But the Rochester, N.Y.-based supermarket chain won’t say whether it’s collecting biometricdata on shoppers at eight Philly-area stores. There are Wegmans stores in Cherry Hill and Mount Laurel in New Jersey and in Glen Mills, Malvern, King of Prussia, Collegeville, Warrington, and North Wales in Pennsylvania.
Patrons at some New York City Wegmans locations learned earlier this month that the supermarket chain had begun to collect, retain, store, and share data on their faces, eyes, and voices. The information, Wegmans said, was being used for “safety purposes.”
“This is information that can be used to identify or help identify you,” a sign posted at Wegmans in New York City said, according to reporting from the online news site Gothamist. “We use facial recognition technology to protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees, and do not lease, trade or otherwise profit from the transfer of biometric identifier information.”
Wegmans does not “get into the specific measures used at each store” for “safety and security purposes,” Wegmans spokesperson Marcie Rivera said in an email.
Rivera said Wegmans has deployed cameras equipped with facial recognition technology in “a small fraction of our stores that exhibit an elevated risk.” Wegmans is using the technology in a “handful of states.” It posted mandated signage in New York City to comply with local regulations, Rivera said.
Wegmans has previously said that the surveillance software is used to help identify individuals who “pose a risk to our people, customers, or operation.”
Biometric surveillance is becoming increasingly common but is not yet widespread, said Gus Hurwitz, senior fellow and academic director of the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition at Penn’s Carey Law School.
Companies that use biometric surveillance do so for a number of reasons, but seldom tell consumers what their data is being collected for. Data collection can help companies understand what consumers are purchasing and how they’re moving through stores, Hurwitz said. Biometric data collection can also be used for dynamic pricing, when retailers change prices in real-time depending on a number of factors, including time of day, demand, weather, and consumer behavior.
Hurwitz said it’s important to distinguish between real-time and non-real-time biometric screening. Non-real-time screening has been happening for decades in the form of security cameras and other data collection tools, often used for market research purposes.
Real-time screening, however, is a newer frontier with a far murkier regulatory landscape.
Businesses in New York City that collect biometric data are required to post signage notifying customers, per a 2021 city law, however the agency in charge of implementing the law has no enforcement mechanism for noncompliant businesses, a city official told Gothamist.
A bipartisan bill regulating biometric data collection is currently moving through the Pennsylvania legislature. A recently introduced bill in the New Jersey Legislature would require any entity collecting biometric information to post a “clear and conspicuous notice” at every entryway to their business, like in New York City.
Hurwitz said we’re “still very much in the development era of these sorts of technologies,” and that he expects more and more government entities to hone in on regulating them in the near future.
But this time it’s not with new physical stores. The home design company is entering the virtual world.
The retailer, which has its U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken, announced this week that it is testing an immersive product experience on the Roblox platform.
Sweden and Australia are the first two pilot countries, according to the company, and the tests there “will better inform future decisions.” Ikea spokespeople did not respond Friday to questions about whether there were plans for similar pilots in the U.S.
What users of “Welcome to Bloxburg,” a Roblox game, will see when they go to search for Ikea digital products in the simulation.
“We’re delighted to bring some of our most loved Ikea products into this digital space,” Sara Vestberg, home furnishing direction leader at Ikea Retail, said in a statement. “With curiosity, we’re looking forward to seeing the home furnishing ideas people create, and how our products feel at home in their digital lives.”
During the Ikea pilot, the company is making six of its popular products available in virtual form to Welcome to Bloxburg users in the select countries. The digital items include the Stockholm sofa, the Elsystem rug, and the Blahaj stuffed shark.
The virtual experience can collide with the in-real-life shopping experience, too, if customers scan QR codes hidden around physical stores in these countries. The QR codes unlock extra virtual products, according to Ikea. In Sydney, Roblox users can compete to win real products at in-store events next week.
“This pilot is very much about learning and exploring,” said Parag Parekh, chief digital officer at Ikea Retail. “We’re using it to better understand how digital environments can enrich the Ikea experience, while continuing to stay true to our values and what customers expect from us.”
Ikea was founded in Sweden in 1943, and is currently based in the Netherlands. Its U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken employed more than 800 people as of June. Nationwide, Ikea has more than 50 stores, including in Conshohocken and South Philadelphia.
Step inside a Hollister store today and get a millennial retrospective: low-rise baggy and flare jeans, baby doll tops, fur-trimmed cable-knit V-necks, and sweatpants with numbers and words like“Senior” printed on the backside.
Walk outside, and you may notice teens sporting Longchamp totes and Ugg slippers. Or digital cameras, which are seeing a resurgence after years of being sidelined by smartphones.
