{"id":707,"date":"2026-06-09T10:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=707"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:44:18","slug":"past-present-future-beloved-main-line-gift-and-craft-store-is-closing-its-doors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=707","title":{"rendered":"Past Present Future, beloved Main Line gift and craft store, is closing its doors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><audio><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p>The interior of Past Present Future, downtown Ardmore\u2019s beloved gift and craft store,is unmistakable. Each wall is adorned with art and collectors\u2019 items, from hand-beaded necklaces to fruit-shaped bowls and ceramic tropical fish. Cases of jewelry sit under hanging lanterns and mobiles, and trinket boxes share shelves with colorful purses and glass figurines. <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=704\">Check fraud is rising. Here\u2019s how businesses can protect themselves. | Expert Opinion<\/a><\/p><div><\/div><p>Past Present Future, located at 15 Lancaster Ave.,is the 50-year work of owner Sherry Tillman, who first opened the store in Center City in 1976 as a young graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, before moving to Ardmore in the mid-1990s. Tillman calls the shop \u201cpart gift store, part mini-museum,\u201d and prides herself on grouping items, from lamps to clocks to mirrors, in \u201cways that maximize their funky diversity.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><div><div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div><\/div><p>Now, five decades, four storefronts, and thousands of customers later, Past Present Future is officially closing, marking the end of a chapter that Tillman says has been defined by eclectic art, changing times, and deep community ties. While Tillman is \u201cgutted\u201d to close up shop, in her words: \u201cIt\u2019s time.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>Tillman first opened Past Present Future as a toy store on the corner of 13th and Pine Streets in Center City, next to a friend\u2019s science-fiction bookstore. The Philadelphia Daily News in 1979 called Tillman\u2019s store \u201cone of the wonders of the city,\u201d a \u201cthrowback to the age of handcrafted wooden playthings, one-of-a-kind soft toys and sculptures, old-fashioned balance toys and Rube Goldberg-ish do-nothing machines.\u201d Tillman, then a 20-something artist, took orders from customers and hand crafted toys from her workshop. <\/p><div><\/div><p>After three years, Tillman left the Gayborhood and moved to 17th and Locust Streets, where the scope of Past Present Future began to shift, bringing in more crafts and jewelry. Four years later, Tillman moved to 18th Street between Market and Chestnut Streets. She had two-and-a-half floors of a four-story building and, according to a 1990 Inquirer story, stocked \u201czingy jewelry, kaleidoscopes, cards, clocks, handmade ceramic diners that light up\u201d and hada \u201ctop-floor gallery devoted to fun-and-funky craft items for adults.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>By the mid-1990s, much of Tillman\u2019s customer base had moved out to the suburbs, and the confounding pressures of crime, high taxes, and a lack of parking, plus raisingher own growing family in Ardmore, spurred her to pack up her Center City store and move to the Main Line. She opened on Lancaster Avenue in 1996. <\/p><div><\/div><p>\u201cThe fact that my business could be where my home is was so important to me,\u201d Tillman said, reflecting on her move to Ardmore. \u201cTo be embraced and connected to this community is also important to me.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>Tillman\u2019s store quickly became a magnet for artsy types, window shoppers, gift givers, touring musicians, and spiritually minded Main Line residents. <\/p><div><\/div><p>\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople come in and we talk, other people come in and they join the conversation. It\u2019s a place where people just feel so comfortable.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>Lorig Buckley, otherwise known as Mystic Lor at Mystic of the Main Line, said she thinks of Past Present Future as \u201ca staple\u201d in Ardmore. <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=702\">Back in Toronto as Phillies interim manager, Don Mattingly reflects on Blue Jays\u2019 run to the World Series<\/a><\/p><div><\/div><p>When people strolled into Past Present Future looking for a palm reading, Tillman would send them down the block to Mystic of the Main Line. When clients of Buckley\u2019s needed to shop for a gift, she\u2019d pass them along to Past Present Future. <\/p><div><\/div><p>\u201cMy heart sank when I saw that she was closing, because it really brought a different spirit to the area,\u201d Buckley said. <\/p><div><\/div><p>Shannon Gallagher, a business coach who lives in Ardmore, always bought her clients gifts from Tillman\u2019s shop, from crystals to wooden boxes with tarot cards. When she first moved to Ardmore four years ago, Tillman gave her the lowdown on all of the locals\u2019 favorite spots. <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>\u201cShe just made it feel so comfortable for us,\u201d Gallagher said. <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>In addition to running Past Present Future, Tillman organized First Friday Main Line, a monthly arts crawl that brought music and art to the streets of Ardmore. Alongside Broomall surgeon Lt. Col. Kenneth Marx, Tillman helped create Operation Angel Wings, a donation drive that sent clothes and toys to children in Afghanistan. Most recently, she spearheaded a contest to paint a mural on the side of her storefront. The first of five winning murals will be up by July 1.<\/p><div><\/div><p>Tillman said Ardmore has \u201cblossomed a lot\u201d in the years since she moved to town. Street art, interesting shops, and live music sprawl across downtown, from the newly painted Schauffele Plaza to Ardmore Music Hall (many of the traveling performers stop into Past Present Future before their shows, Tillman said). <\/p><div><\/div><div><\/div><div><\/div><p>\u201cThere\u2019s expressions of art around us,\u201d Tillman said. <\/p><div><\/div><p>Tillman doesn\u2019t have an exact closing date yet. Past Present Future has marked down its merchandise by 20%, and Tillman said she\u2019ll be open until there\u2019s nothing left (\u201chopefully\u201d). Tillman plans to sell the 15 Lancaster Ave. building, which she has owned for years. <\/p><div><\/div><p>\u201cIt\u2019s really hard,\u201d she said, \u201cwhen you think that your entire life has been this one thing, to say goodbye.\u201d <\/p><div><\/div><div><div><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Inquirer logo\" class=\"wp-image-706\" height=\"160\" src=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/af53c78f459fdf5b5c839f816ac9e858.png\" width=\"162\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Inquirer Lower Merion<\/p><\/div><div><p>A weekly newsletter<\/p><p>Want to get Inquirer Lower Merion straight to your inbox every week? Sign up here for our guide to the news, stories, and events shaping life in your community.<\/p><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div><\/div><p><i>This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer\u2019s high-impact journalism can be made at <\/i><i>inquirer.com\/donate<\/i><i>. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at <\/i><i>lenfestinstitute.org\/supporters<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=700\">Somali referee won\u2019t officiate in World Cup after being denied entry into the United States<\/a><\/p><div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Owner Sherry Tillman first opened the store in Center City in 1976 as a young graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, before moving to Ardmore in the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-small-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Past Present Future, beloved Main Line gift and craft store, is closing its doors - 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