Sustainable Coffee Shop and Retail Store Coming to Campus

Thanks to a new store coming to campus, the next jacket you buy might help clean Philadelphia waterways.

United By Blue , an eco-friendly coffee shop and apparel store, will open next week on Walnut Street between 34th and 36th streets. In addition to selling outdoor apparel, UBB will give people a new place to go enjoy organic coffee, tea and food. UBB will be filling the space vacated by Artisserie Chocolate Cafe in August of 2013.

Plans for UBB’s opening in University City began this summer. According to UBB spokesperson Jen Singley , the store is trying to open its doors as soon as possible next week.

UBB started in 2010 as a company that exclusively sold T-shirts made of organic cotton. The business has grown to offer various types of apparel that are sold wholesale to over 300 stores across the country.

The company only has one other flagship store and coffeehouse so far. Opened last September, the first UBB store is also located in Philadelphia on 2nd Street in Old City.

“It’s nice to now be coming to a place with a lot of students and innovative thinkers who are progressive in the way they buy and the things they consume,” Singley said.

UBB runs its stores based on a “one for one mission” — for each product sold, the company removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through local cleanups.

This past Saturday, UBB hosted a cleanup at the Delaware River where they removed 6,220 pounds of trash in less than three hours. The company leads local cleanups the first Tuesday of each month. Across the country, UBB also partners with the companies that sell its apparel to host these cleanups.

“We want to connect each sale to a concrete, measurable impact on the environment,” Singley said.

With the environment at the forefront of its philosophy, this business “supports Penn’s goals in sustainability,” said Ed Datz , the executive director of real estate at Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services.

“We think this retailer is an extension of the types of ‘green’ businesses we have already set up on or near campus, such as HipCityVeg and Sweetgreen,” Datz said.

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