These are the markers of “Millennial Core” — or the “Y2K aesthetic,” depending on whom you ask —a Gen Z reimagining of the trends its elders (now roughly 29 to 45 years old) made mainstream in the late 1990s and early aughts. Though it’s not unusual for teens and young adults to resurrect styles of the past — fashion trends tend to have 20-yearcycles — the currentmoment speaks to a yearning for what they perceive as simpler times, when people their age weren’t tied to their phones, endlessly scrolling, and battling brain rot, industry experts say.
“It is such a foreign concept to Gen Z and younger because it’s a world they will never be able to experience,” said Jenna Drenten, a marketing professor at Loyola University Chicago. “Some of these consumer choices … are a tangible way of trying to capture some of what that culture was.”
Teens are taking cues from influencers and peers on social media. And brands are capitalizing on this, reacting quickly to emerging styles and sending products to TikTok stars to show off to their followers.
But it’s more than just staying on-trend — curating a modern Y2K style is both a creative outlet and a form of escapism for Gen Z, who run from approximately age 13 to 28, said Michael Tadesse, a marketing professor at George Washington University. During times of social, economic, climate, and political instability, they search for “an emotional anchor.”
“So when they go to Coach, Longchamp, and others, [the brands] are familiar, comforting and also safe to experiment” because older generations have shopped there, said Tadesse, who studies how technology and psychology shape marketing and retail. “Our brains are wired to find comfort in things that we’ve seen repeatedly.”
It’s no coincidence that Gen Z is drawn to these brands, said Mark Silverstein, the chief business officer and co-founder of Cafeteria, an app that pays teens and young adults to offer their insights on brands, retailers, and trends. The most successful brands are known for quality and value, do frequent-enough discounting, and have physical stores. They also marry nostalgia with modern style, he said.
“If you don’t have all these elements, you’re not capturing this group,” Silverstein said.
The payoff is clear when you do: Birkenstock’s revenue rose 16% in fiscal 2025. Tapestry, which owns Coach, said net sales surged 13% last quarter, year over year. Notably, of the 2.2 million new customers it acquired globally during that time, 35% were Gen Z.
Hollister, which is owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, outperformed the namesake store in its last quarter, A&F chief executive Fran Horowitz said in a November earnings call. Same-store sales at Hollister grew 15% year over year.
Industry experts expect that this nostalgic style will only grow in 2026.
“It’s going from trend to acceptance,” Silverstein said.
Vicarious nostalgia
Though the idea of feeling nostalgia for an era you didn’t actually experience might be counterintuitive, Chris Beer said it’s a “constant rule” for marketers.
“Younger people are almost paradoxically more nostalgic,” said Beer, a senior data journalist at global insights company GWI. “It’s to do with life disruptions, and of course when you’re young you go through so many milestones and rites of passage.”
Drenten, who as a teenager in the late 1990s and early 2000sremembers her mom saying she had the same halter top at her age, calls it “vicarious nostalgia” when a cultural zeitgeist gets reformed for a new generation. But the difference now is that tweens, teens, and young adults have more exposure to former trends and cultural touchstones than their predecessors, who had to draw inspiration from old photos, magazines, album covers, and TV shows.
“Gen Z — and even Gen Alpha — has a much bigger access portal to this generational hand-me-down, which is the internet,” said Drenten, who studies digital consumer culture. “Now you have social media, you have search, Google, and Pinterest.”
They can still find 2006 outfit inspiration boards on Pinterest with baggy, low-rise jeans, slim sunglasses, miniskirts, and Ralph Lauren polos.
There are other triggers outside social media that are filtering into the marketplace, Drenten said, with current economic uncertainty amid a slowing job market and inflation, and geopolitical instability in the Middle East and Russia being reminiscent of the early 2000s: “There’s a bigger bubble or radius of where there’s millennial comparisons being made.”
Ironically, Silverstein said, many of the teenagers and young adults his company surveys talk about a desire to “retreat to nostalgia” to get away from these conditions, as well as feeling chained to technology and AI that “are just flooding the internet with junk.”
They’re not just expressing Y2K aesthetic in their clothes and handbags — they’re also buying analog media such as vinyl, CDs, and cassettes, as well as digital and disposable cameras, coloring books, charm bracelets, and collectible cards and figurines.
Though CDs and DVDs are still niche, revenue declines are leveling. Sales fell 3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the trade organization Digital Entertainment Group; a year earlier, they tumbled nearly 26%.
But sales of point-and-shoot cameras climbed 48%, year over year, in the 52 weeks ended Jan. 3, according to market research firm Circana. The number of units sold spiked 89%.
