Localism: Win One, Lose One

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s near Philadelphia, my family would usually shop locally, which meant local stores on the major roads, or the local malls. Driving - or taking the El downtown to Center City - now, there was a treat. Although the transformation of Market Street from scary porn shop district into a convention area was still years away, the Gallery at Market East was brand new, and anchored at one end by Strawbridge & Clothier's, one of the grand old department stores of the city. Founded in 1868, it went through a few ownership changes in recent years (and a name change to Strawbridge's), culminating with its closing today. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer explains part of the magic it used to work:

Featuring marble floors and polished mahogany counters, wide aisles and gracious staircases, plush restrooms for the ladies and in-store fashion shows by Junior League debutantes, Philadelphia's grand department stores stood as beacons ofstyle and set the tone for public decorum.

The rest of the article explains how S&C, along with the late Wanamaker's store further up on Market Street defined department store shopping in Philadelphia for decades. Now, I'm not arguing that these old stores weren't dinosaurs that had outlived their usefulness. Millions of dollars being were spent to lure shoppers back downtown, to no avail. But what bothered me a little is the loss of another local name, its local roots, and tradition, to a national chain.

But there is some good news. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, are returning to local hands. They had been put up for sale after the Knight-Ridder media chain sold the papers a few weeks back. As an avid newspaper reader, I have been following the decline of these papers for years: the loss of good writers, the dumbing down of the content, even the reduction in the paper's size. I hope better things are ahead.

Philadelphia Inquirer Story About Strawbridge's
Philadelphia Inquirer Home Page