Retail coming to Philadelphia (Washington, Penn: medicine, 2008, foreign)

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

I think CB2 is an excellent addition to Center City.

Ok - I’ll wait and see. If it’s above West Elm, however, it will be worth investigating. Seems like they’re filling some sizeable space on Walnut. Looking forward to the opening.

Also, agree with your view on the presence (or lack of) high-end lux stores in Center City. I don’t shop at Tiffany’s or Brooks Brothers. I am fine with Macy’s and Century 21. I’d rather spend my money in the restaurants, theatres, concerts and travel.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Funny thing is, we had a Gucci boutique in Center City for a while.

It was one of the original tenants of the Shops at the Bellevue when the old hotel was split into a three-part retail/office/hotel building in the early 1990s. It closed about six years or so after it opened.

Williams-Sonoma occupies its space now.

There was also YSL in the Bourse back in the 80s. And besides me, Southbound probably remembers the reign of Nan Duskin on 1700 block of Walnut eventually occupying 1723-1729 Walnut.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Also, agree with your view on the presence (or lack of) high-end lux stores in Center City. I don’t shop at Tiffany’s or Brooks Brothers. I am fine with Macy’s and Century 21. I’d rather spend my money in the restaurants, theatres, concerts and travel.

I'm generally an off-price fan, but I loves me some Brooks Brothers. Their clothes are the epitome of timeless style; as I'm fond of saying, "it's never out of fashion because it was never in fashion to begin with."

Which means that you'll find me up at Philadelphia Mills when I feel I need a fix.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Philadelphia does not check any of those boxes, (yes there are rich people, but there is also 25% poverty rate), and tourists don't visit Philadelphia to shop (nothing wrong with that, just making a point).

KoP checks 3 of the 4, possibly all 4 because that area does have a high amount of tourists/ visitors.

So no I don't ever see those types of stores entering the city, would it be great to have them: yes, necessary: no.

Personally I would prefer a Bloomingdales, Saks 5th Ave, or Neiman Marcus. Department stores hold a lot more weight IMO.

If that Travel & Leisure readers' poll from two years ago is any indicator, those tourists who do shop when they visit Philadelphia prefer to shop our distinctive homegrown boutiques - they voted this city their second favorite shopping destination worldwide (ISTR Milan ranked first) based not on any of those high-end chains or the stuff you find on Walnut but on North Third Street in Old City.

Save for the home design boutiques that represent European kitchen manufacturers, that's all "fresh and local" like the Reading Terminal Market - which, I might remind you all, is the second-most-popular tourist destination in the city after the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Independence. Independents.

Why don't we play to our strengths rather than chase the crowd?

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

If that Travel & Leisure readers' poll from two years ago is any indicator, those tourists who do shop when they visit Philadelphia prefer to shop our distinctive homegrown boutiques - they voted this city their second favorite shopping destination worldwide (ISTR Milan ranked first) based not on any of those high-end chains or the stuff you find on Walnut but on North Third Street in Old City.

Save for the home design boutiques that represent European kitchen manufacturers, that's all "fresh and local" like the Reading Terminal Market - which, I might remind you all, is the second-most-popular tourist destination in the city after the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Independence. Independents.

Why don't we play to our strengths rather than chase the crowd?

Amen! Why don't we play more to our strengths ?

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

If that Travel & Leisure readers' poll from two years ago is any indicator, those tourists who do shop when they visit Philadelphia prefer to shop our distinctive homegrown boutiques - they voted this city their second favorite shopping destination worldwide (ISTR Milan ranked first) based not on any of those high-end chains or the stuff you find on Walnut but on North Third Street in Old City.

Save for the home design boutiques that represent European kitchen manufacturers, that's all "fresh and local" like the Reading Terminal Market - which, I might remind you all, is the second-most-popular tourist destination in the city after the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

Independence. Independents.

Why don't we play to our strengths rather than chase the crowd?

I completely agree. I'm always surprised at how much of this board is focused on high-end chains for shopping. And I think the city does play its strengths TBH. That's why the boutiques have been so great in this city for so long. I would prefer to see that get even stronger, but I think it has to do with money overall. The more this city attracts the higher end chains, the higher the price/sq.ft likely is, the less boutiques will likely be able to hang on. Maybe that's an oversimplification.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

I completely agree. I'm always surprised at how much of this board is focused on high-end chains for shopping. And I think the city does play its strengths TBH. That's why the boutiques have been so great in this city for so long. I would prefer to see that get even stronger, but I think it has to do with money overall. The more this city attracts the higher end chains, the higher the price/sq.ft likely is, the less boutiques will likely be able to hang on. Maybe that's an oversimplification.