“Waiting for a photo to develop, or download, or print, increases emotional reward,” Tadesse said. “It’s delayed gratification. … They’re trying to figure out a way to appreciate what they have because everyone’s told them that they want everything now, and life doesn’t work that way.”
Curators, not consumers
The brands with the most “iconic Y2K vibes” keep finding new ways to refresh the millennial look, Silverstein said. Ugg launched a line of Mini boots and its Tasman slipper. Birkenstock released more colorways and variations on its popular clogs and sandals. Hollister is constantly refreshing its in-store inventory. Other brands bubbling back up are Juicy Couture, Ed Hardy, and True Religion, Silverstein said.
The teens and young adults Cafeteria surveys say these brands “‘get it’ as far as modern styling with the aesthetic,” Silverstein said.
Then there are brands such as Coach and Longchamp, Millennial Core staples that come with a level of “recognizable status,” he said. These shoppers may have spotted these brands in their mom’s closet.
The Coach Brooklyn purse — a popular tote that ranges in size — goes for $295 to $495. A Longchamp Le Pliage original tote bag costs $180.
“It’s expensive enough to signal quality and status, but there is this aspirational-purchase language they use around them: ‘I’m waiting to buy this,’ ‘I’m saving up for it,’ ‘I’m having it in my cart for the right time,’” Silverstein said. “They have identified the product they want. … It is the goal.”
The internet has played a crucial role in how Gen Z has adapted their style. They have endless inspiration and everything they could want on their devices, Tadesse said. Unlike millennials, who were mostly limited to discovering what was cool by reading the same magazines, watching the same TV shows, and visiting the same stores in the mall, Gen Z is less constrained, and it’s reflected in their fashion choices, Tadesse said.
“They’re curators,” he said. “They’re able to mix and match, and do things their own way. And so that gives them the irony, the play and the ability to control traditional sense [of style], but they bring their own flavor of what’s cool.”
“Something that could be cringe is also cool,” he said.
OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Along the commercial stretch of Ocean City’s boardwalk, from Sixth to 14th Streets, there are 167 storefronts, including four Kohr Bros. Frozen Custards, three Johnson’s Popcorns, three Manco & Manco Pizzas, and eight Jilly’s stores of one type or another.
There are eight mini-golfs, nine candy shops, 18 ice cream places, 10 pizza shops, 18 arcades or other types of amusements, five jewelry stores, three surf shops, five T-shirt shops, and 47 clothing or other retail shops. There is one palm reader.
Even without Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, the iconic amusement park at Sixth Street that famously closed in October 2024, it still adds up to a classically specific, if repetitive, Jersey Shore boardwalk experience. Many of the shops are owned by the same Ocean City families, some into their third generation.
But now these very shop owners are sounding the alarm.
“This is a group that’s been hanging on for a long time,” Jamie Ford, owner of Barefoot Trading Co., at 1070 Boardwalk, said in an interview last week. “These places are hanging in there. They’re not going anywhere, but we’re nervous.”
Chuck Bangle, owner of the storied Manco & Manco Pizza, warned planning officials he might close one of his three locations if business did not pick up. Other boardwalk property owners said longtime tenants were not returning.
“It’s the 70th year of our family business, the 34th year on the boardwalk,” Bangle told the planning board Jan. 7, before it eventually deadlocked 4-4 on whether the Wonderland site should be declared in need of rehabilitation. “I wrestled with closing the Eighth Street location. I don’t want to close. The impact of Wonderland’s closing on all the merchants has been substantial.”
Business along Boardwalk near 7th Street, Ocean City, NJ., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.
Into blustery January, the debate has raged about whether a luxury hotel, even one that would save the Ferris wheel, would bolster or undermine the essential character of this dry town and its beloved boardwalk.
At this point, even the most ardent members of the Save Wonderland faction seem resigned to the reality that, as Will Morey of Morey’s Piers himself came up from Wildwood to say to the planning board, the odds of Wonderland coming to life again as an amusement park are slim to none.
A rendering of the proposed new Icona in Wonderland Resort, to be built on the site of the old Wonderland Pier. The proposal for a 252-room resort includes saving the iconic Ferris wheel and carousel.
It’s the rest of the boardwalk that now wants to be heard: merchants with the voice of their ancestors ringing in their ears.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” said Ocean City Councilman Jody Levchuk, a member of the family that owns the Jilly’s stores on the boardwalk. He is also a member of a boardwalk subcommittee that will report its findings on Feb. 7. “My grandfather — who’s a big boardwalk guy — he’d walk up and he’d say this man wants to spend $170 million and you’re ignoring him.”
