Holiday Gift Guide: The ride down to Africatown
Fabrics, fashion, books, beads and more. Here's why the T4, still known to many as the 11, as the perfect route to pull together a holiday care package.
The gentle sway of the Route 11 trolley, recently renamed the T4, can put you in a trance. Maybe your feet dangle and sway if you’re sitting in the back. Maybe your body tilts with the trolley car as it turns a corner. Suddenly, you remember you haven’t gotten anyone a gift for holidays yet but fear not, Woodland Avenue has something for everyone in your blood or chosen family.
Route 11 is one of the last tracked trolleys in Philadelphia. The line runs under 13th and Market streets, and once it leaves the trolley tunnel, it travels down Woodland Avenue. It finishes its route by crossing Cobbs Creek and pulling into the Darby Transportation Center in Delco.
Black Philadelphia has a long history with trolleys: from Octavius Catto’s fight to desegregate the trolley cars in the late 1800s to Black Philadelphians standing up for their rights amid one of the largest labor strikes after white railcar workers staged a racist sickout in protest of newly hired Black trolley conductors.
That history continues today, where along Woodland Avenue, the trolley rides on in the face of the transit funding crisis, passing through a bustling community of Liberian, Senegalese and other African-owned businesses.
This corridor is full of colorful waistbeads, intricate African cloths, shea butter, African net sponges, and many more goods from the motherland that are prime for your holiday shopping lists. Prior to the 1990s, the shopping epicenter located in the Kingsessing neighborhood was home mostly to African Americans and mostly residential.
But the late ’90s would usher in a boom of African immigrants in the neighborhood which gave way to the Southwest we know today. Both the African and African American communities along Woodland Avenue include significant Muslim communities.
Along Route 11, shopping typically begins around 61st Street and Woodland Avenue, but please note, our recommendations begin at 56th.
Patricia Designs
Address: 5603 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Patricia Designs is a Beninese and woman-owned African Clothing Boutique where customers can buy African fabric, waist beads, and jewelry. The shop opened in Africatown about four months ago after relocating from Upper Darby. Fabrics and beads in stock hail from Benin, as well as Togo and Nigeria. Customers can buy six yards of fabric from the store starting at $25 for six yards. You’ll also find Kente cloth bags from Kenya starting at $50, jewelry starting at $35, and waistbeads starting at $5.
Left: African fabrics from Benin, Togo, and Nigeria tucked into cubbies at Patricia Designs. Right: Detail of a green head scarf wrapped at Patricia Designs. Credit: Holli Stephens for The Philly Download
Da Basement
Address: 6109 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Da Basement is an African-American and Muslim-Owned streetwear clothing store located along the 11 or T4 trolley route. When customers enter the store they can expect to be greeted by shop manager Shahid Armstead. Armstead initially began selling oils on a table on 52nd street and got introduced to fashion through a friend. Their top sellers are typically their colored tracksuits which start at $75.
“We want to make it a Black November,” said Armstead, “We have deals in the store right now anywhere from 25-60 percent off.”
They claim deals are not just for the holidays but consistently have deals year round. The store currently has sales racks with deals starting at $15 for name brand apparel and graphic tees. They are open all year and closed for all Islamic holidays.
Left: Window display Da Basement Right: A local shopper walks by Da Basement, an African-American and Muslim-Owned streetwear clothing store on Woodland Avenue. Credit: Parikha Solanki for The Philly Download
Kareemah’s Urban Books
Address: 6307 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Kareemah’s Urban Books is an African American, Woman, and Muslim-Owned Bookstore along 63rd and Woodland. When customers enter the store they will be greeted by Kareemah Mathis herself. She is most known for urban books but she also sells children' s books and books by notable Black revolutionaries like Malcolm X, and Angela Davis. Mathis is also authorized to send books to prisons.
Left: Abayas, which are loose fitting dresses, are on display at High Class Beauty. Right: Different wigs on display at High Class Beauty, a Liberian, Woman, and Muslim-owned boutique in the Africatown neighborhood. Credit: Holli Stephens for The Philly Download
High Class Beauty
Address: 6404 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM, Closed on Major Holidays
High Class Beauty is a Liberian, Woman, and Muslim-owned boutique. Shopkeeper and owner Makula Soumaro, has owned this store for 11 years. Soumaro sells jewelry, perfume, and abayas, which is a loose fitting garment for Muslimahs. She has jewelry as affordable as $1, but abayas can start at $20. When asked why she chose to open her store she said, “I wanted to live a better life.”
Benegelema and Siri Bana African Market
Address: 6507 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Benegelema and Siri Bana African Market is an Ivorian-owned African Clothing Market and Grocery Store. African cloths from Senegal and Ivory Coast start at $25 for six yards. The market sources its wares from the motherland directly, as its ownership travels to Africa to curate their offerings in person. Shoppers will also find jewelry from Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, which starts at $35.
Left: A shopkeeper arranges beads and bracelets at Benegelema and Siri Bana African Market. Right: Handmade pottery at the Ivorian-owned African clothing and grocery store on Woodland Ave in the Africatown neighborhood. Credit: Parikha Solanki for The Philly Download.
Uncle Musa’s Grocery
Address: 6523 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Uncle Musa’s Grocery is a Liberian and Muslim-owned Grocery store. Upon arrival customers may run into store owner Musa Barry. He sells African food staples like Fanti Bread, canned palm concentrate and frozen meats. He also sells household items like African Black soap for $5 a bar, 16 ounce container of shea butter for $5 and the 32 ounce container for $6, and large African net sponges for $7. The Philly Download recommends gifting someone an African care package with a brand new net sponge, black soap, shea butter. Owner Musa Barry opened his store on Woodland Avenue 22 years ago, making his store one of the first commercial businesses on Woodland Avenue.
“I didn’t want to work for anyone,” said Barry, “ When I was in Liberia I worked for myself, so in America, I wanted to do the same.”
Barry is also the president of the Woodland Avenue Business Association. He has another location in Upper Darby, where there is also a large African immigrant community. He claims his Woodland Avenue location is never closed, not even for holidays.
Laalahmehdab International Markets
Address: 6536 Woodland Avenue
Hours: Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Laalahmedab International Markets is a Sierra Leonean, woman, and Muslim-owned business. Fabric from Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal starts at $25 for six yards. Laalahmehdab, which opened in December 2024, offers dress-making and tailoring in-house, welcoming shoppers to select their fabrics and pick their desired outfit for a custom look. Pro tip: If shopping for children, their clothing for kids makes for a wonderful gift option.
Left: A mural in the Africatown neighborhood. Center: Beads at Benegelema and Siri Bana African Market. Right: Flags featuring the Africatown neighborhood and Haiti along Woodland Avenue. Credit: Parikha Solanki for The Philly Download
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Deesarine Ballayan
Deesarine Ballayan is a Liberian-American freelance journalist from and based in Philadelphia. Her work is featured in the Germantown Info Hub, the Logan Center, CSIS, The Philadelphia Citizen, and Billy Penn @ WHYY.
