Shoppers' mecca Century 21 to arrive in Philly "with a bang"
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Eddie Gindi, executive vice president and a co-owner of Century 21 department stores, says he knows that anyone in their pajamas can go online at midnight to buy clothing or household goods.
But what those Internet shoppers won't get is an exciting shopping experience. And that's what his company is planning to create at its new, 100,000-square-foot store scheduled to open this fall in the former Strawbridge store in the 800 block of East Market Street.
"It will be cool, hip, a very visual place to be shopping in," Gindi told a meeting this morning of the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation. "We want to come to Philly with a bang."
The New York City shoppers' mecca is known for offering high-end merchandise at discount prices. Think acres of brand-name purses, racks of designer clothing, perfume, fine bed linens and luggage.
Though it's a big risk to move into a new market, Gindi says he sees his company's "core customers" among Philly shoppers.
"They are fashion-savvy, diverse, creative, artistic. They get it," he says.
What's more, they're big bargain hunters.
"At the same time, they want affordable prices," Gindi says.
Century 21 opened its first store in Lower Manhattan in 1961. A month later, it opened a second store in Brooklyn. A conservative leadership was reluctant to grow too fast, and it took 30 years to open another store. The company now has eight stores.
Philly's store will be Century 21's first outside of the New York regional market.
"We need and want to be part of the community here," he says.
