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My car died the other day and the Make a Wish foundation is coming to pick it up tomorrow. I won't be getting another car for a few months, and while I'll miss spontaneous trips to Pennsyltucky, what I miss more is Kmart.
Yes, Kmart. I hate to admit it, but I truly miss that dreary discount department store.
With the mercury rising I need a new air conditioner. A few years ago I would have lugged my granny cart to Market East to buy a cheap window unit, but today I have little options. I'll probably borrow a friend's car or rent one, but Zip Cars and suburban friends aren't clean answers to pedestrianization strategies.
The impending improvements to Market East are wonderful and welcome, but high end retail and luxury apartments don't provide the same necessities and staples offered by the Kmarts and Walmarts of the world.
Perhaps a Target will fill the void. People seem to love the idea, and there's ample real estate on Broad. I've always imagined that the old School Board Building on North Broad Street would make a fantastic shopping center, perhaps anchored with a Target and a Philadelphia Sports Club. Until that happens I'll have to buy overpriced paper towels and kitty litter at CVS.
Market East is about to face another blow, or perhaps an opportunity. Although a massive vacancy at the Gallery can hardly be considered an opportunity when most of the street between 8th and 12th and underutilized or downright vacant.
Sears Holdings announced that it will be closing their Kmart location at the Gallery at Market East. While "good riddance" has been echoed through the snottier parts of Center City, Kmart isn't just one of the Gallery's anchor stores, it anchors it in the middle.
It was bad enough when Strawbridge's closed, leaving the mall with no fine department store, but Kmart sits right in the middle. To pass from one side to the other, shoppers will soon need to pass through the bottom floor.
PREIT appears to have no plans for the vacant space despite rumors of everything from a Bloomingdales to a casino. Say what you will about Kmart, but without a grocery store or big box chain in Center City, it was a convenient place to buy reasonably priced kitty litter and Diet Coke.
