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Boyds to Open Permanent Store in Philadelphia Suburbs

Boyds is heading to the ‘burbs.

The upscale Philadelphia-based retailer will open a suburban location in Wayne, Pennsylvania, this fall. The 11,000-square-foot store at 201 West Lancaster Avenue is located in the business district on the Main Line. It will carry the same luxury men’s and women’s brands that are offered in the flagship on Chestnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia, including Alexander McQueen, Christian Louboutin, Brunello Cucinelli and Zegna.

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The store will replace a pop-up that Boyds has had in Suburban Square in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, for nearly two years. That site will close on June 29.

“The Ardmore pop-up was an opportunity for Boyds to experiment with a suburban location,” explained Kent Gushner, chief executive officer of the family-owned retailer. “The experiment was an overwhelming success, and we found that we attracted a whole new customer base. In fact, we learned during the 20 months that we were operational in Ardmore that 70 percent of our suburban customers never shopped at Boyds before.”

Boyds Wayne will be housed in an Art Deco building from 1931 that originally housed the E.B. Maguire Ford dealership and became the first Anthropologie store in 1992. In addition to men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, the store will have a tailoring department that will provide complimentary alterations and a parking lot with 35 spaces.

Alex, Kent and Andrew Gushner. - Credit: LUKE PLATA
Alex, Kent and Andrew Gushner. - Credit: LUKE PLATA

LUKE PLATA

The store will be designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Canno Design. “The design objective was to create a shopping experience that brings the modern edge of the city to the elegance of the Main Line,” said Gabrielle Canno, principal architect. “The juxtaposition of old and new is a theme embedded in the design. The existing building has beautiful steel trusses, skylights and brick walls which are being contrasted with modern, sleek furniture, finishes and fixtures to exude the refined quality associated with Boyds’ long-standing reputation.”

The store is slated for a mid-September opening.

Boyds’ Center City flagship at 1818 Chestnut Street spans 74,000 square feet and completed a $10 million renovation project in 2018. The business was founded in 1938 by Russian immigrants Alexander, Albert and Ben Gushner, who left their homeland in hopes of a better life in America. They opened Boyds selling cigars and sundries and eventually men’s shirts. Kent Gushner is Alexander’s grandson, and his sons, Alex and Andrew, are now active in the business, representing the fourth generation of the retailing family.

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