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This Pride Month, show some love for the local LGBTQ community by shopping at these businesses around the Main Line area.
Happy Pride Month! Be an ally and support these locally-owned LGBTQ businesses in and around the Main Line. From gyms to bookstores, marketing agencies to candle makers, there’s a spot for everyone on this list.
Optimal Sport Health Club
Leave feelings of body insecurity behind at Optimal Sports Health Club. This LGBTQ-owned gym takes pride in zero-judgment gym culture. With one location in the Gayborhood in Philadelphia proper and another in Newtown that serves the Main Line, Optimal is the gym for anyone who wants to take care of their physical and mental health.
828 B Newtown Yardley Rd, Newtown
Philly Aids Thrift
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Philly AIDS Thrift isn’t just one of the top LGBTQ-friendly thrift shops in the Philadelphia area; it may be the top thrift store in Philadelphia. Stop here for anything from clothes to kitchenware to old electronics to board games, brooks, trinkets and so much more. This federally recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization distributes proceeds to local organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS and has raised over $4 million since its inception.
710 S 5th St, Philadelphia
Manayunk Chambers Guest House
Named Philadelphia’s Best B&B by TripAdvisor the past four years running, the Manayunk Chambers Guest House is a delight for all who stay. Mark Jerde and his husband, Neal Orzeck, have worked tirelessly to convert the Guest House from a church parsonage to one of the Main Line area’s top destinations. Known for its pastries whipped up by Jerde, a professional baker, the destinations boasts four rooms and prides itself on high-end hospitality.
168 Gay Street, Manayunk
Swiger Photography
Amanda Swiger and her wife, Jordan, started shooting weddings in 2011. Since then, they’ve worked with thousands of clients and hundreds more weddings. Whether Swiger is working with patrons build their dream wedding or creating branding on location, her mission to help individuals establish images that capture the “beautiful, authentic, badass version of yourself.”
Giovanni’s Room
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Named after a 1956 romance novel about homosexuality in Paris, Giovanni’s Room in the heart of the Gayborhood was founded in 1973 as one of America’s oldest LGBT-owned bookstores, emerging as a cultural refuge at the center of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. After closing briefly in 2014, Philly AIDS Thrift signed an agreement to become the proprietor of the business, securing the legacy of Giovanni’s Room for future generations.
345 S 12th St, Philadelphia
Valley Creek Productions
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A Best of the Main Line winner in 2023 for videography, Valley Creek Productions does top-tier work crafting videos for weddings, corporate events and promotional films across all the Main Line.
50 S. 1st Ave., Coatesville
Big Blue Marble Bookstore
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Owned by former Friends Select High School teacher and UPenn writing instructor Sheila Avelin, Big Blue Marble Bookstore stocks books covering a wide variety of interests from women-centered parenting to African American and Jewish studies, literary graphic novels, feminist science fiction, sustainable living and more.
551 Carpenter Ln, Mt. Airy
15 Minutes INC
Nancy Becker and Pam Derderian are pioneers in LGBT advertising. Thirty years ago, they joined forces to create 15 Minutes INC, a boutique marketing agency specializing in sports and entertainment marketing. They’ve worked with notable clients such as Martina Navratilova and Diana Nyad, the latter who completed her quest to swim from Cuba to Florida in 2013.
858 Hamilton Dr., Lafayette Hill
Lion’s Den Candle Company – products available at Christine Shirley Designs in Wayne
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Chemist Jacob Anthony had an idea during the depths of the pandemic. Attempting to create the perfect candles, he founded his business amid the COVID-19 crisis and has continued online and in retail stores since the world re-opened. Pouring each candle by hand, Anthony uses his chemist training to ensure the aroma of each product permeates the entire room even after the flame is extinguished. He and his husband, Tony, personally label, pack and ship the products, which can be purchased in-person at Christine Shirley Designs in Wayne.
104 E Lancaster Ave, Wayne
WPL Interior Design
Named the seventh-largest LGBTQ-owned business across the whole metro area according to Philadelphia Business Journal, WPL Interior Design specializes in high-end luxury homes. Now over 40 years old, its founders Walter Peterson, Steve Weixler and Marcello Luzi are a formidable trio, “integrating traditions of the past with an eye on the future.”
10 E. Athens Ave., Ardmore
Related: Local LGBTQ Teenagers Share Their Stories
