ABOVE PHOTO: Century 21 picture store launch (Photo by Kharisma McIlwaine)
By Kharisma McIlwaine
In recent years, Philadelphia has become much more visible on the fashion scene. We can credit events like Philadelphia Fashion Week, The Philadelphia Collection,17 Days of Fashion, and now Small Boutique Fashion Week as major contributors responsible for helping put and keep our city on the fashion map. Center City staples like Joan Shepp, and Boyd’s have been around for years and continue to drape Philadelphians with the best in high- end clothing. For fashionistas like myself, I look for quality clothing and rejoice whenever I can find it… especially when it’s on sale! Now Philadelphians can rejoice with me. Center City Philadelphia is now home to not one but two new high end department stores with the addition of Century 21 and Nordstrom Rack.
The new Century 21 location is a welcome neighbor to the Gallery, and conveniently located close to the train, bus and a parking lot across the street. After attending the opening of Century 21, I was pleased to find a variety of styles of clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories with extremely reasonable prices. I had the opportunity to speak with Eddie Gindi, Co-Owner and Executive Vice President of the Century 21 Department Store about its new Philadelphia location.
PHOTO: Sistas who shop! Attending The Century 21 picture store launch (from left) Courtney Bolden, Kharisma McIlwaine, Dom Streater, Terri Matthews. (Photo by Kharisma McIlwaine)
I started by asking about the public’s reception of the new Century 21 location? “We’ve received an amazing response from the Philadelphia consumer and we’re gaining new customers every day. We had an incredible start to the holiday season over Thanksgiving weekend and look forward to continuing that momentum.”
The variety of options I saw was an additional plus that I noticed during my visit to Century 21.
“We carry everything from hard to find high end European designers to contemporary brands for apparel, fragrance, home, children’s, and accessories.”
I am one who habitually waits until the last minute to get my Holiday shopping done, and because of that fact I was interested in hearing more about some of the standout deals that customers should look for during the holiday season.
“We built our business on delivering value to our customers 365 days a year. So the deals are always spectacular. We have something for everyone so it’s a one stop shop for gifting with up to 65 percent off retail 100 percent of the time.”
Unfortunately scheduling prohibited an interview with a Nordstrom Rack representative but that didn’t stop me from exploring what the new location had to offer. I spent many days and nights at the King of Prussia Nordstrom Rack location during my time in college, it felt a lot like home. Similar to the KOP location, the new Nordstrom Rack location gives customers rack after rack of options in texture, color, and style for any occasion. If you’re looking for something to wear that is festive for the holidays or something sparkly to bring in the New Year, be sure to visit the new Century 21 located at 821 Market Street and Nordstrom Rack located at 1700 Chestnut Street.
Leave a Comment