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| City Guide - Philadelphia - Shopping | ||
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Shopping Shopping is a big attraction for visitors, especially because the state of Pennsylvania has no sales tax on clothing or shoes. Major department stores are open Monday-Saturday 1000-1900 and Sunday 1000-1700. Most of the downtown shops close at 1700 or 1800, although those in the large malls such as The Gallery may stay open later. Many shops and department stores also stay open until 2000 on Wednesday. The big malls outside the city centre are open Monday-Saturday 1000-2130 and Sunday 1100-1800. Center City has hundreds of clothing and jewellery stores. The granddaddy of them all is the John Wanamaker building on 13th and Market Streets, now occupied by Lord & Taylor. The enormous Grand Court is crowned by a 30,000-pipe organ, which is played daily at 1115 and 1715. Another Philadelphia institution is Strawbridge's department store, on Eighth and Market Streets. The Gallery at Market East is the nation's largest urban enclosed shopping centre. The Shops at Liberty Place (16th and Chestnut Streets) and The Bourse (111 South Independence Mall East) are two other large shopping centres with gourmet foods and restaurants as well as shops. Rittenhouse Row is the city's upmarket shopping and dining district. Jeweler's Row on Sansom Street and Antique Row on Pine Street run for several blocks in the Washington Square district. South Street has several blocks of funky, eclectic shops and boutiques. Shoppers come from all over the East Coast to the enormous King of Prussia Mall, 24km (15 miles) west of the city on North Gulph Road. The shopping complex encompasses The Plaza and The Court, with eight major department stores and 365 speciality stores, including upmarket names like Versace, Hermes and Tiffany. Franklin Mills, 26km (16 miles) from Center City, at 1455 Franklin Mills Circle, is a huge factory outlet mall with more than 200 stores selling name brands at 20-70% discounts. |
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