It' official. King Of Prussia Penney is closing

[timeEd32]

Really not sure why it seems some are insinuating this is a loss for the mall. The folks at Simon are probably rubbing their hands together.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Thanks! I figured you would remember the details. Btw, the ACMoore store in CC opens in a couple of weeks. They're adding a Home Decor section, which, I understand, they have not done before.

Home Decor makes sense, based on certain items that they bring in as seasonal. They might incorporate the floral design into that. The floral design is all in-store & can be custom ordered, but if Home Decor is what I think it will be, it will expand what the floral designers do.

[HappyRider]

Take down has already started. Was there earlier tonight. Sad!

What always amazes me is that prices are not as much marked down as you would think. Oh, another one on the chopping block a few steps down: Radio Shack. Had the going out of business sale everywhere but were still selling a $2 plug for $10.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

It all started with Woodward & Lothrop failing in DC. Wanamakers was tied to them. Wanamakers was successful enough that they kept Woodies afloat. When Woodies failure got bad enough that Wanamakers couldn't keep them afloat, they were closed down & sold to the May Co.

The May Company renamed Woodward & Lothrop & John Wanamakers Hechts. Hechts was a Baltimore department store that was probably equivalent to Gimbels. They ran ads in all media declaring "Philadelphia! We're going to teach you how to shop!!!"

The stores were being merchandised out of Baltimore. It was a colossal failure. After the Christmas failure, the May Company went after Strawbridge & Clothier to eliminate the competition. After months of negotiations the May Company offered enough that the family & the stock holders accepted the offer.

The Hecht Co. was also Washington-based; it was that city's Strawbridge's to Woodward & Lothrop's Wanamakers. (The Northeast Corridor main line passes right by the vintage-1936 (now former) Hecht Co. warehouse in northeast DC on its way to Union Station.)

Baltimore's big department stores were Hochschild & Kohn and Hutzler's; both met their demise between the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Hecht's acquired one of them.

The real estate developer who owned "Woodies" took Wanamakers off Carter Hawley Hale (later Broadway-Hale)'s hands in the late 1980s. That California-based company had no idea what to do with the grande dame of Market Street, while Strawbridge's had the good fortune of having Stockton Strawbridge at its helm throughout the era when department stores were falling to chain owners left and right.

I'm pretty sure the sale of the store killed him.

May Department Stores merged Strawbridge's into its Hecht's division but kept the Strawbridge name on the stores, having learned a painful lesson from rebadging its prior acquisition, John Wanamaker.

I recall seeing one article that said the mistake the Strawbridges made was going deep in their home region (opening the Clover discount division) rather than expanding beyond it (as the Nordstroms did in Seattle). There certainly still seems to be room for a company that offers a distinctive shopping experience and level of service to make it, grow and expand. Any of you heard of Von Maur? That little store in Davenport, Iowa, has become something of a Midwestern Nordstrom.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

The Hecht Co. was also Washington-based; it was that city's Strawbridge's to Woodward & Lothrop's Wanamakers. (The Northeast Corridor main line passes right by the vintage-1936 (now former) Hecht Co. warehouse in northeast DC on its way to Union Station.)

Baltimore's big department stores were Hochschild & Kohn and Hutzler's; both met their demise between the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Hecht's acquired one of them.

The real estate developer who owned "Woodies" took Wanamakers off Carter Hawley Hale (later Broadway-Hale)'s hands in the late 1980s. That California-based company had no idea what to do with the grande dame of Market Street, while Strawbridge's had the good fortune of having Stockton Strawbridge at its helm throughout the era when department stores were falling to chain owners left and right.

I'm pretty sure the sale of the store killed him.

May Department Stores merged Strawbridge's into its Hecht's division but kept the Strawbridge name on the stores, having learned a painful lesson from rebadging its prior acquisition, John Wanamaker.

I recall seeing one article that said the mistake the Strawbridges made was going deep in their home region (opening the Clover discount division) rather than expanding beyond it (as the Nordstroms did in Seattle). There certainly still seems to be room for a company that offers a distinctive shopping experience and level of service to make it, grow and expand. Any of you heard of Von Maur? That little store in Davenport, Iowa, has become something of a Midwestern Nordstrom.

I remember when the Californians owned John Wanamaker. Winter clothing was very elegant. Summer clothing tended to bizzare. It was almost like winter was merchandised out of Philadelphia & summer was from California. They also had a problem adapting to the emerging boomer customers who were quite taken with the fashions coming out of "Swinging London". That all changed when the Californians bowed out.

