Retail coming to Philadelphia (York, Washington: estate, land, business)

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

What did the Barnes & Noble at the Gallery used to be? You can see a picture of it here: Barnes & Noble - Downtown, Philadelphia PA


So many department store chains have been in Philly over the years, among them Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, Boscov's, Strawbridge's, Hecht's, Wanamaker's, Gimbels, Lord & Taylor, Montgomery Ward/Wards, Lit Brothers, etc. So could this store have been any of those? I also know there once was a Food Fair/Pantry Pride supermarket in Center City decades ago, so perhaps this was it. Or could it have been an A&P/Super Fresh that was later "replaced" by the one on South Street?

How could anyone in their right mind think that is a picture of the Gallery
Wanamakers, Lord and Taylor and Macys were all in the same building, its not like different locations around the city closed. Where was there a Boscovs in Center City Philadelphia?

And Im pretty sure there was never a Super Fresh or Pantry Pride in Rittenhouse Square...... I believe its the Alison Building, was formerly offices. I sure hope you arent going to suggest the Barnes and Noble and Anthropologie close for a Super Fresh or tacky Pantry Pride store.

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

Thanks so much, I appreciate it. On another topic, the Macy's in downtown Houston closed last month, and opened as a Foley's (owned by Strawbridge's) around the same time as the Strawbridge's/Macy's at the Gallery. So I hope this doesn't mean the Macy's here is closing too.

Why on earth would that mean the macys in Philadelphia would be closing? It is the second highest grossing macys in the entire region, probably going to surpass King of Prussia soon. Your knowledge of Philadelphia retail is questionable.

[Cnote11]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

Thanks so much, I appreciate it. On another topic, the Macy's in downtown Houston closed last month, and opened as a Foley's (owned by Strawbridge's) around the same time as the Strawbridge's/Macy's at the Gallery. So I hope this doesn't mean the Macy's here is closing too.

So wait... Macy's closed down last month in Houston and became a Foley's...

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

Actually Foley's, Strawbridge's, and Kaufmann's are all long gone, since 2006. Nothing is left of any of them.

but Foley hasn't been around since 2006?

What?

Foley's at the same time Macy's at the Gallery? What?
Macy's closed down in Houston and that means what about the Macy's here?

What?

Really...

What?

[scosm]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

Also another (not so big) news: I found out yesterday that Macy had opened one of their window display and made it an "impulse concept" store. where people from outside can actually see inside. Just like the Men's Skin Care department. I am talking about a window facing Chestnut Street. It creates a connection between the store and the street. It makes Chestnut street livelier (I am not saying that it was not lively as it was).

I work near there and just saw this back side of Macy's for the first time. I thought it was a very good idea. On that block is also West Elm and another fancy place called Bru. Interesting to read about the mixed bag that is Chestnut Street east on the Hidden City site.

The Schizophrenia Of Chestnut Street | Hidden City Philadelphia

There was a thread about it here that also had a good discussion about it. Interesting stuff!

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by scosm

I work near there and just saw this back side of Macy's for the first time. I thought it was a very good idea. On that block is also West Elm and another fancy place called Bru. Interesting to read about the mixed bag that is Chestnut Street east on the Hidden City site.

The Schizophrenia Of Chestnut Street | Hidden City Philadelphia

There was a thread about it here that also had a good discussion about it. Interesting stuff!

Glad you liked my essay!

As for the confusion about department stores immediately upthread, chalk that up to mangled language, compounded by mangled and misinformed history.

This story from KTRK-TV in Houston explains that the now-closed downtown Houston Macy's opened as Foley's in 1947.

Strawbridge & Clothier opened its flagship store at 8th and Market streets in 1930 after two years of construction.

Both local chains were acquired by May Department Stores Company over the years. Operationally speaking, within the May organization, Strawbridge's was a part of its Washington, DC-based Hecht's division; for a very brief period after May bought its owner, the former John Wanamaker store was badged as a Hecht's. That lasted until May bought its down-the-street rival.

