End of an era:

First things first, this is an L for Kyle Pagan and a W for the suburban patriots, who will point to the stabbing death of the security guard and make general allegations that companies don’t want anything to do with Center City because of crime. Maybe there’s something to it, maybe not, and only Macy’s knows. Sometimes there are multiple reasons for closing a store, and this is just one of many being shuttered. In addition to the Philly store, they are closing the Exton Mall location, and two more in Altoona and Wilkes Barre. The only New Jersey store to shut down is in Orange while everything else in the region is remaining open. That includes KOP, Springfield Mall, Willow Grove, and the half-dozen or so Macy’s in South Jersey.

But yeah, it’s a bummer. There was a lot of history with the Philly location, which is inside the Wanamaker building. You had the Christmas Light Show with the massive tree and it was a holiday destination for a long time. Definitely became part of the city’s culture and you’d walk through and check out the display with your kids or your girlfriend or whatever.

There’s an opportunity here to reimagine the Wanamaker building, which is a few blocks up from the new Sixers’ arena site. If you’re looking at the development of East Market Street as a larger thing, now these two stories are linked together. If city officials get it right, they can make that corridor really nice, and it needs attention badly, because it’s pretty much dreck right now.