Department Stores and the Philly Premium Outlets

In the chronology of my photos here, we're currently sitting back in late August 2017. There are two significant things about this time- first and foremost, this was pre-virus, so department stores were still a thing; and secondly it was less than a month before I started college. Now, if you're anything like me, you've squandered your entire summer watching a specific garden center getting demolished and are almost out of time to do any back-to-school shopping. As much as I love retail, shopping like this is the absolute worst. I had to suck it up for a very long day of department store crawling, but at least I got some photos out of it.

Payless, Exton, PA
This was one of Exton's two Payless stores. They both made it to the bitter end, although the Exton Mall location was marked for potential closure during their first bankruptcy. I believe this was an original tenant to the shopping center, putting its opening date in the mid-80's. The light pole behind the building is the sole remainder of the Exton Drive-In theater, which closed in the early 80's but was temporarily brought back to life for the Hooters' And We Danced music video shortly before its demolition in 1985. I have no clue how or why it was spared, but it still gets used at night.

Clover/Kohl's, Exton, PA
If this picture looks familiar, that's because it was originally on my Flickr, then I deleted it, and just now realized it is the only exterior shot I have of this place. Clover opened this store in 1986, and sold it to Kohl's in 1997. Kohl's did a little bit of exterior work, but overall it doesn't look too different from when it was a Clover.

For the number of exterior pictures of Clovers that exist online, there are surprisingly few interior ones. I've got nothing to compare the interior to so I can't say how much work Kohl's did here, but it's safe to assume they did a thorough, if not total gut, remodel when they bought this store.

I don't think this store's been remodeled again since Kohl's opened, although they did change out the lighting for LED's in 2014.

Bathroom supplies were looking a little picked over, which I'm assuming is due to the back-to-school rush. The limited selection here ensured I had to hit two other department stores that day. Yippee.

Kitchen supplies, on the other hand, were actually pretty well-stocked.

Bedding also seemed to be well-stocked, but the dorms have weirdly-sized (Twin-XL, since apparently that's a thing) beds which weren't carried here.

Strawbridge's/Macy's, Exton, PA
Because of the Twin-XL beds, we had to run across the street to Macy's (who by some miracle had it in stock). Despite the store not having been remodeled since the mid-80's, Macy's recently added a clearance section. That was enough to save the store from the 2017 closings, but rumor has it this store's on the block for their next round alongside Concord Mall's, which is the only other purpose-built Strawbridge's left in Macys' portfolio.

While I was here, I wandered over to the Furniture section, which I believe was home to Strawbridge's restaurant up until the 90's.

Even though I go to this store somewhat frequently, I can't say I'd ever been in the furniture section before.

A blurry picture I snapped of some vintage Strawbridge's goodness.

Philadelphia Premium Outlets, Limerick, PA
This open-air outlet center was built in 2011, which is surprisingly new for something with a traditional mall layout. It's been doing a good job keeping the vacancies filled, even though the vacancies are most of what I photographed here on this trip. Despite the liquidation-style signs here, Wilson's Leather was not closing. That sign's been here for years at this point. Call it karma, but the store did eventually wind up closing last year and is now a DKNY.

Former Bebe store, now home to a Michael Kors Outlet.

The Toys R Us Outlet originally had a much nicer and larger store in the mall, but for whatever reason in early 2017 they moved to the old Jos. A Bank space. They put no effort into converting it either. I don't think they were forced to move, since their old space has been occupied by a Go! Calendars & Games ever since. After TRU went under, this space became an As Seen On TV, and is now home to a Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods store.

This space was... and still is a Rue 21. They closed this store during their bankruptcy, and reopened it after they emerged.

Former Reebok store, which closed in preparation for the mall to get an H&M. Sister chain Adidas next door moved for it too, into the former Under Armour space. Under Armour was moved into the former Neiman-Marcus Last Call. H&M's opening required a lot of shuffling around over a fairly long amount of time. They finally opened their doors in 2019.

Vitamin World is still open here! This was initially supposed to close in their bankruptcy, but was saved after the company was bought.

Neiman-Marcus Last Call, which closed in the wave that shut down the majority of their stores. It's now split between Under Armour and an Old Navy.

Pre-lockdown, Ruby Tuesday was still open here. The chain's in bad enough shape I don't imagine they'll survive though.

This was originally Direct Tools Factory Outlet, which closed in 2016. It's still vacant, but gets frequently used for pop-ups around Christmastime.