Plummeting parking revenue
A season without Wonderland took its toll. Parking figures from municipal lots tell the story.
The 249-spot lot at Fifth and the boardwalk across from Wonderland brought in $483,921 in parking fees in 2024 (people paid an average of $21 to park there during the summer season), but dropped to $290,895 in 2025, a 40% decrease. Overall, parking revenue dropped by about a half-million dollars, from $2.46 million in 2024 to $1.95 million in 2025.
At the end of 2025, there were a half-dozen empty storefronts, according to boardwalk merchants who keep track, mostly in the 600 block adjacent to Wonderland, though there is inevitable churn during the offseason.
Becky Friedel, owner of 7th Street Surf Shop, said in an interview that the shop is planning to expand and take over two of the vacant boardwalk storefronts for a new breakfast and lunch spot and a clothing boutique.
She said that while businesses have seen the loss of some of the younger clientele who used to fill Ocean City rooming houses and group Shore houses, the newer second-home owners come “with a fair amount of money.” The boardwalk also has a handful of higher-end boutiques, including the Islander. The downtown saw the opening of a Lululemon last year. Some envision a boardwalk that might include more boutiques in the mix, and fewer repeating sequences of ice cream-french fries-pizza-beachwear.
“We’re optimistic,” Friedel said. “Obviously [Wonderland closing] hurt us a little bit, especially in the evening. Our night business isn’t as strong as it was. We’re taking over the french fry place to focus on breakfast and lunch.”
Taking on the boardwalk
Also optimistic are the partners behind Alex’s Pizza, the Roxborough stalwart dating to 1961 that is opening up this summer at 1214 Boardwalk, next to Candyland. Coming in hot with a tomato sauce swirl atop the pizza not unlike the Manco’s staple, Alex’s partner Rich Ennis said, “We’re more of a thin-crust pizza.”
The enthusiasm of Ennis and partner Dylan Bear to take on the boardwalk also raises the question of whether the center of gravity will continue to shift southward, away from the no-longer-Wonderland end.
Dylan Bear, owner of Alex’s Pizza, 1214 Boardwalk, Ocean City, NJ., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.
“If you don’t have an anchor down there, people are not going to walk down there,” said Mark Benevento, owner of Congo Falls golf at 1132 Boardwalk, among other properties he rents out. “They will turn around at the music pier.”
Rather than seeing the hotel proposal as a threat to the character of the town, the merchants have united to stress that they view it as essential to Ocean City’s preservation. In other Shore towns, it has been the push of residential development that has eaten away at commercial zones. The parcel is currently zoned for amusements.
In places like Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, and Avalon, condo and new residential construction has chipped away at the essential character of the places, replacing some of their most distinctive destinations, from restaurants to motels to bars and nightclubs.
Mark Raab, a local pediatric dentist whose family owns five boardwalk properties in Ocean City, called the closing of Wonderland “devastating” in remarks to the planning board.
“People don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “This year we had three businesses that closed, longtime tenants that did not renew their leases. Six years ago we had a waiting list for these properties.
“The boardwalk is not thriving,” he said. “The boardwalk is slowly going down. It’s going down piece by piece. It is rapidly becoming a snowball effect.”
‘Now they have galvanized us’
Ford, of Barefoot Trading, thinks the time has come for the view of the merchants to be heeded. The 4-4 tie at the planning board is being seen not as an outright rejection of a rehabilitation designation, which would expedite zoning allowances and possible tax abatements, but as a pass back to the city council.
The families, he said, are “the backbone of it. What we’re speaking in favor of should carry a little bit of weight.”
In a usually sleepy Jersey Shore January, there has been an awful lot of intrigue, and packed meetings, with the latest talk of perhaps a limited zoning change that would allow a hotel, though perhaps one not as grand (252 rooms, seven stories) as Mita is seeking.
There is also talk of allowing residential units above boardwalk storefronts. And many believe the city council will essentially give the tie to the nonvoting planner, Randall E. Scheule, who told his deadlocked board he believed the Wonderland site did meet two needed criteria — significant deterioration and a pattern of underutilization — and to go ahead and approve the rehabilitation zone.
Mita has said that time is of the essence. He said he has been shocked at the way the town has stymied his plan twice.
Councilman Keith Hartzell, who twice voted against advancing Mita’s development plan, said he still wants to negotiate with Mita over height, parking, and other issues. One possibility, in conjunction with the boardwalk subcommittee, is rezoning just the 600 block of the boardwalk to allow a hotel. Hartzell has also been trying to bring a playground to that end in the meantime.
