PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Center City is continuing a steady recovery from the COVID-19 downturn.
The Center City District’s annual report on retailers shows the second year of growth in new business openings and storefront occupancy.
Pre-pandemic, 89% of Center City stores were occupied. That plummeted in 2020 to 55%. Now, though, occupancy is back to 80%.
Center City District Vice President Prema Gupta thinks those previously boarded-up storefronts have left a lasting, if false, impression.
“I don’t know if it’s the amplification of the news of a Wawa closing, or a Walnut Street retailer like the Gap that we thought would always be there has left, and people don’t have a sense of what’s actually going on,” she said.
In fact, more than 175 businesses have opened since spring 2020 — many of them newer brands that started out as digital retailers, like Gorjana, Glossier and Brookelinen. Meanwhile, a few old standbys, such as Free People and J.Crew, moved to larger spaces.
“I think all of the trends are pretty positive,” Gupta said, crediting the large residential population and the rebound in tourism.
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She acknowledged that office workers have yet to return to the city in reassuring numbers, which is hurting businesses that relied on their daily recurring business.
Still, she said, the pros outweighs the cons.
“There’s a need to correct the perception that downtown retail in Philadelpha is in bad shape,” Gupta added. “We’re in our second straight year of net positive openings, so more openings than closings.”
Gupta hopes the annual report, itself, will help attract more new businesses.