PhillyDeals: Is A High-End Retailer In Gallery’s Near Future?

Work crews have been hammering away, restoring the wood-and-bronze-accented central hall of the former Strawbridge & Clothier store downstairs at 801 Market St. from our Inquirer offices.

Rumors that Bloomingdale’s or another high-end department store will take the space have been current in the neighborhood.  Earlier plans and speculation had centered on a casino, a Target, or high-end restaurants.

Of course, Bloomingdale’s owner, Macy’s Inc., hasn’t announced a new Philly store.  Erin Halley, spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), told me there’s nothing to announce.

But retail-watchers say PREIT, which didn’t upgrade the Gallery complex when it improved its malls in Cherry Hill, Plymouth Meeting, and other suburbs in the late 2000s, finally looks ready to make a Center City move – especially since it agreed to pay $60 million to buy the last section it didn’t already own from Vornado Realty Trust last fall.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130712_Is_a_high-end_retailer_in_Gallery_s_near_future_.html#H0ISG0TbHQrRt3SG.99

Developer: Whole Foods Would Join Costco In Lower Macungie

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whole Foods Market has agreed to join Costco and Target as an anchor at the proposed $140 million Hamilton Crossings shopping center in Lower Macungie.

Jeremy Fogel of the Goldenberg Group of Montgomery County, one of two developers planning the project on the Route 222 bypass, confirmed Tuesday that the grocery store chain is the “high end” food store that he and Tim Harrison of Staten Island, N.Y., plan to bring to the shopping center.

“We have been working with Whole Foods for some time, but only yesterday have been authorized to announce that we have an approved deal with Whole Foods,” Fogel said.  “We are currently negotiating a lease for them to become part of the Hamilton Crossings Shopping Center.

Fogel said the addition of Whole Foods enhances the appeal of the proposed development.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lower-macungie-wholefoods-hamilton-crossings-20130604,0,1882822.story