in men's clothing, you can occasionally find amazing deals at daffy's. i've gotten john varvatos shirts for like $40; i've seen jil sander suits for $450. but it's interspersed with an amazing amount of crap. if they could split it out with the "$200 shirt marked down to $35" on one floor, and the "$17 shirt marked down to $7' on anothe floor (like they do for women's clothes) it would save me a lot of time.

I wish Daffys sold the Varvatos Converse. I had to pony up and pay full retail through the damn website :cry:

here's the problem i have with king of prussia and generally the suburban mall shopping situation: it's the illusion of choice without the reality.

last time i was at k.o.p., i was looking for pretty basic clothing, and i saw the same pair of kenneth cole pants in macy's, nordstrom, AND kenneth cole store, in addition to several other smaller stores. as i wandered around the mall more i realized that it's the same everywhere: there are all these stores, selling all the same stuff that every other store sells.

now, regarding the parking situation: the parking at king of prussia mall leaves you with just as much, if not more, suckiness than city shopping, minus the cost of a meter. if you drive around a reasonable amount and don't expect to park directly at the gallery, you end up walking 3-4 blocks to get to the mall--easily as far as from the far reaches of the kop parking lot, which doesn't have a bunch of smaller stores and stuff to walk by on your way to the mall, like walking through the city does. people always have this delusion. "hey, the mall has a parking lot, therefore it's easier than the city!" it's totally not. you either drive around for half an hour looking for a good spot, just like in the city, or you park far away, just like in the city. and meters downtown cost a dollar an hour, so it's not going to cost you more than $3-4 for a regular trip.

now, i love me some metroplex out there in plymouth meeting, and i love some big box shopping in south philly, but really in a lot of ways they're no better than shopping downtown--just different.

I thinking parking at the King of prussia Mall is easier than parking in the city. First, Cost. You have to fish around for quarters or search high and low for the parking card. Also, you have a time limit. But....that if you get a meter which u wont. Parking Lots. might as well take a second mortgage out. Its just a pain in the ass.

And if you do live in a decent place in CC, you probaly don't have any more money to shop on Walnut street

I always shop at K of P and never have a hard time finding a spot. Even if you do have to park far, you probably do want some excersie after eating at the Cheescake Factory.

I'll concede that shopping in cc is a pita for people in the burbs. It's like that in every city i've lived in. Getting downtown is always a hassle and parking is always an issue. Further, the motivations to shopping downtown in Philly may not be there like they are in say NYC where you can probably do all of your shopping in a 10 block radius in soho or wherever. There are 3 or 4 shops I like in old city, 2 or three on pine street, 4 or 5 on walnut, 3 or 4 on chesnut and then probably half a dozen scattered around. Those aren't easy to walk to and from for people with a low tolerance for walking. I'm not saying their lazy they just aren't used to walking as much and view it as a serious time killer.

Large parts of the city are totally incaccessible via convenient transit as well. Living here for a year I just walk from O.C. to QV to Pine street to Walnut. We could do a lot better something like the philly plash running on south street up broad and over to rittenhouse would be cool for example. That entire quadrant is off the map for non-walkers.

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

My wife and I have an on-going discussion about where to shop. We live in West Philly and are equidistant between the Traget in Snyder Plaza and the one out at Springfield. I would much rather keep our shopping withing the city, but the advantages of leaving the city are many.

The shopping choices are better. Along the stretch of Baltimore Pike that we drive to get to Target is a Home Depot, Babys R Us, Best Buy, Giant Foods among other stores. West Philly doesn't have the range of stores concentrated along one stretch. It makes it a lot more diffcult when you have to drive all over the place.

The real difference is the customer service. It gets a lot better as soon as you cross in to Montgomery County. Why shop in Philly when all you get is poor treatment from people who barely want to serve you.

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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. - Robert Orben

Lost in all this discussion is one of the best reasons for shopping locally.

When you buy from a locally owned store with interesting goods and/or services, pretty much all of the money you spend stays within the neighborhood, the city, or at least the region. Salary, profits, etc. all get recirculated here.

When you buy from a KOP chain store . . . or Target, WalMart, etc., most of the money (other than salaries) goes floating off somewhere else - Arkansas for WalMart, somewhere else for Target.

You might pay a bit more locally - but the money does our community more good.

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

I agree with you. I refuse to shop at JC Penny since they abandoned the Gallery.

However, while I don't mind paying higher prices I do mind having to chase all around town to get what I need - and getting attitude from the workers.

BTW

Has anyone else noticed that "snrub" (ala mr. snrub) is "burns" spelled backward?

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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. - Robert Orben

Go to a TJ Maxx in Philly (ex. City Line Shopping Center), then one in the burbs (Broomall) You see a lot more 'Urban Gear' in the Philly stores...

TJMaxx is the best for underwear/tshirts.

there are so many differences. if cheesecake factory and restoration hardware is your bag, stay at the mall. if you like a little more charcter, come to the city. parking at K of P is a pain in teh ass but only on some days is it comparable to the city. there is a misconception that parking is free at the mall it just doesn;t cost extra. the huge markups for items there to cover the massive rents all cover the cost of parking. moreover, the mall parking lot is like a christmas tree for people looking for smash and grabs. That's not to say it's a bad place. there are more stores and in the winter you don;t have to be outside though you do have to breathe recycled air which sucks if a lot of people are sick. As for the burbs for del ave it's a toss up. the wl-mart on del ave is pretty bad but the target is pretty nice and has a better selection than the on in Plymouth Mtg. There is a best buy and a Home Depot plu sa lowe's and linen n' things down there now so big box selection is pretty good. if yo are shopping in cc chances you are looking for something different than that discovery store and a trip to TGI Fridays. Banana Republic sells more urban stuff, walnut has a few thigns other places don't...not least of which are the restaurants (somehow pietro's is far better than bennigan's). Some people like to go off the beaten path. maybe like the boutiques in QV or the galleries in old city, or Foster's Urban Hardware, or Open House. Some people maybe like the AIA bookstore or stop at the terminal and get some cannolis to take home to the family...or a Fisher's pretzel.. :droool:
However, SEPTA offers a mediocre alternative to driving and parking can be expensive...esp for those who like to park next door to where they want to go. Philly is daunting in that a lot of what it has to offer is spread out. With that said, Restoration Hardware is a ripoff.