Ali's Wagon is the family project of Jessie Menken and Nat Weston, with the sometimes cooperation and tolerance of their two year old daughter, Lily. Jessie has been many things in the working world from Director of Group Sales at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, a Conference Coordinator in Athens, GA, and a Community Organizer for SEIU 1199P. Along the way she also received a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Georgia. Nat received a PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of Georgia and is a postdoctoral fellow scientist at Villanova University. Resumes aside, Jessie and Nat's role as Lily's parents is really what led to the birth of Ali's Wagon.
Jessie and Nat, fresh out of graduate school, landed in Fairmount in June 2005 and absolutely fell in love with the community. February 2006: ARRIVE LILY! After months of attending new mother's groups and listening to the common needs of group members the idea for Ali's Wagon got hatched. Fairmount has restaurants and hair salons galore, but hardly any commerce to meet the needs of the residents who love Fairmount and want to buy as local as can be.
Ali's Wagon serves the range of Fairmount's residents from young singles to older, established families. We carry a diverse inventory of contemporary housewares, bath and body supplies and children's items. Most of our stock is sleek and urban in style, some of our items are imported. We want the community to think of Ali's Wagon for all of their shopping needs, from new baby gifts to wedding and house warming gifts, and for items that will complement the life and style of our residents. The store relies heavily on foot traffic though we attract shoppers from nearby communities who already come to Fairmount for our restaurants, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Eastern State Penitentiary, or for an outing in the park.
We are extremely proud of Ali's Wagon's Parenting Center which is intended to assist those of us young urbans who are in a family way. Ali's Wagon is the place to go when you are first expecting, to take birthing classes and to informally meet other parents, and Ali's Wagon fulfills the desire of many current Fairmount parents to have some local shopping for their baby needs. Our inventory and programming reflect the personal orientation of Jessie and Nat's identity as parents to a young toddler, but as they continue to learn the ins and outs of store ownership and retail business the center's services will expand to better address the plethora of challenges, from cradle to college. We are proud to host "Birthing From Within" natural birthing classes that fill up quite in advance, so register early (please see Parenting Center section for details)! We also hold an ongoing New Mom's Group every Friday with alternating facilitators and some time in the afternoon for informal discussion without any moderator. We hope to find additional ways for parents to meet other people who are at similar stages in their journey of parenting. We have learned so much from the experience of others and we want to create and maintain a community environment where others can connect and gain advice and support from their peers.
Ali's Wagon is named in loving tribute for our friend, Allison Wenger, who died in August 2005. Allison loved children and she loved helping young families by providing things that were both needed and sometimes just wanted, to make life a little bit sweeter. May this store be an honor to her legacy.