 p.m. on Saturday and ordered the owner to get on the ground. He then went through the store and took phones, jewelry and cash, along with the owner’s wallet. Police say that the total of stolen goods exceeds $9,000.

After the robber left the store, the owner ran after him on foot north on 45th Street and then west on Walnut, where the suspect fired three shots. No injuries were reported.  Continue Reading

Shuttle buses will substitute all Route 11 and Route 36 trolleys west of 40th Street on Sunday, May 22 through 4 a.m. Monday, May 23 and Sunday, June 5 through 4 a.m. Monday, June 6. Route 11 bus substitution will be between Darby Transportation Center and 40th St. Portal, and Route 36 will have shuttle buses running between 80th St. and Eastwick Ave. and 40th St. Portal.

Passengers should transfer to Bus/Trolley at 40th St. Portal for service to/from Center City during this time.

The reason for this temporary trolley service interruption, which began last weekend, is an overhead wire maintenance and renewal project at 49th St. & Woodland Ave, according to SEPTA.

Police are looking for a male suspect who they say robbed a local restaurant at gunpoint on Sunday, May 15. The robbery took place shortly after midnight on Sunday when an unknown man, wearing a mask and armed with a handgun, entered the Falafel restaurant on the 4400 block of Chestnut and demanded money and phones from people inside. Police say four people were robbed inside the restaurant.

After taking cash and iPhones from the victims the suspect, described as a tall (6 feet 4 inches) black male wearing a blue jacket, gray pants and a black mask, fled toward Market Street. No one was injured in the robbery, according to police.

One cell phone was tracked by the victims to 400 Busti St. in the main driveway, however the suspect or phones were not located.  Continue Reading

UPDATE (5/20/2016): Police released surveillance video from the CVS store where the robbery took place:

(5/18/2016, 17:17 p.m.): Police are looking for the man who they say stole some items at CVS at 43rd and Locust and then pulled a gun at the store manager when he tried to stop him at the entrance door. The incident, which is classified as an armed robbery, happened on Sunday night, shortly after 8 p.m.

The manager told police that he had observed the suspect placing merchandise into a black drawstring bag, and then confronted him at the entrance door and tried to retrieve the items. The suspect then pulled out a small black handgun. After seeing the gun the manager backed off and the suspect fled the store on foot, according to police. The manager followed the suspect on Locust St. toward 44th. The suspect turned south on 44th Street and walked away. Police say the robber took a hair straightener and some other unknown merchandise from the store.  Continue Reading

Amazon has opened its first Pennsylvania physical site on the University of Pennsylvania campus, at 1920 Commons, 3800 Locust Walk. The facility, which is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 12 to 9 p.m. on weekends, can be used by Penn students and residents alike.

Amazon at Penn will offer more than two million items for same-day pickup for Amazon Student and Prime members and will also accept returns, according to a report by Philadelphia Business Journal.

When walking down South 40th Street over the weekend, we noticed a new sign in the window next door to The Green Line Cafe. A Taiwanese dessert shop is in the works for 32 S. 40th St., the storefront formerly occupied by Dr. Wyatt’s University Herbs. According to the Office of Licences and Inspections records, work is currently underway on the first floor of the three-story building, still owned by University Herbs, to re-fit the space for the new shop, which will include a non-commercial use kitchen and some seating (less than 20 seats).

The business owner, Xia Yang, lives in Chinatown, according to L & I records. We’ll post more information about this new shop when it becomes available.

And we hope that the store has a lot of this stuff when it opens.