In Germantown, a century-old factory has found new life as a community hub.
Called Braid Mill, the hub’s cofounders, Seth and Matt Shipon, have connected two Philadelphia histories: one of their heritage, the other of the building.
“We usually always start by telling people we’re fourth-generation entrepreneurs,” Seth said. “Our family has been building businesses in Philadelphia for literally over 100 years.”
“Our family has been building businesses in Philadelphia for literally over 100 years.”
Seth Shipon, Braid Mill
The Shipon brothers’ great-grandfather started it all with a food market in South Philly. The business evolved into a supermarket and butcher shop. Their father, they say, was the first to market and sell Philly-style chicken steaks, under the brand Shipon’s Chicken.
The building in Germantown, meanwhile, began as one of the city’s many early-20th-century textile mills, where workers produced hosiery. In 1926, new owners renamed it Excelsior Braid Mill. Nearly a century later, after a three-year renovation, the Shipons reopened the building, keeping the 1920s name and turning the 40,000-sq.-ft. property into a modern workspace.
Calling it a “coworking space” doesn’t capture all that it is, the brothers said.
“Coworking is almost more of an amenity of membership, but not the core product,” Seth said. “The core product really is connection, collaboration, bringing people together.”
Braid Mill building (Courtesy)
A post-pandemic bet on membership and events
Braid Mill launched without public funding or formal city resources, Seth said. But now that the foundation is there, the brothers are looking toward that and corporate partnerships to help amplify a space already serving more than 100 members across private studios, dedicated desks and other membership tiers. Its private studio tenants are about 67% nonprofits, Seth said, and 87% are women-led and 87% are Black-led.
“It’s really been a great mix, and representative of the community,” he said.
Braid Mill also hosts public events, meetings and community programming, including Northwest PHL gatherings and Flannel Fest, which Seth said brought out thousands of people with vendors and music.
“All the major community organizations and nonprofits are looking to us as a space to host everything that they’re doing in a beautiful space inside their community,” Matt said. “We’ve really become that gathering space for all these amazing organizations in Germantown.”
Their path to launching Braid Mill started with another old building: the family’s original South Philly market. It was deteriorating when Seth and Matt faced a choice: Fix it or sell it. The brothers felt connected to the place, its history and the old family photos tied to it.
They chose to renovate. Today the location houses residences and commercial space. That project led them into real estate, and eventually to the Germantown building, a property with its own legacy in the city.
Braid Mill den (Courtesy)
The brothers acquired it in December 2019. Within months, the pandemic clouded the future of offices, coworking and in-person events. They kept building anyway, renovating through shutdowns and uncertainty before opening Braid Mill in January 2023. The timing was risky. But the Shipons saw the disruption as part of the opportunity. People wanted flexibility, they said, but many also missed the everyday energy of working around other people.
“The promise to work from home was flexibility,” Seth said, “but then you kind of lost your work friends and that connection throughout your day.”
From ‘Court of 2nd Chances’ to food and drink
Braid Mill has two event spaces: one over 3,000 square feet and another about 1,000 square feet, with the larger one able to hold up to about 230 people. But the activity that matters most to the brothers happens at a smaller scale, in the hallway run-ins, the referrals, the introductions between members who wouldn’t have crossed paths otherwise.
“I could tell a story about all of them,” Seth said of his members.
One of those stories belongs to Philadelphia Community Youth Court, a restorative justice nonprofit based at Braid Mill. Called the “Court of Second Chances,” it receives referrals from the Philadelphia Police Department and the School District of Philadelphia. Instead of entering more punitive systems, young people come before a youth-led court, with peers serving as judge and jury.
“They’re one of our biggest advocates,” Seth said. “They talk about the growth they’ve had just by being here.”
Members like Youth Court are part of why the Shipons frame the space the way they do. The building is the draw, but it’s not the point. “The space matters,” Seth said, “but the people matter more.”
Braid Mill kitchen (Courtesy)
Braid Mill’s next phase includes both internal growth and a broader push for partners. Beyond Seth and Matt, the team currently includes a community manager and a facilities manager. The brothers are preparing to add roles focused on events, growth and partnerships.
Going back to the family’s roots, the Shipons are also planning to add food and beverage to the building, which is in an area Seth described as having limited food options. They are reserving space for a hybrid commercial kitchen and cafe that could serve members daily while also supporting events, with potential for catering, pop-ups, test kitchens and local food entrepreneurs.
As AI, which Matt says they use “constantly,” becomes more integrated into work and business, they see it as a tool that can lower barriers for entrepreneurs and creators while keeping the need for places like theirs.
“Community spaces are going to be more important than ever,” he said. “You have to make sure that humans are at the center of that process.”
For the brothers, it’s about more than tools, events and networking.
“It really is, in many ways,” Seth said, “a culmination of our whole family story.”
Braid Mill terrace (Courtesy)