They're all Macy's now thanks to Federated Department Stores' purchase of May Department Stores. Federated later renamed itself for its biggest and best-known chain; the company still owns Bloomingdale's as well.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

The Foley's in question, along with the Strawbridge's in Center City, both were built in the roaring 1920s. Going way back (to 1947 I believe) they were under the same corporate umbrella, divisions of May Company. Guess what, May and Macy's were never the "same" company until 2006, when the Foley's, Strawbridge's, and Kaufmann's (Pittsburgh) stores were all converted to the Macy's name. But really May and Macy's were always the same company because they were run by the same individuals, but were completely separate legal entities.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

Actually Foley's, Strawbridge's, and Kaufmann's are all long gone, since 2006. Nothing is left of any of them.

Guess you could have just answered your own question then, huh?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by wardwhirlboromarlpool1955

The Foley's in question, along with the Strawbridge's in Center City, both were built in the roaring 1920s. Going way back (to 1947 I believe) they were under the same corporate umbrella, divisions of May Company. Guess what, May and Macy's were never the "same" company until 2006, when the Foley's, Strawbridge's, and Kaufmann's (Pittsburgh) stores were all converted to the Macy's name. But really May and Macy's were always the same company because they were run by the same individuals, but were completely separate legal entities.

Nope, wrong again.

Strawbridge & Clothier was an independent company, owned by the founding families whose names were on the store, from its founding in 1868 until its sale to May Department Stores in 1995, a little more than two years after May scooped up crosstown rival John Wanamaker. (Strawbridge & Clothier had organized a pool of stores, including JCPenney and Boscov's, that put together an unsuccessful rival bid for the Philadelphia-area Wanamakers stores, which were owned by a Washington investor who also owned that city's Woodward & Lothrop chain.)

Stockton Strawbridge, the family patriarch, ran the company pretty much from right after the Second World War until the sale to May, which he opposed vehemently (he rallied family members to successfully fend off a hostile takeover bid by a corporate raider in the mid-1980s). He was instrumental in both the creation of the Gallery in 1977 and the first major makeover of Market East in the late 1980s.

Stockton died less than a year after the sale to May. It is said that he died of a broken heart, for the store was his life.

And St. Louis-based May Department Stores Company, New York-based R. H. Macy & Co. and Columbus, Ohio-based Federated Department Stores (so named because it was founded as a federation of several local chains) were all separate companies. Both May and Macy were named for their founders, who are not related and were located nowhere near each other. The acquisition chain went as follows:

--Canadian corporate raider Robert Campeau bought Federated in the late 1980s. Campeau was dumped as head of the company, and after that, it filed bankruptcy, reorganized, and acquired R. H. Macy, which had itself just emerged from bankruptcy. That was in 1994.

--Federated purchased May Department Stores in 2005.

--Federated changed its corporate name to Macy's Inc. two years after that.

Wikipedia article on Macy's Inc. (former Federated Department Stores)

Wikipedia article on May Department Stores

Wikipedia article on Macy's (R. H. Macy & Co.)

[Pine to Vine]

This thread is off the rails. The first digression was centered on retail one poster WANTED to come to Philly. The mod intervened. Now it's digressed again to retail that USED to be in Philly. Now we are correcting that same poster on a lot of mis-information of US department store history. Any of these might make an interesting thread, but one I wouldn't care to read.

Can we please get back to the topic: retail COMING to Philly. Thanks.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

Suit Supply coming to Center City... opening in February

Confirmed: SuitSupply Will Open in February at 16th and Locust - Breaking - Curbed Philly

JM02 is right. This thread is NOT about the history of Philadelphia retail stores, it's about new stores that are coming to the city.

Feel free to start a new topic regarding the history of Philadelphia retail stores.

[RightonWalnut]

Retail vacancy rate between Vine and South, River to River is down to 11.6%

Major retailers who signed leases in Center City in 2012:

Intermix
Anne Klein
Loft
Allen Edmonds
Ulta Beauty (13,500 sqft)
Suit Supply
Cheesecake Factory
Fly Wheel
Shake Shack
Papilio
Crumbs
Knit Wit
Ocean Prime
Walgreens (26,000 sqft)
Marshalls (28,000 sqft)

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http://centercityphila.org/docs/SOCC2013.pdf