Eager to attract retailers to Center City, the Philadelphia Marketing Alliance (PRMA) has launched a program to tout the benefits to opening stores in Philadelphia. At the website, www.philadelphiaretail.com, it backs up those benefits with testimonials, market trends, demographic stats and tools to help retailers assess locations. The PRMA effort is headed by Center City District (CCD), and was unveiled at a recent International Council of Shopping Centers Idea Exchange. Mayor, Michael Nutter, joined with Paul Levy, president and CEO of CCD, in making the presentation. They highlighted the city’s dense, compact, walkable downtown, and focused on the purchasing power of residents, commuters, visitors and students.
Despite the national recession, retail vacancies downtown increased by just 0.5 percent in the past year, and 279 new retail stores and restaurants opened in the past 12 months. An area of the website, “Be In On It,” features success stories from prominent Philadelphia boutiques, such as Joan Shepp, Steven Lagos and Sophie Curson, and from national retailers, Macy’s and Barneys. The site also makes finding a suitable location easy, by connecting interested retailers with brokers who represent specific properties. The website provides overviews of each retail neighborhood and even particular streets.
PRMA has also compiled a comprehensive report on Center City Philadelphia retail trends. In addition to CCD, PRMA includes representatives from the City’s Commerce Department, Tourism Marketing Corp. and Convention & Visitors Bureau, among others. For more information, visit www.PhiladelphiaRetail.com.