Yes, it started at the Gallery, which isn’t about to help them any, unfortunately.

Two things: you can tell this is a Daily News articles because it’s less professionally written than most blogs. Also, I can’t help but picture some bitter Chicago transplant jumping into the fray at Macy’s, crying vengeance for Marshall Fields.

I haven’t seen it since, but I know (at least for my own entertainment) I’d rather have a run-down mall that could be fixed up than some smoky, disspiriting casino. And as someone who works in Philly now, I’d rather have the same thing – having a fixer-upper of a mall is better than having a poverty-encouraging slot pit. Part of my company’s goal is to eliminate poverty, and having a place fueled by “get rich quick” pipe dreams in Center City will make us look even more hopeless. Not to mention make the city look low-class.

Speaking of low-class… shawn, still bitter about the eviction?

where are you going to run after the so-called “section 8-welfare-ghetto trash” repopulate in your cozy suburbia???

Preit controls most of the Gallery mall itself and also bought the former Strawbridges building, but they are a Wall Street-driven real estate trust, and they make short term decisions to satisfy their investors…not an easy crowd these days. Also, except for Cherry Hill and Willow Grove, Preit mostly operates lower-end malls and really doesnt know how to upscale something as complicated as an urban mall. I really wish they would sell it, since this isnt thier real strength.

A company called Vornado owns the Kmart building, and they are even worse. They made the upper floors of this building (made for Gimbels flagship originally) into offices and cut into the facade cheap-looking tiny windows. It is an embarassing looking attempt, and it shows how little conc ern for the city they have. As usual, another MBA-driven cheap real estate company is screwing center city Philly to make a fast buck. They couldn’t do a nicer job with the facade? Puleease!

But surprisingly, the worst offender of all is the city who controls the Burlington Coat (old JCPenney) building. They took ‘bids’ on who to lease it to when Penney’s left, and instead of going out to cut a deal for something better (in this case maybe a Target or Boscovs ) they gave it to the Burlington, who gave them cheap/quick money and a fast lease. No attention to how it would affect the rest of the mall or whether people like me who lived in center city would even want to go there. So, now I am still forced to go to Columbus Blvd, or KofP to do ‘decent’ retail shopping.

Macy’s also ruined a chance to make the Gallery into something better as well. Instead of staying in the Strawbridges building, they abandoned it for smaller space in the former Lord & Taylor, once they sold that division off . (For history buffs, this place is a gem….its the old John Wanamaker flagship store….a national architectural landmark. To say its beautiful is an understatement….it’s one of the finest commercial buildings in the U.S. It was the store in the movie ‘Mannequin’ if you’re a bad 80’s movie fan) I don’t necessarily blame Macy’s for the move, but they left big empty space for a smaller store and have much less selection in their new location than what they could’ve had in the old Strawbridge’s. They did add a nicer home goods area last fall, but the overall store is much smaller than even most of their suburban stores. This is ironic, since before they converted most of the upper floors of the Wanamaker building to office space, it was once one of the world’s largest department stores. The loss of these stores says a lot about what has happened to Philadelphia overall.

As for the casino idea……let’s make sure this absolutely does not happen. The last thing center city needs is the element that this will bring. You think its bad at the mall now, just wait. Been to Atlantic City lately? Not pretty.

I’ve always felt that the first floor/underground part of the Gallery was a little sketchy looking. The dim lighting, narrow hallways, and the dark tiles (especially around the food court) make it rather uninviting. I really like the funky layout though. It takes some getting used to but I think its one of the things that makes this place unique. I did get confused though the first time I tried to get to the stores on the 3rd/4th combo floor.

I really wish the Gallery could get some more chain clothing stores, Old Navy, the Gap, and NY and Co. do an alright job but more selection would be nice. Something like Target would be amazing downtown. The K-Mart offers the same type of products but this K-Mart, in my opinion, is just small and dingy. The last time I was there I couldn’t find anything that I was shopping for and the whole store seemed to be a big mess. A Kohl’s might work in the first level of the old Strawbridge’s. I agree with a previous poster’s suggestion of a Barnes & Noble. While the Gallery currently has express versions of B.Dalton’s and Borders, downtown could really use a full scale B&N. The only Barnes & Noble downtown is off of Rittenhouse which again can be a little inconvenient to access via public transportation. I think this area could benefit the most from some more chain restaurants that could cater to tourists and convention center attendees.

Also I just thought that with the way the Gallery is split in half they could reorganize it to house some of the more discount/convenience stores near the train stations and fill the other end with more chains one usually finds in a mall (not necessarily upscale but not the bargain type stores that are there now).

Connection to a convention center?
Connection to a hotel?
Connection to a farmers’ market?
Connection to a train station?!?!
Proximity to a Greyhound terminal?
Proximity to a huge historical tourist attraction, ie. Independence Hall?
Proximity to national monuments like Pat’s and Gino’s?

I mean, come on! If this isn’t a gem of a site going to waste I don’t know what is. It’s no wonder Foxwoods Resort Casino wants to move their new casino project from the waterfront to here. I have to say, however, that I think a casino would almost be a waste of these resources. A casino by Foxwoods is most likely going to succeed almost wherever it is (they didn’t build the biggest casino in the world by accident). I feel like another venue, preferably retail, would benefit better from the site. Even if it is just another mall that better interacts with its surroundings.

I was born and raised in NE Philadelphia, but spent the better part of my weekends as a teenager downtown. As such, the revitalizations of some parts of Center City (to the detriment of others) fascinate me.

While waiting to catch SEPTA regional rail back home I used to hang out at the Gallery. The thing that stuck the most in my head was just how outdated and dark it seemed. A big part of this I’m sure is the fact that it is, as the blog mentioned, literally downtown. As a teenager (and later, as a broke college student) I definitely had use for discount stores, so the selection of retail didn’t bother me. But it was just something about the lights, the mirrored ceilings, etc. that made everything seem… I don’t know… sketchier? Even in the food court… I could tell myself that the Teryaki Boy sushi there was the exact same as the Teryaki Boy in the Shops at Liberty Place (where I ended up more often despite the fact I couldn’t afford much there!), but it all just felt cheaper.

To me, they’re not going going to attract an anchor to replace Strawbridge’s (RIP) until they address the issue of aesthetics.

Although, last time I was around the Gallery much of the surrounding area still felt cheap as well. I’ll be interested when I go back this weekend to see if it’s changed, and if so, I wonder what that means for the future of the Gallery.