Restoration Hardware originally only took the far half of this block of stores, the near half was split between Kenneth Cole, Cabi, and Max Studio. Kenneth Cole and Max Studio both closed outright, while Cabi moved around a little before finally settling into Michael Kors' original location, after they moved to the former Bebe. Restoration Hardware repainted the whole building gray once they had total control over it.

I'm impressed with how seamless the interior looks. Normally there would be some scarring on either the flooring or ceiling from where the walls would have gone.

True Religion Jeans and Diesel have both closed; Diesel is now Austin 5 while True Religion is vacant.

Puma's one of the mall's original tenants, and is one of the few larger outlet stores that hasn't moved from its original location.

Tommy Hilfiger is one of the larger stores flanking the main entrance to the mall.

Ann Taylor is the other.

The Sperry store has a pretty small footprint but they're one of the busier stores here. This location was remodeled in late 2018.

The Forever 21 here is operating out of what were two storefronts that they just knocked out the wall between. They didn't do any remodeling, the flooring and ceilings are different in each half. I know F21 isn't exactly a high-end retailer, but usually they put at least a little more effort into their stores.

Beef Jerky Outlet, my favorite store in this mall, opened in 2016 in what was most recently a long-term pop-up called Socks to be You.

As Seen on TV is operating out of a space that has been vacant for years. It has since become Doggie Destination, which I believe is another pop-up.

The North Face was a recent addition to the mall, it opened in 2016 taking up 2 long(ish)-term vacancies.

It always struck me as odd the Subway wasn't in the food court. This location wound up closing last year, and remains vacant for now.

I got these pictures when Aeropostale was just getting out of bankruptcy. I didn't have high hopes for the company, but I'm glad to report it is still open today.

I'm still amazed stores that exclusively sell sunglasses can stay in business... like seriously, who buys like more than one pair in a year? Or 5 years for that matter, assuming you haven't lost your last pair?

Kmart/Self Storage Center, Phoenixville, PA
This store was built in 2001 as one of the final 10 Kmarts to ever open. It was marked for closure in the 2002 bankruptcy- and even got to the point where the closing signs were up, but saved after its lease was renegotiated. They weren't so lucky the second time around, and closed in early 2019 as part of their second bankruptcy. It sat vacant until last month, when work began converting this into a self storage facility like we need any more of them around here.

This wasn't a leisure trip like most of my Kmart visits were, this time I was actually trying to find the bathroom supplies Kohl's didn't have. By some miracle, Kmart had them. This was the first and only time I've ever been pleasantly surprised by Kmart.

This store lost its Pharmacy earlier in the year. This is what people in the literary world call "foreshadowing".

Looking toward the clothing side of the store from the center aisle. The store had a pretty large footprint, but it's still probably no larger than a typical 90's store. It clocked in at a little over 100k square feet.

The garden center had its own entrance, despite it not being partitioned off from the store like most Kmarts usually have it.

This store is the only Kmart I've been to without mismatched ceiling or floor tiles.

I swear, this store almost looked too good to be a Kmart.

It's blurry, but it's the only shot I got of the front end and former Kcafe. This was been taken over by sports memorabilia/jerseys years ago.

Pantry Archaeology
I found this Jello from 1989 in my pantry. I ate it on a dare, and didn't die. It was actually still good, I don't think Jello expires.

Rite Aid, Gibbstown, NJ
This location opened in the late 90's, replacing a strip mall store across the street. It was remodeled to the Wellness look in 2016.

Amoco/BP, Linwood, PA
This location closed in 2013. Time has not treated it well. Linwood's not exactly a "happening" town, so I'm not expecting much to change in the near future.

Wawa, Boothwyn, PA
This store is number 30, meaning it opened in the mid-60's. It was given the "lite" exterior remodel in 2015, which basically is just a siding replacement and logo update. It's what they've been giving to older stores they're planning on replacing in the not-too-distant future that aren't worth the full million-dollar remodel other stores are getting. Interestingly, these stores still get a full interior remodel. It's not a gut remodel, but all the finishes and fixtures are replaced.

Dunkin' Donuts, Boothwyn, PA
Dunkin opened this store in the late 2000's in what was formerly an auto tag shop. It's remarkably small for a location this new; I've got to wonder how a franchise got approved for here.

In retrospect, back-to-school shopping doesn't sound so bad after that school year's over. Especially if in the past couple months the only stores you've been inside were two Wawas and a pizza place. Alice Cooper's captured the vibe.