How to sell a city

Philadelphia is saying goodbye to old stereotypes—and hello to retail brands that are buying into a new-and-improved city of brotherly love.

When it comes to Philadelphia, old stereotypes die hard. Sure, the city has enjoyed a renaissance over the past two decades and boasts a thriving art and fashion community, cutting-edge culinary culture and celebrated craft beer scene. But many people—including business owners—continue to view Philly as a grungy stopover between Washington, DC, and New York.

“There are still a lot of people who think of Philadelphia as an old rust-belt city with bad sports fans and fatty food,” says Michelle Shannon, vice president for marketing and communications for Philadelphia’s Center City District.

But Shannon and her colleagues at the Philadelphia Retail Marketing Alliance insist that the old Philadelphia is gone, which is why they’re giving the city the top-to-bottom rebranding it badly needs.

Launched last year, the PRMA aims to promote Philadelphia to retailers both large and small as not only one of America’s savviest and most sophisticated cities, but also one of its wealthiest (Philly’s 159,325 Center City residents boast an aggregate income of $4.9 billion). By making the argument that Philadelphia is a place that businesses just have to be, the people behind PRMA hope to bolster a retail scene that, while relatively vibrant, still harbors a not-so-flattering national image and faces stiff competition from more established centers of retail chic, such as New York City, Boston and San Francisco.

“The major goal is to communicate to the retail community what the real Philadelphia is—who we are and what we are in 2010,” Shannon says. “We want to change any misconceptions that are there, ultimately with the goal of bringing in new retailers, increasing tax revenues and creating jobs.”

A partnership between the Center City District, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce and Office of the City Representative, the PRMA is unique in that it is the first citywide campaign dedicated specifically to the promotion of the retail sector. The PRMA conducts research on local consumer behavior, keeps close tabs on stores, courts national brands, raises awareness about the city among entrepreneurs and even helps promote new businesses after they’ve opened. Essentially, the PRMA does for retail what the GPTMC does for tourism: sell the city of Philadelphia—relentlessly.

“[Philadelphia] does a great job of marketing itself to visitors and recruiting corporations,” Shannon says. “But we realized that there was nobody out there selling Philly to the retail community.”

According to PRMA members, adding more downtown shopping will not only strengthen the tax base, enliven downtown neighborhoods and increase connectivity and walkability, but also make the city more enjoyable—and more attractive—for tourists.

Jack Ferguson, incoming president of the PCVB, goes so far as to call retail part of the “infrastructure” of the city.

“We’ve been working to add more stores to Philadelphia because we actually believe it adds to the tourism experience and makes the city a better product,” says Jeff Guaracino, vice president of communications for the GPTMC.

Of course, making any inroads these days is a challenge, not only because of the sluggish economy, but because of that stubborn image problem as well. And make no mistake, Philly’s image is a real issue. Last December, Shannon traveled to New York with Philadelphia Deputy City Representative Margaret Hughes to test out their campaign at a meeting of the

International Council of Shopping Centers. “There were a lot of people who said, ‘Oh I haven’t been to Philly in years—but I’m not going back,’” Hughes says. “They had all of these misconceptions about what it’s actually like. I had to say, ‘Really, it’s not like that.’ It’s not that old, dirty, stuffy, gritty, stodgy, nothing-to-do city that it used to be.”

While doubters remain, the initiative’s members believe their efforts are paying dividends. The Philadelphia retail sector is weathering the ongoing financial storm remarkably well: As of last summer, vacancies in the Center City district had risen by just 0.3%—moving from  
10.8% in August 2008 to 11.1% in August 2009. (In 2000, by contrast, the vacancy rate stood at 14.5%). And though vacancies held mostly steady, the total number of retail outlets actually increased from 2,753 in 2008 to 2,825 in 2009, as the city welcomed 92 new restaurants and 187 new retail businesses—thanks in part to the efforts of the PRMA. Meanwhile, Hughes says real estate brokers have reported a noticeable spike in interest in commercial spaces.

“From the time we launched last year until now, we have had an impressive list of retailers that opened up,” Shannon says. “Even in the midst of the worst economy any of us can remember, we still opened up stores like [high-end clothier] Barneys Co-op and [yoga-inspired athletic apparel company] Lululemon, and we’ve got a number of wonderful stores that are on the way.”

While the PRMA is frank about its ambitions to draw big national brands to Philly, it also wants to preserve the one element of the city’s retail scene that makes it so unique: diversity. In Philadelphia, visitors can enjoy both the familiarity of big names and the quirkiness of one-of-a-kind boutiques, cafés and restaurants. For the PRMA to truly succeed, that unique character must not only remain, but ultimately be extended to the areas of Center City that have yet to blossom as retail corridors.

“You’ll see on our website that we feature a mix of both national and local entrepreneurs,” Shannon says. “We think that’s part of the story that makes Philly not just another cookie-cutter city. We’re proud of our local entrepreneurs, and we want to incubate new talent, too.”

The PRMA’s website—designed to look like a lifestyle magazine—not only offers relevant facts about the Philadelphia marketplace (the presence of 161,402 office workers and 8,111 hotel rooms within a 15-minute walk of City Hall; the average Center City income of $74,317) and hammers home its “Be In On It” slogan by prominently featuring it at the top of every page, but also showcases first-person success stories from people who do business in the area, including Simon Doonan (Barneys), Bill Mignucci (DiBruno Brothers) and chef Jose Garces (Amada, Tinto and others). Maybe just as important, the site links up directly to the site for the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce and offers step-by-step guidance on how to open a business in the city.

According to Hughes, making the city an active participant in the marketing effort has a big impact on its success. “Other cities are not yet partners to the extent that we are in Philadelphia,” Hughes says. “We had one woman from [a business development district] in New York come up to us, and she couldn’t believe that Michelle [Shannon] had been able to get the city government to partner in this. We were like, ‘What do you mean? Partnerships are the only way to go.’ It’s something I think other cities would be well served to emulate.”

Hughes, Shannon and the other collaborators behind PRMA aren’t celebrating just yet, of course. While the stability of the retail market is rather promising and signs suggest that a wave of new openings could occur in the near future, Philadelphia’s negative reputation still endures.

But the PRMA team believes that even the biggest skeptics can be converted if they simply visit the city and see firsthand the remarkable transformation that has taken place. “The city speaks for itself,” says GPTMC National Media Relations Manager Caroline Bean. “People do have an outdated image of what Philadelphia is. But when they see it for themselves, they are wowed and wooed. It’s a seeing-is-believing kind of thing.”

For more information on Philadelphia Retail Marking Alliance, visit www.philadelphiaretail.com