Meredith Podob opened Latitudes and Longitudes in June 2012. The business was originally started over 29 years ago as Latitudes Gallery. She worked for the prior owner part time during the time that she was a student at Philadelphia University, majoring in Industrial Design and Interior Design. She has worked as a Product Design Engineer Consultant for several companies, designing products for the home, automobile and telephone accessories.

She has always had the desire to be a business owner. Meredith grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and understood the demands that owning your own business would have on her time. When the opportunity arose to purchase Latitudes, she jumped at the chance. She saw tremendous potential in the business. It has been a staple in the Manayunk area for so long and she felt that with her vision and design skills she could only make the business bigger and better. Meredith revamped the entire store giving it a more open look. Gone are the display cabinets, which have been replaced by beautiful furniture that allows customers the opportunity to touch and feel everything. It has definitely become a more customer friendly business. Her goal is to create a ‘one stop shopping’ business. She continues to carry jewelry and gifts ideal for women, but she had added mens’ items - cuff links, ties, flasks. She has added candles that have amazing scents, wine accessories and picture frames, just to name a few things. She is also happy to do special orders to meet customers needs.The entire back section of the store is filled to the rafters with Toys for children of all ages. There are also stuffed animals, puppets and gifts for the newborns. Additionally, she boasts that you will not find greeting cards anywhere else quite like what you’ll see at Latitudes and Longitudes. Some of the cards can be a bit raunchy, but she is taking what she knows worked in the past and expanding on it.

Meredith defines a successful person as someone who is not afraid to pursue their dreams. She already feels successful because she is doing what she loves to do while making meaningful connections along the way. She is a true people person and knows most of the business owners on the street. She wants to help to make not only her store, but Manayunk as well, a place where people will come to shop for all of their needs.