Retail coming to Philadelphia (York, Washington: countries, based, Monday)

[asiandudeyo]

I just found out tonight that the LED screens on the second East Market building have been lit up.
With one building screens lit up, the area was substantially brighter. After tonight, all I can say is WOW! (in a good way).

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

It just depends on what works for individuals. I make one big ugly shopping trip to Aldi & Lidl once a month. I buy the basics for what I use. I usually make one trip to a regular supermarket for some items that Aldi & Lidl don't carry. Occasionally I make a stop at another grocery store for a handful of items that they carry that the others don't. It took a while to work that system out. It usually keeps the grocery expenditure under $200 per month. Some months I only hit Aldi & Lidl. Some months it's Aldi, Lidl, & an ethnic grocery store. It just depends on what I need.

Yea, I can see that along with the financial incentive. Part of our issue is we grocery shop by foot, so don’t really “stop off” anywhere on the way home. We generally don’t buy a lot at a time and eat a lot of fresh food, particularly vegetables. More trips but less to carry. Things were much different in Houston where we drove everywhere and were working.

[cpomp]

Wawa planned for Drexel's campus - Philly

I wish this happened when I was there! This will be Wawa's biggest store in the city. Take that Penn.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Yea, I can see that along with the financial incentive. Part of our issue is we grocery shop by foot, so don’t really “stop off” anywhere on the way home. We generally don’t buy a lot at a time and eat a lot of fresh food, particularly vegetables. More trips but less to carry. Things were much different in Houston where we drove everywhere and were working.

I get where you're coming from. Unfortunately, where I'm at now, I won't darken the door of the place that I can walk to. I always was in & out of Pathmark multiple times per week, when I was in South Jersey. I did drive to Aldi, & Produce Junction once a week. I made the change here, because I have to drive to places & the lower I keep the grocery cost, the faster I can pay off my medical bills. That's why I said it varies by the individual.

I just threw it out as an example of how to get decent groceries & minimize the cost.

[frbrown]

The Last Great Clothing Store - Boyd's

Interesting profile on Boyd's in the NYT.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by frbrown

The Last Great Clothing Store - Boyd's

Interesting profile on Boyd's in the NYT.

My dad bought clothes there sometimes because he grew up in house with a master tailor( his father). I bought some clothes there when I was still working. A fabulous experience just like how it's described in the article.

I hope it can indeed hang on for a while. But once Boomers and GenXers are mostly gone it will probably fade away if not before then. Sad really...

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by kyb01

My dad bought clothes there sometimes because he grew up in house with a master tailor( his father). I bought some clothes there when I was still working. A fabulous experience just like how it's described in the article.

I hope it can indeed hang on for a while. But once Boomers and GenXers are mostly gone it will probably fade away if not before then. Sad really...

I don't know if the article mentioned it (I ran out of free reads), but I was in Boyds a few months ago and they were really focused on re-branding and introducing a lot of trendier brands that young people are more interested in: Rag & Bone, John Varvatos, Paul Smith, etc. same with womens clothing. I spoke with the manager for a bit about it.

Whether older people like it or not, that is a very wise marketing move to remain relevant in todays retail landscape.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

I don't know if the article mentioned it (I ran out of free reads), but I was in Boyds a few months ago and they were really focused on re-branding and introducing a lot of trendier brands that young people are more interested in: Rag & Bone, John Varvatos, Paul Smith, etc. same with womens clothing. I spoke with the manager for a bit about it.

Whether older people like it or not, that is a very wise marketing move to remain relevant in todays retail landscape.

Yes, you are right about re-focusing on "now" brands but will that be enough? I hope so! The problem from my vantage point, correct me if I'm wrong, is that too many folks your age lack a certain amount of knowledge about good clothing or are intimidated wrt a store like Boyd's so they fail to go in. They don't understand about service and how the staff will absolutely help them. They don't want to look or sound stupid so they avoid it.

Then there's the thing about being raised in suburbs where people are basically casual a lot of the time. Too many are used to cheap clothing so recognizing quality is unknown. It's very different than when I was growing up where the aim was quality and people knew it. People took pride in their appearance... poorer people did too.

The NY Times article is fabulous though! To headline Boyd's as the last man standing will get a lot of attention. Hopefully it will cause some NY shopper to come here!

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Yes, you are right about re-focusing on "now" brands but will that be enough? I hope so! The problem from my vantage point, correct me if I'm wrong, is that too many folks your age lack a certain amount of knowledge about good clothing or are intimidated wrt a store like Boyd's so they fail to go in. They don't understand about service and how the staff will absolutely help them. They don't want to look or sound stupid so they avoid it.

Then there's the thing about being raised in suburbs where people are basically casual a lot of the time. Too many are used to cheap clothing so recognizing quality is unknown. It's very different than when I was growing up where the aim was quality and people knew it. People took pride in their appearance... poorer people did too.

As a Millennial myself, I think this is spot-on. The decline of quality urban institutions like Boyd's accelerated during the suburbanization of the 1960s-1990s and the rise of corporate sameness in shopping malls across America. And being in a generation that grew up with "fast fashion" and literally mass-produced-by-cheap-labor-in-Asia everything, I'd have to agree that people in their 20s and 30s today overall are much more concerned only with image, as opposed to substance.

I think that's at least changed in a huge way with regard to food trends (people generally seem to be becoming more concerned with food quality again), but with things like clothing, or architecture, or most other consumer products, the notion of true craftsmanship and quality has a long way to go to be revived again.

Also, actually talking to people weirds Millennials out.

Originally Posted by kyb01

The NY Times article is fabulous though! To headline Boyd's as the last man standing will get a lot of attention. Hopefully it will cause some NY shopper to come here!

I hope so too! This is exactly the kind of press Philly deserves. The fact that a family-owned independent store survived all of these years speaks a lot of volumes about the city in a very positive way. And the fact that Philadelphians have a very underrated history for being fashionable folks.

[Hannah5555]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Also, actually talking to people weirds Millennials out.

As the mom of a millenial, that's hilarious and mostly true. As for quality clothing, I get the random phone call once in a while from said millenial, asking me where to go for good quality clothing that won't break the bank. I have suggested Nordstrom rack or even Macy's during a good sale. He's 6'3" and a gym rat, so sometimes it's hard to find good looking clothing that fits.