Retail coming to Philadelphia (Pittsburgh, Reading: licensed, garage, rated)

[asiandudeyo]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

As I said, that poster & several others regularly pile into threads on the Charlotte board to trash the city while comparing it to the Atlanta metro. Those threads regularly get shut down.

Philadelphians tend to be more conservative in dress. When there were 4 department stores there wasn't a lot of high fashion & designer stuff. There wasn't the demand. Anyone who wanted it went to NYC, & people were not beating a path there. It is what it is. Heck, when Gimbels closed a chain from NYC opened in its place, called Sterns. They quickly flopped.

Right. And I agree with you.
And again I apologize if I lose my temper a bit.
I guess partially because of what I had experienced in the past 4 years here in PA. I had higher expectation of PA as I moved up here.
In my mind at that time; PA = part of the north = liberal leaning (despite its swing-state status) = more open-minded people.
Anyway.... ha ha that is for Politics and Other Controversies forum.
Thanks for remain civil with me even though I lost my temper.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

I guess partially because of what I had experienced in the past 4 years here in PA. I had higher expectation of PA as I moved up here. In my mind at that time; PA = part of the north = liberal leaning (despite its swing-state status) = more open-minded people. .

The Northeast in general is more complex in that sense. Despite a more liberal reputation (even though PA is more conservative among the bunch), there is still a cohort of socially conservative and prejudiced people. It's definitely not immune from racism or homophobia, as no region of the country is.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

Right. And I agree with you.
And again I apologize if I lose my temper a bit.
I guess partially because of what I had experienced in the past 4 years here in PA. I had higher expectation of PA as I moved up here.
In my mind at that time; PA = part of the north = liberal leaning (despite its swing-state status) = more open-minded people.
Anyway.... ha ha that is for Politics and Other Controversies forum.
Thanks for remain civil with me even though I lost my temper.

You're always polite & civil.

Back when I was in school, the east coast was divided into 3 regions. People were far less confused about places.

Philadelphia is in the MidAtlantic. Keep in mind that back in the 70s the Inquirer society page still published coming out parties & debutante balls every spring.

It's the Quaker City! The Quakers have been a minority for over a century, but the tone was set long ago.

If you understand that, it may explain why some of the designer places come & go. They won't stay if there isn't s good enough market for their products. Most people just don't care. They won't spend the additional money.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

Playing devil's advocate here.
You guys might think StaySean23 is a troll. But most of the thing he / she says about shopping experience in Philadelphia vs Miami vs Atlanta is dead-on.
But maybe the way he / she conveyed his / her opinion is not neccesarily polite.

I have been living in Philadelphia since 2010. I grew up in Miami and went to college for 4 years in Atlanta.
I wrok part time as a personal shopper ever since I was in college and beyond. So I would think I have some experiences in shopping dept. in these 3 cities and beyond.

I love 3 cities equally.
But again the reality of shopping in Philadelphia and its metro area is not comparable to the title of Philadelphia as one of top 5 metros in the US.

And I am sorry if I get defensive about Atlanta but it is the same thing here in Philadelphia. Once you get out from Philly area, it is practically hicksville BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE . (same when you get out off South Florida, it is hicksville as well)
I am gay. I am asian. And I work in the burb. (By Lansdale - Colmar area).\ for my FT job.
Never EVER in my life I was called Chinky and Jersey-Shore Wannabe until I moved to PA. (Yes I am from Miami. Gym is my religion and I dress up even when we go to GIANT).
Never ever I heard the word ****** uttered to a cross-dresser until I walked down Lansdale's Main Street.
And never ever I heard from my colleague that one of the local supplier's financial forecaster from Harrisburg never and does not feel comfortable getting ordered by "my people".
Only in PA.
And don't forget about Kathryn Knott et al who beat up the gay couple in Center City. Too close to home for me.
Yes Philly is a great city and the citizens are very tolerant. But once you get out say the inner burb, it is hicksville.
OK sorry that I get defensive again.

Let;'s get back to retail.

No need to apologize. I'm a Philly native and I agree with you. PA is a blue/purple state solely because of the
Phila. metro area and Pittsburgh. The rest of PA is a "red state". The state(well technically PA is a commenwealth) legislature hates Phila. We get very little "love" there.

