The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Welcome to a sunny Sunday.
Customers are flocking to a new Philly-area Goodwill for the deals and the resale potential.
And Catholicism is growing in Philadelphia and New Jersey. We looked into what’s behind the growth at the pews.
Scroll along for these stories and much more.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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A brand-new Goodwill in South Jersey, buzzing with shoppers snatching up affordable threads and decor, has seen early success amid a larger thrifting resurgence.
đź’° Goodwill posted record revenue last year. Its new Deptford location has seen healthy foot traffic in its first 12 days, averaging about 600 customers a day, according to its regional manager.
🛍️ Younger customers still shop at malls, but they gravitate toward thrift stores like the new store on Clements Bridge Road because “everything is going up” in price, one told Inquirer consumer reporter Erin McCarthy.
📱 Social media has also played role in the rebirth of thrifting, as some discover and capitalize on thrifting as a way to bring in extra cash.
Local diocese officials are confirming what’s becoming a global trend: More people are converting or coming back to Catholicism.
The reasons aren’t straightforward. A litany of theories online and in the media — which are, at times, at odds with one another — look to an increase in conservatism in young men, a potential Gen Z response to pandemic isolation, and technology burnout as contributing factors.
One priest told The Inquirer’s Jason Nark that he believes some new devotees are seeking to fill a vacuum in their lives. Newer Catholics cited a slew of different personal reasons for their decision.
In their own words: “It’s really a rough, rough time out there right now. There’s no peace right now, and people are really looking for peace, and it’s not there right now. For me, personally, when it gets really rough, I absolutely pray to God,” one person told Nark.
Explore the developing trend in Nark’s new report.
What you should know today
A Conshohocken bridal shop has closed after 45 years. The small-business owner found social media and increased competition trying.
Thieves stole nearly 11,000 bottles of bourbon Friday afternoon from a North Philadelphia warehouse, according to news reports.
FDR Park’s Anna C. Verna Playground will be fenced in for at least another few weeks, after an inspection found that slide equipment did not meet safety standards. The park had already been closed since the winter.
A pop-up plaza is coming to Reading Terminal Market featuring local vendors, live entertainment, a bar, and expanded seating.
Advocates don’t want a New Jersey ICE detention center fixed — they want it closed. That’s a rare and difficult thing to do. And Delaney Hall is valuable to ICE because of its access to major highways and airports.
A new study that analyzed school board culture wars and where they had the most impact found them to be widespread, particularly in politically divided districts like Central Bucks.
Lorina Marshall-Blake recently retired from her role as president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation. She spoke to The Inquirer about her 35 years at IBX, her West Philly upbringing, and her take on what the world needs from the next generation of professionals.
🎤 Here’s Tommy Rowan with a look back at the opening of the Parkway Central Library.
The City Beautiful movement had spread from city to city throughout the turn of the 20th century, demanding that polluted and overly industrialized cities soften their harsh landscapes and class up the joint for the people who live there.
The movement gifted Philly the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Art Museum and the Rodin. It also produced 30th Street Station and FDR Park.
And the public library system received its jewel box of a bookhouse on June 2, 1927. Read on for the full story.
âť“Pop quiz
Tina Fey and Colman Domingo bonded over hating what because “we’re from Philly”?
A) Dunkin’ Donuts
B) caviar
C) In-N-Out Burger
D) burrata
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re …
🍕 Discovering: Mystic, Conn., is much more than pizza and a movie title.
🥨 Loving: A very Philly charm bracelet.
🏡 Learning: New construction can still come with plenty of repairs.
🥪 Not sorry for: Adding chopped liver to a hot corned beef sandwich, among the best things we ate this week.
🏋️ Lifting: Weights with Visit Philadelphia CEO Angela Val at Bellevue Sporting Club.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: This company brought summer scaries to the Wildwood boardwalk
ARIELLE TOWNSHIP
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Joanne Costantino, who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Willingboro. A township council member, who is also the town’s former mayor, was sentenced to a year in federal prison in connection with a fraudulent real estate transaction.
Photo of the day
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “I could drink a case of you, darling / Still I’d be on my feet.”
One more musical thing: Bruce Springsteen led an all-star cast in two “Music America: The Songs That Shaped Us” shows Thursday and Friday. Pop critic Dan DeLuca says the concerts aimed to be as educational as they were entertaining.
👋🏽 Thanks for spending part of your morning with us. Have a great day.
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