Philly: The "6th Best Shopping City" (live, shoppers)

[cpomp]

Ok, a bestbuy doesnt count as good city shopping, I wish people would stop saying the shopping in Philly is bad because of the Best Buy isnt great. Philly has a ton of great boutiques that you can find all throughout Rittenhouse and Old City. Walnut street has some very high end retail, as well as the nice Macys downtown. Center City could use something like a Bloomingdales or a Nordstrom, because I think they would do very well there.

[rotodome]

God I hate these dumb Forbes.com lists. Really, Inquirer?

[phillies2011]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Ok, a bestbuy doesnt count as good city shopping, I wish people would stop saying the shopping in Philly is bad because of the Best Buy isnt great. Philly has a ton of great boutiques that you can find all throughout Rittenhouse and Old City. Walnut street has some very high end retail, as well as the nice Macys downtown. Center City could use something like a Bloomingdales or a Nordstrom, because I think they would do very well there.

seriously. besides if you're still doing your shopping at best buy you need your head examined...

oh wow great, i can pay a lot more money, get just plain awful customer service, and on top of that i can get over priced service contracts that do less than most stores do standard without purchasing any policy.

about five years back i've switched to amazon.com and i've been so much happier. great customer service, great prices.

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by Houston's Finest

Philly lacks shopping when compared to Houston. Houston has all the shops/department stores you can think of. Philly the 6th best shopping city? Really? I'm so shocked! When I was in Philadephia, I lament the lack of shopping selections for my wife. Center City shopping is not really major at all, just basics with some boutiques and some of the usual suspects like Tiffany, H&M and others. I can think of most cities that would trounce this city in this field like Miami, NY, SF, LA and Seattle. 6th best shopping in the U.S.? Wow! I must be sleeping to long or not recognizing things passing me by.

Good story...but not good enough to resurrect this thread

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by 2e1m5a

Good story...but not good enough to resurrect this thread

Durf tried, am surprised he didnt add the borders is closing, maybe because they all are now

[jm02]

I think he confused Houston with Philly. There is nothing, repeat NOTHING, in downtown Houston when it comes to shopping, unless you like their mini-Macy's. I know - I lived there for 26 years. Trust me - Walnut Street runs laps around anything DT Houston offers. Gosh - even Chestnut Street overwhelms DT Houston offerings.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by Houston's Finest

Philly lacks shopping when compared to Houston. Houston has all the shops/department stores you can think of. Philly the 6th best shopping city? Really? I'm so shocked! When I was in Philadephia, I lament the lack of shopping selections for my wife. Center City shopping is not really major at all, just basics with some boutiques and some of the usual suspects like Tiffany, H&M and others. I can think of most cities that would trounce this city in this field like Miami, NY, SF, LA and Seattle. 6th best shopping in the U.S.? Wow! I must be sleeping to long or not recognizing things passing me by.

Whatever you say angry person.

[MsChelle]

I think that shopping in Philly is mixed. Macy's is probably my favorite store in the city because of the old Wanamaker building. That building is GORGEOUS!!! And it always brings me joy to be in there and hear the organ. It's a shopping experience like none other. King of Prussia's Macy's may have a better selection, although I don't know how much bigger it is. CC Macy's is pretty big. I was looking for a particular brand at the CC Macy's, but they didn't carry it at that store. The manager explained to me that they carry different merchandise at different locations based on demographics.

Liberty Place is nice, but it's a bunch of small shops. The Gallery is the major shopping center in CC, but it needs a major makeover inside and out. It's great for a student like myself on a budget, but a shopping center at that location should have better anchor tenants. Seriously, when Burlington Coat Factory and K-Mart are the major tenants at The Gallery, an upgrade is in order! There's already a Ross store at 8th & Market in a great-looking building. The exterior of the Gallery and a number of nearby buildings are also in need of an upgrade. They range from bland to flat out ugly. There are some great stores on Chestnut and Walnut, e.g. H&M, Gap, Banana Republic, Eternity, etc.

I wish there could be a Target and/or Nordstrom in CC. That would really help.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by MsChelle

I think that shopping in Philly is mixed. Macy's is probably my favorite store in the city because of the old Wanamaker building. That building is GORGEOUS!!! And it always brings me joy to be in there and hear the organ. It's a shopping experience like none other. King of Prussia's Macy's may have a better selection, although I don't know how much bigger it is. CC Macy's is pretty big. I was looking for a particular brand at the CC Macy's, but they didn't carry it at that store. The manager explained to me that they carry different merchandise at different locations based on demographics.

Liberty Place is nice, but it's a bunch of small shops. The Gallery is the major shopping center in CC, but it needs a major makeover inside and out. It's great for a student like myself on a budget, but a shopping center at that location should have better anchor tenants. Seriously, when Burlington Coat Factory and K-Mart are the major tenants at The Gallery, an upgrade is in order! There's already a Ross store at 8th & Market in a great-looking building. The exterior of the Gallery and a number of nearby buildings are also in need of an upgrade. They range from bland to flat out ugly. There are some great stores on Chestnut and Walnut, e.g. H&M, Gap, Banana Republic, Eternity, etc.

I wish there could be a Target and/or Nordstrom in CC. That would really help.

When Wanamakers occupied that entire 12 story building, it was a truly unique & great store. What's there now is unfortunately a sad little shadow of what was there when I was growing up. Having been absorbed into the Macy's corporate conglomerate hasn't helped anything. If the atrium wasn't on the national register of historic places, I doubt it would even still be open.
Grand old department stores like that are relics of the past. Which is a shame, because they really beat the pants off of the cookie cutter suburban shopping malls which are what's replaced them. Wanamakers played a large part in building philadelphia's subway system; you see, it would bring people right into the store. Can you imagine a shopping mall developer, or corporate chain store doing anything civic-minded like that today?

Marshall Fields in Chicago is another great dept store which recently fell to Macy's, although I believe the entire store is at least still open, for now. Although to be fair, the conversion to mixed use, and partial sell-off of the Wanamakers building happened before Macy's came along.

[frankgn87]

I think when an article says "Philadelphia" they actually mean the supporting surrounding suburbs, also.