“I’m not anti-hotel at all,” Hartzell said. “Our job is to come up with something [Mita] can do that he can make money with and be happy with.”
For Ocean City’s merchants, the Wonderland saga, and Mita’s difficulty in getting his hotel off the ground, has prompted them to step out from behind the counter or out of the ticket booths and speak up.
Said Benevento, the Congo Falls owner: “Maybe we have never gotten political. Now they have galvanized us.”
In the Philadelphia region, Saks Global has long operated an expansive Saks Fifth Avenue store off City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. The company also has a Neiman Marcus at the King of Prussia Mall, as well as Saks Off 5th discount outlets at the Franklin Mall in Northeast Philadelphia and at the Metroplex shopping center in Plymouth Meeting.
Both local Saks Off 5th locations are slated to close soon, as was reported this fall by several news outlets, including the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Here’s what the bankruptcy filing means for local Saks shopper.
Is Saks Fifth Avenue in Bala Cynwyd closing?
Saks Fifth Avenue has been a retail success along City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, as shown in April 2024.
No. At least not in the immediate future.
Saks has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means the company intends to reorganize financially and stay in business. That’s opposed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy — as is the Iron Hill Brewery case — through which businesses liquidate all their assets and close locations.
“To be clear, a Chapter 11 filing does not mean that Saks Global is going out of business,” Saks wrote in a bankruptcy FAQ on its website.
But when companies reorganize through bankruptcy, they sometimes do close stores, particularly underperforming ones.
Saks executives alluded to the possibility of this in its statement, which read in part: “As part of the Chapter 11 process, the company is evaluating its operational footprint to invest resources where it has the greatest long-term potential. This approach reflects an effort to focus the business in areas where the company’s luxury retail brands are best positioned for sustainable growth.”
The Inquirer reported in 2024 that business at the store was strong and that the chain had resisted offers to move to King of Prussia, according to the City Ave District.
In response to questions from The Inquirer about the future of Philadelphia-area stores, Saks Global said: “Our footprint evaluation is underway, and we have already begun to work collaboratively with our real estate partners to find future-facing solutions, where possible, to achieve a stable and sustainable business model and optimized portfolio on the other side of this process.”
Is Neiman Marcus in King of Prussia closing?
The Neiman Marcus store in King of Prussia, as shown in May 2020.
Are Saks credit cards or gift cards impacted by the bankruptcy?
No, the company says.
“There are no changes to our credit card programs and rewards, with customers continuing to shop, earn and redeem benefits as usual,“ the company wrote in the FAQ. ”We continue to accept payments as usual, including credit cards and gift cards, with no changes to how customers transact with us.”
Are Saks’ return policies impacted by the bankruptcy?
No, according to the company.
“Our refund and exchange policy is expected to remain unchanged, with refunds and exchanges being accepted and issued as usual,” the company wrote.
I am waiting on a package from Saks. Will my order still arrive?
Yes, all current and future orders will be delivered as usual, the company said.
What’s next for Saks?
In New York, Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light show and window was revealed in November.
The company says it is not going anywhere.
“Saks Global is firmly focused on the future, and we look forward to continuing to serve customers and deliver for our stakeholders,” the company wrote in the FAQ.
As of Wednesday, Saks was waiting for court approval of a $1.75 billion financing deal that would come with an immediate $1 billion debtor-in-possession loan from an investor group.
If approved, the deal “will provide ample liquidity to fund Saks Global’s operations and turnaround initiatives,” the company said in a statement.
Saks estimates its assets and liabilities at between $1 billion and $10 billion, according to court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. Saks has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors, including luxury brands like Chanel, to which Saks owes $136 million, according to the documents.
To lead the company during this transition, Saks also announced a new chief executive, with former Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck replacing Richard Baker.
Saks said it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.
The company said in its FAQ: “With new capital and a stronger financial foundation on the other side of this process, we are confident that we can play a central role in shaping the future of the luxury retail industry while delivering the elevated shopping experience our customers expect from our dedicated team.”
Ena Widjojo, 73, of Philadelphia, owner and longtime celebrated chef atthe Hardena restaurant in South Philadelphia, mentor, and mother, died Wednesday, Dec. 24, of cancer at her home.
Born and reared in Java, Indonesia, Mrs. Widjojo came to the United States in 1969 when she was 17. She opened a cantina at the Indonesian Consulate in New York in 1977, worked as a caterer in the 1990s after the cantina closed in 1989, and moved to Philadelphia in 2000 to open Hardena with her husband, Harry.
