The Grow Philly series is supported by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. Technical.ly is a free news resource thanks to financial partners like this. All stories are independently reported, with no partner review. Want to see your business featured? Fill out the entrepreneur survey here.
A West Philly bagel business grew from a home baking hobby into two storefronts by following customer demand — and by treating community-building as part of the business model.
Alex Malamy and his wife Ilana Silber run Cleo Bagels and Little Bean, a bagel and coffee shop that launched in 2023 and 2026, respectively.
When Malamy first started baking a decade ago, he primarily shared his treats with neighbors and friends. Now, a focus on bringing locals together continues.
“[We] really wanted to have it be, not just a point in people’s routine,” Silber said, “but a point in the neighborhood where they feel like they can have a space to see their friends and their families and connect.”
“[We] really wanted to have it be, not just a point in people’s routine, but a point in the neighborhood.”
Ilana Silber, Cleo Bagels and Little Bean
That’s where opening Little Bean came in. Malamy’s customers had been asking for more coffee drinks, and the duo opened the cafe at the beginning of this year, with help from the city’s Storefront Improvement grant program.
The new space allowed more seating and opportunities to host dog adoption events, fundraisers and community chess nights, with plans to keep filling their calendar.
The pair also make it a point to contribute to the wider neighborhood, donating raffle baskets to local orgs and participating in an annual jazz series in the park across the street, Silber said.
Being part of the neighborhood shows up in the small details, too, she said. Remembering people’s names, birthdays and the trips they took over the summer, for example, shows people that they care.
“It’s really important that we take care of our customers and try to lead from a place of generosity,” Malamy said.
From home baking to two storefronts
Malamy first started making bagels at home a decade ago. What started as a side project quickly turned into a passion he wanted to pursue full-time, he said.
“West Philly was itching for a bagel shop,” he said. “I was in the neighborhood, and that was something I was very much missing from my weekly routine.”
He incorporated the business in 2019 and started out by baking in a commercial kitchen and selling bagels at the Clark Park Farmers Market on Saturdays. At the end of that summer, he moved from the market to doing a pop-up at the Lil Pop Shop on 44th Street.
During that time, he started playing around with different bagel sandwich ideas, including a ramen-inspired sandwich that is now the store’s best seller, he said.
Eventually, Malamy found the business’s current storefront, signed the lease in 2021 and spent two years renovating the space. In 2024, the storefront next to theirs opened up and later became Little Bean.
Looking ahead, Malamy is focused on consistency and continuing to come up with unique food and drinks, taking into account the wants and needs of their community, he said.
“We’re really anchored in West Philly,” Malamy said. “These are the two spaces that we are committed to, and we just want to continue to develop and nurture and hopefully maintain for a long time these two spaces.”
