Philadelphia

Shopping

Philadelphia offers both traditional retail outlets in its historic neighborhoods and abundant mall and outlet shopping. For sheer size, the dominant shopping venue is the King of Prussia Court and Plaza north of the city, which is America's second-largest shopping mall, superseded only by the Mall of America in Minnesota. The King of Prussia facility, which boasts 450 stores and 51 hectares (126 acres) of parking, offers major stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdale's, and specialty retailers including Tiffany, Williams-Sonoma, and Hermes.

The Franklin Mills outlet mall northeast of Center City is a single-story mall that attracts millions of shoppers annually with over 200 discount and outlet stores, including outlets for Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and Burlington Coat Factory, as well as a 14-screen multiplex cinema.

Popular traditional urban shopping venues include Liberty Place, a downtown skyscraper that contains over 70 stores; South Street, which has evolved from a 1960s hippie district into a trendy upscale commercial and entertainment center; University City, the area surrounding the University of Pennsylvania, west of the Schuylkill river, which is home to a variety of boutiques and specialty shops; and the community of Manayunk northwest of Center City. A new shopping center near Philadelphia International Airport also draws large numbers of shoppers.