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The infamous s'mores and Mocha Kiss native only to one cafe are coming to a table near you in summer 1998, as Xando makes its way to University City. Although the company signed a letter of intent but has not yet executed a lease, Xando Chairperson Andy Stenzler said, "We're ready to go, and we're coming to Penn." Once signed, the popular coffeehouse/bar will become a main component of the Sansom Common project, which aims to create an upscale retail district on the 3600 and 3700 blocks of Sansom Street. "We're excited about the project," Stenzler added. "[University officials] have done a great job of creating a great retail project, and we're very excited to have been asked to be a part of it." The University's managing director of real estate, Tom Lussenhop, said the interest expressed by Xando and other retailers is a measure of the excitement building in University City as a result of the project. "Xando has expressed deep interest in being part of Sansom Common and the revitalization of attractive, late-night retailing in University City," Lussenhop said. "We look forward to realizing the great potential that Xando and similar kinds of retail have in University City," he added. Plans for the Sansom Common branch include a two-tiered cafe with a balcony and year-round outdoor seating, according to Stenzler. Xando hopes to become a "meeting place for students to interact outside the classrooms and dorms," Stenzler said, stressing that the cafe will add a "unique option and late-night safety" with its 2 a.m. closing time. The cafe also plans to hang student artwork and feature student performers, making it possible for customers who frequent the restaurant to find an evening scene differing from the traditional daytime cafe. The University City location will be Xando's fourth site in Philadelphia. The company also has two locations in Connecticut -- including branches at Yale University -- and establishments in New York City and Washington, D.C. Stenzler said the Yale location has taught the employees about "the seasonalities of college campuses." And he added his hopes that the University City site will be similar to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., where "people are sitting outside all year round." He said several Yale professors use Xando as a meeting place for small classes, suggesting that Penn professors could use the restaurant in a similar way. The store will feature a new interior color scheme designed specifically for the University, and will hire up to 50 employees, half of whom will be students. "The Penn students have been really nice to Xando -- they always come to our 15th Street location," Stenzler said. Wharton sophomore Brian Snyder praised the retail development as a "great idea," adding that "since it's staying open late, it will be a popular place for students to go at night." Stenzler -- a self-described "Penn-reject" -- launched the Xando company with friends from college and high school when he was 25, after graduating from the Stern School of Business at New York University. "I wanted to do something different in the business field and show people that entrepreneurship is a really good way to express yourself," he said. He added that he hopes to receive rights to the building site in March and have the store open between May and August.

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