Over the next decade and a half, until she retired in 2017, Mrs. Widjojo grew Hardena, described by the Daily News in 2007 as “a postage-stamp-size luncheonette at Hicks and Moore Streets in a gritty section of South Philly,” into a culinary and cultural connection for thousands of local Indonesians and other diners who enjoyed her homemade Southeast Asia cuisine.
The corner restaurant’s name is a blend of their names, Harry and Ena, and features Indonesian specialties such asgolden tofu, goat curry, saté chicken, beef rendang, and tempeh. “It’s the best Indonesian food in Philadelphia, a great mix of Indian and Chinese flavors,” elementary schoolteacher Aaron MacLennan told the Daily News in 2007.
This photo of Mrs. Widjojo appeared in the Daily News in 2007
Friendly and ever present at the lunch and dinner rushes, Mrs. Widjojo was known as Mama to many of her customers and friends. She learned how to bake and cook from her mother, a culinary teacher in Java, and later incorporated many of her mother’s recipes into her own memorable melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Arab, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Dutch dishes at Hardena.
“She served me greens once, and I felt like I was at home,” a friend said on Instagram.
She and her husband traveled weekly between Philadelphia and Queens while their daughters — Diana, Maylia, and Stephanie — finished school in New York. Maylia and Diana assumed control of Hardena when Mrs. Widjojo retired, and Diana opened the restaurant Rice & Sambal on East Passyunk Avenue in 2024.
Earlier, at the consulate in New York, Mrs. Widjojo made meals for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Indonesian President Suharto and his large entourage. “I cooked for all the diplomats.” she told The Inquirer in 2018.
Mrs. Widjojo (second from right) smiles with her husband and three daughters.
She grew chili peppers and lime trees in her South Philly backyard, was happy to share kitchen tips and cultural traditions with visitors and cooking classes, and helped her daughters cater the 2019 James Beard Foundation’s annual Media Awards in New York.
She worked six days a week for years and told edible Philly in 2017 that her retirement was good for her daughters. “If I’m cooking all the time,” she said, “they’re not learning.”
Ena Djuneidi Juniarsah was born April 24, 1952. She baked cakes in a charcoal oven for her mother in Java and sold cookies and pastries after school when she was young. “
Her mother was strict about cooking, Mrs. Widjojo said in 2018, and discarded any and all imperfect creations. “Like me, with my kids’ cooking,” she said, “if you’re not good, that’s no good.”
She married fellow restaurateur Harry Widjojo in New York and spent time as a singer, beautician, florist, and nanny before cooking full time. Away from the restaurant, she enjoyed drawing, painting, crocheting, and family strolls in the park.
Mrs. Widjojo and her husband, Harry, were married in New York.
She could be goofy, her daughters said. She sang “You Are My Sunshine” when they were young and served as their lifelong mentor and teacher.
Friends called her “sweet,” “amazing,” “a beautiful soul,” and “warm and welcoming” on Instagram. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
“Her life, generosity, and talent enriched the hearts of all who met her,” her family said in a tribute. “She taught us that feeding people is one of the purest ways to show love, have pride in our culture, and support our family.”
Mrs. Widjojo (center) stands in Hardena with her daughters Maylia (left) and Diana in 2020.
Diana said: “She saw the world with open arms and an open heart. She was a wonder woman.”
In addition to her husband and daughters, Mrs. Widjojo is survived by two grandchildren, a sister, two brothers, and other relatives. A sister and two brothers died earlier.
The 147,201-square-foot mall between the Liberty Place towers, two of Philadelphia’s most iconic skyscrapers, is up for sale.
Chicago-based Metropolis Investment Holdings sees a sale of the Shops at Liberty Place as a way to put the property in the hands of a company that specializes in retail.
“With the property established as a leading retail destination in Center City, we believe it is at a natural point for a new owner to build on this foundation with additional investment and fresh ideas,” Tom Dempsey, head of asset management for Metropolis, said in an email.
Metropolis is focused on office real estate and owns the 61-story One Liberty Place. The company purchased both properties in 1999.
The sale of the Shops at Liberty Place is not an indication that Metropolis is planning to sell the skyscraper, too.
“We are focused on our office portfolio, and One Liberty Place will continue to be a cornerstone asset for Metropolis,” Dempsey said. “It has demonstrated strong and consistent performance, benefits from a loyal tenant base, and remains one of Philadelphia’s most iconic and competitive office buildings.”
There is no listed price, but a source familiar with Metropolis’ thinking says they are hoping to sell the Shops for $20 million.
The shops at 1625 Chestnut St. are 77.7% occupied and include tenants like Jos. A. Bank, Victoria’s Secret, and Bloomingdale’s. The food court proved especially popular and has long been a draw for office workers.
