December 10, 2015
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
The checkout counter at the Bloomingdale's Outlet on Dec. 10 at the Shops at Liberty Place. The black and yellow colors are inspired by the "taxi-cab yellow" look of its New York department store. In addition to the standard checkout counter, the store also features mobile checkout devices.
Know this upfront: Bloomingdale's Outlet at the Shops at Liberty Place isn't the behemoth Bloomingdale's of yore -- but then, it no longer needs to be.
The outlet, located in an approximately 25,000-square-foot space that merged two retail locations in a 90-day buildout, is open as of this afternoon at 3 p.m., timed to be open for the Christmas shopping rush. It joins Nordstrom Rack as another scaled-down version of a classic department store on Chestnut Street, catering to changing demands among urban shoppers, and is the third urban Bloomingdale's Outlet to open in the past month, joined by locations in Manhattan and San Diego.
Despite being an outlet, it's apparent -- looking up from the escalator at the 17th and Chestnut streets entrance and seeing the Bloomingdale's sign emerge -- that the outlet hasn't totally been stripped of its department store aesthetic. Grey-and-black, checkered-pattern floors further harken back to the flagship Bloomingdale's department store at 59th Street in Manhattan, as do the "taxi-cab yellow" sale signs planted at store entrances.
Retaining that feel, Senior Vice President of Bloomingdale’s Outlet Stores Michelle Israel told PhillyVoice, was intentional from the get-go -- as was its relative separation from the Shops at Liberty Place, with its additional entrance and hours that extend all the way to 9 p.m. through the week. (The Shops at Liberty Place closes at 7 p.m. through the week.)
“We looked at this as ‘Yes, we are Liberty Place, but we are a free-standing store," Israel said. "We have our own entrance and own hours, so we’re happy to have the traffic of Liberty Place and the food court, but we’re part of the community. ‘We’re on Chestnut Street’ is what we kept saying -- and Liberty Place is great, I’m not bashing it in any way, but we do expect traffic to come that way as more people begin to live downtown.”
Its selections are an ongoing "treasure hunt," she said, but expect to see an initial focus on leathers and furs, as well as denims. Brands you'll find in the men's department range from Michael Kors to Calvin Klein, and Coach to Rebecca Minkoff in the women's department. There is also a home department, which is not necessarily typical of a Bloomingdale's Outlet.
Bloomingdale's is open from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays (but open until 7 p.m. during the holidays). For its opening weekend, the store is offering a "mystery scratch-off" promotion that can nab customers anywhere from 15 to 50 percent off their entire purchase.