Thirded! I know I've tried to make this point several times over the course of this thread. There's no doubt that this fetishization of luxury chain retail (not that some isn't healthy) is really a waste of energy and undercuts the true independent spirit of Philly. Why are we so quick to sell our souls to consumer sameness, and as AJNEOA implies, succumb to truly negative impacts of expensive real estate?

Heck, a lot of people don't even realize that the supposedly high-end chain products they're buying are still made in a "mass produced" fashion by cheap labor: Slaving in the lap of luxury - latimes. It's all just about marketing.

Not to mention, the fundamental reasons why NYC, Chicago and San Francisco (and to a lesser extent Boston, Seattle, Miami and Washington, DC) have more impressive city-proper luxury chain options 1) they're HUGE tourism hotspots and/or 2) they're HUGE foreign investment hotspots.

In that context, I think for a city that has to rely far more on its local populace for a luxury retail market, Philadelphia actually does impressively for shopping options.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Thirded! I know I've tried to make this point several times over the course of this thread. There's no doubt that this fetishization of luxury chain retail (not that some isn't healthy) is really a waste of energy and undercuts the true independent spirit of Philly. Why are we so quick to sell our souls to consumer sameness, and as AJNEOA implies, succumb to truly negative impacts of expensive real estate?

Heck, a lot of people don't even realize that the supposedly high-end chain products they're buying are still made in a "mass produced" fashion by cheap labor: Slaving in the lap of luxury - latimes. It's all just about marketing.

Not to mention, the fundamental reasons why NYC, Chicago and San Francisco (and to a lesser extent Boston, Seattle, Miami and Washington, DC) have more impressive city-proper luxury chain options 1) they're HUGE tourism hotspots and/or 2) they're HUGE foreign investment hotspots.

In that context, I think for a city that has to rely far more on its local populace for a luxury retail market, Philadelphia actually does impressively for shopping options.

Nicely put! I am constantly surprised at how many local retailers and boutiques there are when I pay attention. Even in Rittenhouse. And 3rd Street in Old City is so charming. I love the shops.

Funny, my favorite other city is Montreal. And while I believe it's healthier as a city as a whole (schools, crime, infrastructure), there are a lot of similarities between the two. Size, population, density, grittiness, oldness, previously the largest city in its country, etc. Another one is that it's a city of boutique shopping. It has just a ton of boutiques. But it as a city is healthier even on the shopping side. The reason I bring it up is that I think Montreal's shopping is what we should continue to aspire to. It's really excellent.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by AJNEOA

I completely agree. I'm always surprised at how much of this board is focused on high-end chains for shopping. And I think the city does play its strengths TBH. That's why the boutiques have been so great in this city for so long. I would prefer to see that get even stronger, but I think it has to do with money overall. The more this city attracts the higher end chains, the higher the price/sq.ft likely is, the less boutiques will likely be able to hang on. Maybe that's an oversimplification.

Nan Duskin was like Joan Shepp but larger. It carried many of the high end designers, like Chanel. And they also had their own label.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Thirded! I know I've tried to make this point several times over the course of this thread. There's no doubt that this fetishization of luxury chain retail (not that some isn't healthy) is really a waste of energy and undercuts the true independent spirit of Philly. Why are we so quick to sell our souls to consumer sameness, and as AJNEOA implies, succumb to truly negative impacts of expensive real estate?

Heck, a lot of people don't even realize that the supposedly high-end chain products they're buying are still made in a "mass produced" fashion by cheap labor: Slaving in the lap of luxury - latimes. It's all just about marketing.

Not to mention, the fundamental reasons why NYC, Chicago and San Francisco (and to a lesser extent Boston, Seattle, Miami and Washington, DC) have more impressive city-proper luxury chain options 1) they're HUGE tourism hotspots and/or 2) they're HUGE foreign investment hotspots.

In that context, I think for a city that has to rely far more on its local populace for a luxury retail market, Philadelphia actually does impressively for shopping options.

Nan Duskin,( which I suppose most of you are too young to remember or know about) and Boyd's fits your last sentence to a "T". ND was around for about 60 years.