In 2024 indoor minigolf facility Puttshack opened as part of a wave of experiential retail in Center City.
“The venue is particularly strong in group sales, hosting corporate events, social gatherings, and celebrations, which reinforces its role as a destination — its mix of entertainment, dining, and social interaction helps drive consistent foot traffic and contributes to the overall vibrancy of The Shops,” Dempsey said.
Real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is handling the sale of the Shops at Liberty Place.
The company’s listing for the Shops at Liberty Place describes it as an “established in-fill urban location with significant population density and economic demand drivers” and boasts its “irreplaceable location along highly trafficked Chestnut Street within Philadelphia’s premier shopping district.”
JLL says that it attracts 5.1 million visitors a year.
An aerial view of One Liberty Place, the Shops at Liberty Place, and Two Liberty Place taken during 1990.
The Shops at Liberty Place opened in 1990, three years after One Liberty, which famously broke the gentleman’s agreement that no building in Philadelphia be taller than William Penn’s hat atop City Hall. Two Liberty Place also opened in 1990.
The Shops at Liberty Place proved a bright spot on Chestnut Street, which has long been overshadowed by Walnut Street as Center City’s premier shopping destination.
The Inquirer’s architecture critic, Inga Saffron, praised the design of the building’s entrance, which seeks to echo its sister skyscrapers that soar above.
“The glass structure sits a generous distance back from the hectic corner, providing plenty of elbow room for harried pedestrians,” she wrote in 2016. “The best detail is the batwing canopy over the doors. … The canopy’s angles recall the tiered chevrons that distinguish the crowns on Liberty Place’s towers.”
The Shops at Liberty Place’s occupancy suffered a blow following the COVID-19 pandemic, but its general neighborhood is looking healthy. Both the Liberty Place skyscrapers have strong occupancy, and Center City’s residential population is climbing.
“We’ve managed the asset carefully through challenging times,” Dempsey said. “Today, the property is well-positioned with a diverse mix of tenants, including strong experiential and destination offerings, and continues to attract interest from retailers and visitors alike. We see solid potential for continued growth and momentum under new ownership.”
A fully occupied shopping center near downtown Phoenixville recently sold for nearly $7.4 million.
Chester County property records show that the 33,000-square-foot complex was sold in late November by one private investor based in Malvern to another based in Glen Mills, with both registered as limited liability companies. The sale was first reported Thursday by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Located at 785 Starr St., the center is about a mile down the road from Phoenixville’s main drag. It is shadow-anchored by a corporately owned Acme, according to Marcus & Millichap, the firm that represented the seller. The Acme is connected to the rest of the shopping center — and drives traffic to other stores — but was not included in the sale.
The center’s other tenants include Benchmark Federal Credit Union, Habitat for Humanity ReStore thrift store, Fresenius Kidney Care, Labcorp, NovaCare Rehabilitation, and State Farm. It also has a martial arts gym, a dry cleaner, and several quick-service restaurants.
“This closing highlights the strength of essential-service tenants, 100% occupancy, and strong tenant performance,” Scott Woodard, senior director of investments for Marcus & Millichap, said in a statement. “Phoenixville’s expected population growth and proximity to major anchors, such as Acme, made this center a standout asset with long-term stability.”
People walk along Bridge Street by the historic Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville in this June 2021 file photo.
Woodard represented the seller alongside Derrick Dougherty, senior managing director of investments.
The shopping center sits on 3.7 acres, near the corner of Nutt Road and Starr Street, and was built in 2007. According to Chester County property records, it previously sold for $6.35 million in 2018.
Prior to that, the property had last changed hands in 2006, when the land was purchased for $325,000, according to the records.
Its restaurant and bar scene has flourished, and Bridge Street is bustling, especially on the weekends. Luxury apartment complexes have attracted both millennials and empty nesters to the quaint 3.8-square-mile borough.
Since the pandemic, Phoenixville has continued to grow: Its population increased 9% between 2020 and 2024, according to census data.
In 2010, it was home to roughly 16,000 people. Today, that number is estimated to be more than 20,000.
The Acme shopping center sits just inside the bounds of Phoenixville, near its border with Schuylkill Township and not far from Valley Forge National Historic Park.
In filing for bankruptcy again, Rite Aid announced that it would be closing or selling all locations. At the time, it had about 1,000 stores nationwide, including about 100 in the Philadelphia region.
The closures further exacerbate pharmacy access issues, especially for lower-income Philadelphians who don’t have cars. People in more isolated rural areas are also impacted: The 46,000 residents of Perry County, west of Harrisburg, lost half their pharmacies when their three Rite Aids closed.