The May Company created incredible animosity. When they renamed John Wanamaker, I heard people, seething, say "Haven't those people ever read an American history book?" The "Philadelphia, we're going to teach you how to shop." campaign infuriated people. Merchandising out of Baltimore was the final nail in their coffin, & they could have fixed it at several points. I could be wrong, but I've thought, for years, that Philadelphia took down the May Company. They came in with nothing but arrogance & disrespect. It was Woodies that failed, not Wanamakers. That Christmas season as Hechts was disastrous. Philadelphians liked to find treasures as gifts & for themselves at Christmas time. The first time that I walked into the main Wanamaker store that year I knew that it would be a disaster. Everything was being displayed in bulk. When you went up to the Christmas decorations there was a gigantic pile of scroungy looking little teddy bears on a huge table. Most were still there after Christmas.

I've been hearing about Von Maur. Still, I'd like to see the Strawbridge family make a run at it again.

[tyrell12]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

May Department Stores merged Strawbridge's into its Hecht's division but kept the Strawbridge name on the stores, having learned a painful lesson from rebadging its prior acquisition, John Wanamaker.

I recall seeing one article that said the mistake the Strawbridges made was going deep in their home region (opening the Clover discount division) rather than expanding beyond it (as the Nordstroms did in Seattle).

You might be forgetting that May Co. did alter the name from Strawbridge & Clothier to just strawbridge's, a process to shorten the name and logo (IMO dumb down the name), although the outside banner of existing stores were left in tact. May Co. couldn't just leave what was fine alone either.

When the former Wanamaker building (shortly lived as Hecht's) in Moorestown was demolished, May Company built a new strawbridge's while the Cherry Hill Mall store was just 3 miles away. A Lord & Taylor, also co-owned, was built on the side. It's still puzzling why it opened it so close by, going a bit too deep with strawbridge's in South west Jersey. It could have just opened Lord & Taylor there. Although one could argue that the store did run for 17 years, providing people jobs and probably profitable for long period co-existing, so it wasn't a total mistake of running two stores so close together.

As far the Strawbridge (pre-May Co. days) going outside of the Philly region, are you implying the opportunity was there back in the '70s or late '80s and they missed the opportunity? Back then, it was expensive for department stores to advertise in different regions, so I could understand concentrating where the Philly media/Inquirer had reach.

By the time macy's merged with May Co,., I'm sure macy's had little interest in upkeeping Neshaminy or Plymouth Meeting. macy's didn't need any of the stores S&C/Wanamaker brought except a Center City presence. But it was more useful in markets like Baltimore. For example: Macy's acquired the Hecht's site in Towson and Columbia through the mergers, and these are two malls where it does well in now.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by tyrell12

You might be forgetting that May Co. did alter the name from Strawbridge & Clothier to just strawbridge's, a process to shorten the name and logo (IMO dumb down the name), although the outside banner of existing stores were left in tact. May Co. couldn't just leave what was fine alone either.

When the former Wanamaker building (shortly lived as Hecht's) in Moorestown was demolished, May Company built a new strawbridge's while the Cherry Hill Mall store was just 3 miles away. A Lord & Taylor, also co-owned, was built on the side. It's still puzzling why it opened it so close by, going a bit too deep with strawbridge's in South west Jersey. It could have just opened Lord & Taylor there. Although one could argue that the store did run for 17 years, providing people jobs and probably profitable for long period co-existing, so it wasn't a total mistake of running two stores so close together.

As far the Strawbridge (pre-May Co. days) going outside of the Philly region, are you implying the opportunity was there back in the '70s or late '80s and they missed the opportunity? Back then, it was expensive for department stores to advertise in different regions, so I could understand concentrating where the Philly media/Inquirer had reach.

By the time macy's merged with May Co,., I'm sure macy's had little interest in upkeeping Neshaminy or Plymouth Meeting. macy's didn't need any of the stores S&C/Wanamaker brought except a Center City presence. But it was more useful in markets like Baltimore. For example: Macy's acquired the Hecht's site in Towson and Columbia through the mergers, and these are two malls where it does well in now.

Keep in mind that when Gimbels closed, Sterns, out of NYC made a stab at it & failed, but, Mr Boscov quietly snuck in under the Ports of the World banner. Ports was, for all intents & purposes, Mr Boscov's rip off of the Hamricks concept out of Gaffney, SC.