Ardmore Day Arrives on a Downtown That Changed All Year: What's Open, What's Coming, and What's Still a Rendering

On Saturday, Oct. 17, Schauffele Plaza becomes the hub of Ardmore Day. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be a corn maze and a vintage-car show on Rittenhouse Place, and the Ardbark dog parade is back. The Ardmore Business Association is using the day to mark its 75th anniversary, Patch reported. The event started in 2019 as an open house.

The downtown hosting it this year has changed in an unusual order. Ardmore rebuilt from the small end first. Over the course of 2026 a new station opened, and burger counters, a gift shop, dessert cafes and a BYOB filled storefronts around it. The largest projects come last: a 270-unit mixed-use block, a lauded Szechuan expansion and Suburban Square's fall anchors. As of mid-October, every one of those is still behind a fence, waiting on permits or listed as Coming Soon. So anyone walking the festival on Saturday is walking a downtown about halfway through its rebuild.

The station came first

The rebuilt SEPTA Ardmore Station at 39 Station Ave. began service on March 23, 2026, and was ribbon-cut on April 10. SEPTA puts the project cost at $60.6 million, which bought elevators, ramps and high-level platforms.

One of the year's earliest openings was next to the trains. Gouldsburger's, a New Jersey mini-chain known for burgers and a cheesesteak that made the Inquirer's list of favorites, opened at 4 Station Rd. in February, directly across from the station.

The station is finished, but the transportation work around it isn't. In April, Lower Merion commissioners authorized an application for a $3 million state grant toward a multimodal parking center. At that point the township and Amtrak were jointly seeking proposals for a structured parking facility on adjacent parcels, Main Line Media News reported. The garage is a separate project from the platforms that opened in March.

Then the storefronts, block by block

By early July, The Philadelphia Inquirer counted a dozen new businesses that had opened in downtown Ardmore since January. More have opened since. Sorted by street, the year looks like this:

The list is a mix. Some are first-time local ventures. Mila's Pup Tienda was opened by Ardmore resident Dayanna Cardenas and stocks organic treats and products sourced mostly from local brands. Other openings are second locations. Barizi's Ardmore design and gift shop is its second store after New York City. At OGYU, the tabletop Japanese barbecue restaurant with an all-you-can-eat tiered menu, Osushi owner Sam Li is expanding a local group that already includes Osushi locations in Wayne, Ardmore and Marlton.

Some of the summer openings replaced businesses that had closed. Half A While, a tea and cake cafe from owners Leo Wei and Haley He, took over the former Kung Fu Tea space at 22 W. Lancaster Ave., The Inquirer reported. Kung Fu Tea had been there for nine years, according to Patch. Mango Mango held its grand opening on July 31 at 38 Greenfield Ave., the former World Wide Stereo site. That puts two dessert cafes about a block apart, both opened this summer.

Cricket Avenue is filling in as a dinner street

Of all the blocks, Cricket Avenue has changed the most at dinnertime. Raffs Italian Cuisine at No. 65 is chef-owner Raffael Kupa's second restaurant, after Buona Vita in Somers Point, N.J. It's a BYOB serving traditional Italian food, open for dinner seven days a week. Up the street at No. 43, Bored Trading Café handles the daytime crowd with bagels, sandwiches and smoothies.

The newest addition is Vintner's Table at 24 Cricket Ave., which The Inquirer described on Oct. 1 as just opened, with a wine bar and salumeria. It's an Italian-inspired concept affiliated with Folino Estate Winery & Restaurant in Kutztown, and it's the third Vintner's Table, after Phoenixville and Wyomissing.

The block's biggest name still hasn't opened. EMei, Dan Tsao's Chinatown Szechuan restaurant, is planning an expansion to 98 Cricket Ave. Inquirer critic Craig LaBan once called it a "Szechuan feast with few peers in Philly," as the Inquirer's July roundup recalled. That same report said the expansion had been pushed back by permitting and architectural issues. We found no later report of an opening date.

Suburban Square's fall list is still mostly Coming Soon

A few minutes' walk away, Kimco Realty's Suburban Square had a busy spring. The Inquirer's May tally logged six openings in nine weeks:

• New Balance, Coulter Place, Feb. 19
• Skin Laundry, Coulter Place, Feb. 20
• Sugared + Bronzed, Coulter Place, March 9
• Rhone, Coulter Place, March 13
• PopUp Bagels, 10 Coulter Ave., March 20
• Patagonia, 61 Anderson Ave., April 17

The same report projected fall openings for Arhaus at 71 St. James Place and On at 46 St. James Place. It said Barry's would arrive at Coulter Place sometime in 2026. As of this week, the Suburban Square directory still lists all three as Coming Soon. Boll & Branch at 40 Coulter Ave. now shows as open. The center's events page had nothing posted when we checked.

The busiest new arrival at the Square this month may be inside the Ardmore Farmers Market. Montco.Today reported that Nano Wheedan's South Philadelphia shop, Taco Heart, was set to open its second location at 120 Coulter Ave. on Oct. 5, in the stall Di Bruno Bros. left. At the time of writing we couldn't find a report confirming it had started serving. A Saturday visit will settle that faster than any article.

The biggest piece is a construction fence on Lancaster

Everything above fits into existing storefronts. The Piazza at Ardmore is new construction. The site covers 100 to 198 W. Lancaster Ave., according to Lower Merion Township's project page. Crews broke ground on May 20, The Inquirer reported. The plan calls for 270 apartments, about 30,000 square feet of retail and an outdoor courtyard, with opening set for February 2028. In January, Delco.Today reported the project's cost at $187 million.

The garage will have about 480 spaces, and 108 of them will be open to the public. The township approved the project in 2021. Speaking about it, developer Dan Piazza said in a news release quoted by The Inquirer:

"Our family spent decades assembling this block so Ardmore could have this moment, and we can say with certainty it was all worth it."

Put the 2026 storefronts next to this project and the scale gap is clear. The dozen-plus openings fit into buildings that were already standing. The Piazza adds close to 30,000 square feet of new retail on one block, and it isn't scheduled to open for another 16 months.

How the next five weeks line up

Ardmore Day on Oct. 17 runs out from Schauffele Plaza, and this year the vintage cars are parked on Rittenhouse Place, the same block as Bikini Burger. The Ardbark parade returns in a year when downtown also got its own pet supply shop on East Lancaster.

The next morning, Ardmore Music Hall hosts Funky Brunch & Market: Halloween Edition on Oct. 18, which also appears on the Downtown Ardmore events calendar. After that, Main Line Today's Restaurant Week runs Nov. 1 through 14. Lola's Garden is listed under Ardmore in the magazine's Restaurant Week 2026 guide.

Still pending as of Oct. 12, in rough order of how soon each may open:

1. Taco Heart at Ardmore Farmers Market, scheduled for Oct. 5; opening unconfirmed
2. Calm and Strong Yoga and Pilates at 46 Rittenhouse Pl., whose website still says "Get Ready to Join in Fall 2026"
3. Arhaus, On and Barry's at Suburban Square, all listed as Coming Soon
4. EMei at 98 Cricket Ave., delayed by permitting with no announced date
5. Pure Green at 56 E. Lancaster Ave., slated for 2027
6. The Piazza at Ardmore, targeting February 2028

At Societe Select, we follow which Ardmore projects actually get built and which stay on paper, because those projects decide what a Lower Merion address will feel like when the Piazza opens in 2028. If you want to talk about what this rebuild means for a home near Lancaster Avenue, Book an Appointment with our team.