Adieu to Iron Hill Brewery
A view from the outside looking in of a shuttered Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester in October.
On a Thursday morning in late September, the nearly 30-year-old company, considered by many to be a pioneer of the local craft-brewing scene, announced that its brewpubs had closed their doors for the last time.
The closed Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade in September.
Bankruptcy filings shed more light on the Exton-based company’s financial straits: Iron Hill owed more than $20 million to creditors and had about $125,000 in the bank.
In November, a bankruptcy judge approved an offer by Jeff Crivello, the former CEO of Famous Dave’s BBQ, to resurrect 10 Iron Hills, including in Center City and West Chester, pending landlord negotiations. The restaurants could be reopened as Iron Hills or as other brands.
Crivello said he plans to reopen the Rehoboth Beach brewpub — as well as the Iron Hill restaurants in Columbia and Greenville, S.C. — as locations of Virginia-based Three Notch’d Brewing Co.
The fates of the other ex-Iron Hills will be determined in the bankruptcy process. Brewing equipment, furniture, and other items from the closed restaurants were auctioned off earlier this month.
Mainstays say goodbye in the Philly burbs
Gladwyne Market as pictured in October.
Local chains weren’t the only business casualties of 2025.
In South Jersey, the Bistro at Cherry Hill, a beloved restaurant that operated in a 1,200-square-foot mall kiosk for 27 years, closed abruptly in July.
At the time, the restaurant’s president, Andy Cosenza, said the closure was due to a communication “breakdown” that had resulted in his voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition being converted to a Chapter 7, or liquidation, without his knowledge. Since then, however, Cosenza has been indicted on charges of tax fraud. The Bistro has remained closed.
Executives at Happy Bear, which has sold coffee online for the past two years, said they recently signed a lease for a 3,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of 1201 Normandy Place, a mixed-use lab building optimized for life-science tenants, including those who do gene and cell therapy research and development.
The Happy Bear cafe is set to serve coffee, wine, and grab-and-go food, including sandwiches, breakfast items, soups, salads, flatbreads, and tomato pie made in partnership with Carlino’s, the Ardmore-based specialty-food purveyor.
A Saquon hoagie special at Carlino’s Market in Ardmore. The specialty-food purveyor’s food will be available at the the Happy Bear Coffee Company’s first physical store at the Navy Yard.
The cafe will have indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the five-acre Central Green Park, and provide “a versatile setting for morning coffee, a quick lunch, or an evening glass of wine,” according to the news release.
“We wanted to create a place that feels like a daily ritual and a small retreat all in one,” Happy Bear cofounder Dan Kredensor said in a statement.
“With Carlino’s expertise as one of our culinary partners, we’re building a cafe that brings together wonderful specialty coffee, great flavors, and a welcoming atmosphere, right in the heart of the Navy Yard’s most exciting new district.”
An artist’s rendering shows an aerial view of the proposed development plan for the Navy Yard.
Ensemble Real Estate Investments, of California, and Philly’s Mosaic Development Partners were selected in 2020 to lead an estimated $2.5 billion redevelopment of 109 acres of the former base.
Construction of 1201 Normandy was part of Ensemble/Mosaic’s first phase of redevelopment, which was estimated to cost $400 million.
“Happy Bear represents the type of dynamic, community-focused retail that will define the Navy Yard as it enters its next phase of growth,” said Nelson Way, vice president of leasing and development for Ensemble.
Happy Bear was founded by longtime friends Kredensor and Frank Orman, who bonded by exploring Philly’s coffee shops during their college years.
The pair’s first cafe will be near a 12-acre section of the Navy Yard that’s being called the Historic Core District, combining historic buildings with new construction.
An artist’s rendering of PIDC’s vision for the Navy Yard Historic District Core district, which would combine historic buildings and new construction.
In the same area, developers have built more than 600 apartments in a mixed-use community called AVE Navy Yard, which is expected to open next year.
The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), an independent nonprofit, manages the Navy Yard on the city’s behalf. It has owned the 1,200-acre site since the U.S. Defense Department decommissioned it as a military base in 2000.
The Navy Yard is home to 150 companies that employ 16,000 people, according to its online directory. Its tenants include Urban Outfitters, which is headquartered at the site, and Jefferson Health.
The property also has a Courtyard Marriott, several daytime food options, and a full-service restaurant called the Gatehouse.
Navy Yard stakeholders want the campus to eventually have nearly 4,000 new apartments; 235,000 square feet of retail; and more than 4.2 million square-feet of office, research and development, and manufacturing space, according to its 2022 redevelopment plan. Developers also want to bring another hotel to the site.
