Earlier this week, the Commercial District Advisor (CDA), and the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), announced the winners of the first annual “Best Chain on Main” competition, chosen for their “successful business model and their contribution to commercial revitalization.” Three stores were named winners and two received honorable mentions; three of the five are based in Philadelphia, the other two represent the New York area and Pittsburgh. Each store in consideration was nominated by a local agency working on urban revitalization.
The first place winner is Villa, an apparel and footwear retailer with just over two dozen stores in the Mid-Atlantic Region. People’s Emergency Center Community Development Corporation (PECCDC), a neighborhood-based nonprofit working on commercial revitalization efforts along Lower Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, nominated Villa. In a press release, Farah Jimenez, President & CEO of PECCDC, said, “Villa’s arrival in 2008 significantly advanced our commercial revitalization efforts. Their gleaming storefront served as an example that helped inspire other businesses and property owners to improve their storefronts and window displays. Since then, we have completed 15 façade improvement projects in our district – 8 on Villa’s block alone.”
In second place was Pamela’s P&G Diner, located in the historically industrial “Strip District” neighborhood of Pittsburgh; the Philadelphia-based The Fresh Grocer took third place, while honorable mentions went to Mugshots Coffee House and Café, a coffee shop with 3 locations in Philadelphia, and Gothic Cabinet Craft, a furniture retailer with 33 locations in and around New York City.
For more information on the winners, click here.