PHILADELPHIA >> There’s no need to scope out an official Pope Francis store to score souvenirs of the papal visit to Philadelphia.
In true city fashion, on almost every street corner people have set up shop – be it on a table, from carts, in bags or even from a wheelchair, all sorts of pope-related merchandise is available.
On the corner of Third and Market streets, Zac Coumbassa was hard at work selling pope T-shirts with a design he made in his own shop. The P’s resembled the Philadelphia Phillies logo and the O looked like the Liberty Bell.
With close to 200 shirts in a shopping cart and selling three for $30, he said the inventory he had with him Saturday afternoon represented only about a quarter of what he had to sell for the weekend.
Business had been “good” so far, he said, but he expected it to pick up as Saturday wore on.
“We’re out here just trying to make it and move these as fast as we can,” he said. “Once more people come, it should pick up, it’s early yet.”
Laurie Cummings of Minnesota, here with her family, bought three shirts from Coumbassa because she liked the design and thought they were a better deal than what she would have gotten in a pope pop-up store.
“We walked out of the hotel, and here they were, so we bought them,” she said as she made her way to Independence Mall to await the pope.
Up the street, Jody Iacovelli from South Jersey was selling rosary beads with his friend Dante Enos. Iacovelli plans to use the money he earns from the rosary sales to help finance the on demand beauty app, MainStream, he is developing.
A little upset at initially being kicked out Independence Mall by park rangers, he said the day worked out fine once the Secret Service stepped in.
“We had permits and all,” he said. “It’s funny because park rangers kicked us out, but the Secret Service told us to set up here and, with the flow of people coming this way, business has been amazing. It’s almost better it happened this way.”
True Cannon set up shop on top of some newspaper boxes near Fourth and Walnut street, selling pope T-shirts. He said he wasn’t concerned about all the competition around him also selling similar shirts.
“So far so good,” he said. “When it’s over, that’s when people decide they want souvenirs and there are plenty of us here ready to supply them.”
Selling Vatican City flags from a push cart, Tony Colon said business was slow, but he’d be at it all day, so he wasn’t worried. Gwen Watson, who bought one of the flags, said she wanted something to show her congregation at Christ the King Catholic Church in Lafayette, Calif.
“When I go back to California, I’m sure they’re going to want me to talk about my experience here to the church,” she said. “So I wanted to have something to display and leave with the church.”
Here with her son, the Rev. Mark Watson, a priest serving two churches in Louisiana, she said she was having a “wonderful time.” Mark Watson will be on stage with Pope Francis during Sunday’s Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Freddy Bing sold what he called “collector items,” which included pins, lanyards and prayer card badges, he said he was sure he was the only person selling this item.
“It’s slow now, but what I have is pretty unique, and I’m sure business will pick up as the day goes on,” he said.
