Shopping is a big attraction for visitors to Philadelphia, especially because the state of Pennsylvania has no sales tax on clothing or shoes and sales tax on other goods is only 7%. 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 center are open Monday-Saturday 1000-2130 and Sunday 1100-1800.
Center City has hundreds
of clothing and jewelry stores. The granddaddy of them all is the John Wanamaker building, on 13th Street and Market Street, now occupied by
Macy's. The enormous Grand Court is crowned by a 30,000-pipe organ, on which concerts are given daily. Another Philadelphia institution is
Strawbridge’s department store, on Eighth Street and Market Street.
The Gallery at Market East is the nation’s largest enclosed urban shopping center.
The Shops at Liberty Place, 16th Street and Chestnut Street, and
The Bourse, 111 South Independence Mall East, are two other large shopping centers boasting gourmet foods and restaurants as well as shops. Rittenhouse Row is the city’s upmarket shopping and dining district. Jeweller’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, while Fabric Row, on Fourth Street, between Bainbridge Street and Catherine Street, offers fabulous textile stores.
The expanse of the
Italian Market, South Ninth Street (see
Further Distractions) offers a range of foodstuffs every Tuesday-Saturday 0900-1700 and Sunday 0900-1400, while Head House Square offers an outdoor craft market during the summer months.
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 specialty 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. There are no tax refund schemes currently available to visitors to Philadelphia.
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The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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