Over the past week and a half now, I have been bouncing between Loft stores, the one on 17th and Walnut in Rittenhouse Square and the one on 36th and Walnut in University City, an extraordinary amount. I am often asked by my managers and family which of the two I prefer. The University City is my home store. I was hired there. I was trained there. I have worked about 8 months there now and hold an incredible bond with the my team there. I love the Rittenhouse store about equally but in a different sense. Although I have less of a close bond with their team, that is to be assumed. I have been helping out there sporadically for the past two months with many of their employees coming and going, making it hard to get close with the team. However, I love the managers there with whom I work regularly and the hustle and bustle atmosphere in Rittenhouse Square, and now the Rittenhouse store has an equal part of my heart as the University City store.
However, how can I have a mutual preference to both of these stores as they have both played out very differently in this past 8 months? Despite both being Loft, they are so different. Obviously the team make up is different, along with some slight differences between management teams. However, those aren't the largest differences I have come to notice.
Firstly, the store set ups could not be more different. If it were not for the merchandise, I would feel like I was going between two completely separate companies. The Rittenhouse Square Loft's interior is two stories designed in sleek darks with dark granite tile floors, dark woodwork, and sleek silver fitting rooms and finishings. The overall atmosphere is very cosmopolitan, fitting for Center City, and has a more professional, high-profile feel. Meanwhile, the University City store, although still having a natural cosmopolitan feel to it, is much brighter and a much smaller space. There are a great number of more windows, white tiled floors, white ornate ceilings, and the woodwork is all light wood, giving the store a lighter feel.
Although I believe the main difference is attributed to one being more outdated than the other, the Rittenhouse store being the former design look for Loft stores, they both work for different reasons, more specifically the clientele. The clientele between stores is probably the largest difference I have yet to encounter. Like any brand, Loft has a target audience, and although I definitely see that audience at both stores, I have found the slight difference in the audience to be most shocking. For example, the University City Loft has a much greater concentration of foreign customers. I originally thought Center City would have an equivalent amount, as Rittenhouse is an obvious tourist destination. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that there are a handful of foreign clients that trickily through the Rittenhouse Loft, but the large difference comes from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, both holding large populations of inter nation students and both surround the University City loft. The next difference in clientele is the working woman. Again this surprised me, as I originally thought that there would be more of that audience in Center City. However, I have noticed that with offices, hospitals, and more in University City, the majority of our clients--even more so than students--comes from these professionals whom work in the neighborhood. While at Rittenhouse, there are working women that come through, but I see more young women pushing strollers that seem to be stay-at-home moms.
Lastly, after getting in a routine of working in Center City last week almost everyday, I became more aware of my surroundings. I would either take the Market Frankfurt Line to 15th Street Station or the Drexel shuttle to 15th and Race Streets. Both ways, I would walk straight down past City Hall until reaching Walnut Street, and then turn right until I hit Loft. This being a ten minute walk in the general area of Center City, I also experienced an incorrect assumption about this walk and area. The atmosphere from the walk from the City Hall area to Walnut has a unique, more dirty odor, with a significant number of more beggars, homeless people, and vendors. Almost immediately after making that right onto Walnut Street, I notice a change. The people are more put together--some professionals, some families doing shopping. Naturally, City Hall and Rittenhouse Square are different but until this week I did not notice how large the difference is in the two atmospheres, being blocks away from each other.
And that just went to even further prove me wrong that despite being Ann Taylor Lofts in Philadelphia there is no reason to assume they would be similar. If the small distance between City Hall and Rittenhouse is so different, it only makes sense why my home store and newly visiting store are quite different. Specific location (down to the block) has a much greater impact on retail and life in general than one would assume.
Now just imagine how different the Loft store in Liberty Place is; that's just a Venn diagram waiting to happen.
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