The Gallery at Market East

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = The Gallery at Market East


image_width = 196px
caption =
location = 9th & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
opening_date =
developer =
manager =
owner = Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust
number_of_stores = 170+
number_of_anchors = 2
floor_area = 1,100,000 ft²
floors = 4
parking = 2 parking garages
website = [http://www.galleryatmarketeast.com/ galleryatmarketeast.com]

The Gallery at Market East, or more commonly, The Gallery, is an urban mall in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States with over 170 stores and a food court. The mall's major anchor stores include Kmart, Burlington Coat Factory, Pay/Half, Old Navy and Modell's Sporting Goods.

Layout

The underground concourse of the mall runs parallel to the north side of Market Street, from the basement level of the now-closed Strawbridge's east of 9th Street, to the concourse for the 11th Street Market East Station of SEPTA's Regional Rail lines. The mall is also connected to a large underground concourse connecting buildings and transit stations in Center City, Philadelphia. Above this at street level is an access concourse for the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown hotel, Hard Rock Cafe, and lobby for the Grand Hall of the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th & Market Streets. The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal is immediately north of the Gallery across Filbert Street.

On the street level, The Gallery takes up the block between Market and Filbert Streets. Between 9th and 10th Streets, a Big Kmart occupies the first and second floors. At 11th Street, Burlington Coat Factory holds a portion of the concourse level, and half of the first through third floor levels, in a space originally built for JCPenney. The street level portions of The Gallery do not block or close off any streets; thus, access at the street level must be gained by exiting the facility and crossing the streets. Access across the upper levels can be found only from the second and third levels of the former Strawbridge's. The Gallery is composed of Gallery I and Gallery II. Gallery I extends underground from the former Strawbridge's at 9th Street to the eastern side of 10th Street. Some years after The Gallery opened, the concourse was continued and the Gallery II section opened to the public. The whole complex is simply referred to as "The Gallery." Gallery I was anchored by Strawbridge's until 2006. The store had convert|522000|sqft|m2|abbr=on of floor space. The Gallery II is anchored by Burlington Coat Factory and has 51 tenants including Old Navy, Foot Locker, Bath & Body Works and Limited stores.

History

The Gallery was anchored on its western end at 10th Street by Gimbels and its successor Stern's until the department store went out of business. A Clover store took over the space, but it closed along with the rest of the Clover chain in 1996. Big Kmart opened in the late 1990s. The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) acquired the Gallery I in April 2003 from the Rouse Co. They acquired Gallery II in the third fiscal quarter of 2004 from the state's Public School Employees' Retirement System. The complex measures approximately convert|1100000|sqft|m2 of retail space.

Anchors & Majors

*Big Kmart (150,000 sq ft.)
*Burlington Coat Factory (127,271 sq ft.)
*Modell's
*Old Navy (23,047 sq ft.)
*Pay/Half (31,552 sq ft.)

Former Anchors & Majors

*Strawbridge & Clothier Flagship & Home office
*Gimbel's A four level store; replacing their regional flagship which occupied 3/4 of the block of 800 Market Street
*JC Penney At 11th & Market, anchored the second phase, opened 1984
*Sterns Replaced Gimbels until 1994

Rail transit connections

The following rail stations are connected to The Gallery:
*8th St Station — SEPTA Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA Broad-Ridge Spur, PATCO Speedline
*11th St Station — SEPTA Market-Frankford Line
*Market East Station — SEPTA Regional Rail

External links

* [http://www.galleryatmarketeast.com The Gallery at Market East] — corporate website
* [http://www.preit.com The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment trust] — corporate owners
* [http://www.philebrity.com/2006/09/13/panel-reveals-tourists-afraid-of-black-people-the-gallery-walking-etc/ Philebrity] — Philebrity