And my main issue with that poster is that he/she ignores Phila.'s real retail problem: being only 90 miles away from NYC. It's a challenge no other major city in the country has as far as shopping goes. Even when we had great local dept. stores, like Wanamakers, it never compared to Macy's on 34th St in NYC.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

Right. And I agree with you.
And again I apologize if I lose my temper a bit.
I guess partially because of what I had experienced in the past 4 years here in PA. I had higher expectation of PA as I moved up here.
In my mind at that time; PA = part of the north = liberal leaning (despite its swing-state status) = more open-minded people.
Anyway.... ha ha that is for Politics and Other Controversies forum.
Thanks for remain civil with me even though I lost my temper.

What James Carville said about PA years ago still holds true: PA is Philly and Pittsburgh and the rest is "Alabama".

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

As I said, that poster & several others regularly pile into threads on the Charlotte board to trash the city while comparing it to the Atlanta metro. Those threads regularly get shut down.

Philadelphians tend to be more conservative in dress. When there were 4 department stores there wasn't a lot of high fashion & designer stuff. There wasn't the demand. Anyone who wanted it went to NYC, & people were not beating a path there. It is what it is. Heck, when Gimbels closed a chain from NYC opened in its place, called Sterns. They quickly flopped.

Older Philadelphians, yes, may be more conservative. But, absolutely NONE of the 20somethings in CC ,or nearin hip neighborhoods, are that way. Most of them look exactly like the young folks I see in SoHo, or the
Bowery, Williamsburg in NYC/Brooklyn.

I'm old but I notice these things because I've been into fashion.

[asiandudeyo]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Older Philadelphians, yes, may be more conservative. But, absolutely NONE of the 20somethings in CC ,or nearin hip neighborhoods, are that way. Most of them look exactly like the young folks I see in SoHo, or the
Bowery, Williamsburg in NYC/Brooklyn.

I'm old but I notice these things because I've been into fashion.

That is correct.
Coming from my demographics (is 29 still millennial?) per what I mentioned in my previous posts, my peer and clients lamented how they are not certain retailers available in Philly or in PA in egeneral. So the demand is here, it is just maybe the retailers still have this old-fashioned POV which basically say "why bother, since Philly is sandwiched between NYC and DC" or even "Why even open one in Center City? There is no demand for it"

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Older Philadelphians, yes, may be more conservative. But, absolutely NONE of the 20somethings in CC ,or nearin hip neighborhoods, are that way. Most of them look exactly like the young folks I see in SoHo, or the
Bowery, Williamsburg in NYC/Brooklyn.

I'm old but I notice these things because I've been into fashion.

I'm one of those who never cared, well, not after the first rush from Carnaby Street.

Remember, back in the late 60s/early 70s there were local boutiques galore on Sansom Street. It was all locally run, & as we aged & the demand fizzled the boutiques fizzled. I didn't know a soul who actually bought anything with Mary Quant's name on it. However, most of us scraped together a little cash for something from a boutique. 'Tis the age. We had much more money than our parents had at that age because they came of age in the Depression/WWII era, but young people today have far more money than we could conceive of at that age, for the most part.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

You're always polite & civil.

Back when I was in school, the east coast was divided into 3 regions. People were far less confused about places.

Philadelphia is in the MidAtlantic. Keep in mind that back in the 70s the Inquirer society page still published coming out parties & debutante balls every spring.

It's the Quaker City! The Quakers have been a minority for over a century, but the tone was set long ago.

If you understand that, it may explain why some of the designer places come & go. They won't stay if there isn't s good enough market for their products. Most people just don't care. They won't spend the additional money.

But that's changing. And it has been over the last 5 or so years. In fact I think it's picked up speed. I don't perceive younger Philadelphians being as frugal, as you or I were, years ago. Or rather as frugal in the same way we were.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

That is correct.
Coming from my demographics (is 29 still millennial?) per what I mentioned in my previous posts, my peer and clients lamented how they are not certain retailers available in Philly or in PA in egeneral. So the demand is here, it is just maybe the retailers still have this old-fashioned POV which basically say "why bother, since Philly is sandwiched between NYC and DC" or even "Why even open one in Center City? There is no demand for it"

You are kinda in a position to help change that, right?