High Point Expansion Becomes Official

After several months of consternation and speculation High Point Café officially announced that it will be opening a whole sale bakery and coffee operation at 6700 Germantown Ave. 

High Point Café was in talks to move into the location after plans to build a Wingstop franchise at that location fell through.

The approximately 3,300 sq. ft. space will feature two separate baking kitchens, one gluten-free, and an area for coffee roasting and tasting.

“Our kitchen is less than 100 square feet,” High Point Owner Meg Hagele said.  “We have to make 300-500 pastries for our two locations out of there.”

“We’re the kind of place that makes all our own stuff.  We make our own chocolate sauce.  We make our own simple syrup for our ice tea,” Hagele said.

When High Point started getting requests from other bakeries and cafes to sell their goods, Hagele had to say no.

They just didn’t have the space.

The new, larger kitchen at 6700 Germantown will allow High Point Café to supply both retail locations and meet the demand for wholesale baked goods.  

MT. Airy USA’s Executive Director Anuj Gupta said, “We are proud to be partnering with High Point to help them grow their business.  Not only will they put a longstanding vacant building back into productive use, and create jobs in the process, but they will be growing a terrific, local socially conscious business that is doing the right thing for their community, customers and employees.”

Mt. Airy USA owns the building High Point will be moving into, and they are using a $150,000 grant from the Philadelphia Commerce Department’s Neighborhood Economic Development program to renovate the space.

The new High Point bakery operation will also be run by local Amy Kunkle, formerly of Food for All, a specialty gluten-free grocer and café that recently closed down.

Amy’s general baking expertise is supplemented by her exceptional knowledge of gluten-free baking, allowing High Point Café to offer quality gluten-free goods to their customers. Their second gluten-free kitchen will be completely sealed from their general kitchen, complete with air filtration to ensure that their gluten-free offerings never touch gluten.

According to Brad Copeland, Mt. Airy USA’s Director of Real Estate Development, the project will include approximately 2,000 sq. ft of small business incubation space in the basement. 

Copeland said, “This project is a critical part of our overall goal to re-energize a section of Germantown Avenue that is blighted and largely vacant right now.  Additionally, we are going to be able to provide really high –quality, affordable rental space for entrepreneurs to start or grow businesses right here in their neighborhood.  They won’t have to go to Center City to find this kind of space.”