Will Century 21 attract other retailers to the Gallery?

One effect a retailer can have is attracting other retailers who want to be near it. Will Century 21 have that allure for the Gallery?

The New York store signed a 100,000-square-foot lease with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust at the former Strawbridge’s at 801 Market St. in Center City. It will serve as one of the anchor tenants in PREIT’s long-talked about redevelopment of the Gallery at Market East.

In a mall, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdale’s are considered gold-standard, high-volume anchor tenants that drive traffic and a diverse customer base. The consensus is that even though Century 21 isn’t the luxury department store some had hoped for, as a large, apparel-oriented store, it is expected to attract customers, other tenants and help reposition the Gallery.

“There’s a ripple effect that comes off of those players and Century 21 accomplishes that,” said Doug Green with Michael Salove Co., a retail brokerage. “Any project of that size needs a large-scale anchor to drive traffic and Century 21 will certainly activate and drive traffic in that regard. It has an incredible, diverse following and that is why it is so great for the Gallery.”

Century 21 has been around for more than 50 years, and is a discount designer store similar to Nordstrom Rack or Neiman’s Last Call but rather than sell its own brands as those stores do, Century 21 markets leftover designer clothing and samples at a discount. In that way, it is similar to Daffy’s or Loehmann’s, two defunct retailers.

It also functions like a classic department store and, in addition to selling men’s and women’s designer clothing, also sells cosmetics, handbags, shoes, housewares and other items.

“They have a cult-like following in Manhattan,” said Larry Steinberg with CBRE/Fameco. “People will go almost every week to see what is new.”

The Philadelphia store will be different than the Manhattan locations, which are freestanding.

“They have never been in a mall or shopping center,” Steinberg said. “It will be an interesting experiment for them. It will create a lot of traffic and it will help the Gallery attract other retailers because it will significantly increase the volume of traffic.”

The location will between City Hall and the Independence Hall will allow the store to capture tourists and on top of regional rail will enable customers to come in from outside the city to shop. It has a large international following with customers who show up with empty suitcases and fill them up merchandise bought on the cheap.

The Market East site will also serve as Century 21’s only location in the Philadelphia area, putting it in a prime position. It won’t have direct competition.

“It’s nothing that can be found in the other regional shopping areas,” said Steve Gartner of Metro Commercial Real Estate. “It won’t just serve Center City, but it will definitely be a shopping pilgrimage for suburbanites to town. These will be shoppers that never came to Center City, and certainly not to the Gallery.”

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal