tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post3275931072079388220..comments2024-03-12T06:05:52.460-07:00Comments on Sky City: Retail History: Plymouth Meeting Mall: Plymouth Meeting, PAJ.T.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04208881715255029485noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-77419193627794593182018-09-05T13:45:15.439-07:002018-09-05T13:45:15.439-07:00Strawbridge and Clothier made a huge push in 1984 ...Strawbridge and Clothier made a huge push in 1984 to update their 1960's locations in quick succession and Plymouth Meeting was part of the project. The spartan, mid-century decor was softened with new carpeting and a lot of wood elements and the newly ubiquitous mauve retail furniture and fixtures. The first floor was slightly downsized (you can see the walled off section in those arches by bedding/tabletop photo listed). The top floor also got a major reconfiguration around that time as the large, aqua Tiki Room- inspired restaurant was converted to retail floor space and the optical and hair dresser space was walled off from use. Hecht's swapped out some furniture and put their trademark carpeting in during the 1990's but that was about it for keeping this location "fresh". Macy's finished walling off the water fountains that were retired by Hecht's as well as the public seating space beneath the escalators when they took over the building. That was a real loss to the building. Those fountains created "white noise" that created a very serene experience.GDKayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00543233842722153032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-8691597095190526292018-09-05T13:34:52.272-07:002018-09-05T13:34:52.272-07:00Note about Hess's- although it was their large...Note about Hess's- although it was their largest chain location, it was smaller than most of their competing department stores. The Lit Brothers building was far too large for Hess's business model. Hess's tended to build smaller, one story buildings from scratch, so moving into a large, existing 2-story building meant distributing traditionally smaller square footage across two floors. About a third of the building was cut off (length-wise, strangely enough) and the excised space created 8 new store fronts in the mall by pushing the Hess's entrance close to the building's centrally located escalators. It was a wild, Disco-era store like no other. The mannequins with glass eyes and permanent hair were creepy as hell. When Boscov's decided to reveal their true name to locals by moving from their unwieldy Ports of the World store location in an abandoned Sears store a few miles away and into the mall under their corporate name, the Hess's was too small for a full service Boscov's location. Boscov's managed to undo the previous changes in footprint and restore this location to Lit Brother's original size.GDKayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00543233842722153032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-53892896924770758932018-02-12T06:42:04.076-08:002018-02-12T06:42:04.076-08:00Good reporting!Good reporting!sukie9https://www.blogger.com/profile/12482289901264083772noreply@blogger.com