Nuts To You has been cracking on in Center City since 1976, owned by the same family for three generations.
The snack haven has adapted to a variety of changes, from the rise of the internet to the emptying of the business district in a post-pandemic Philadelphia.
đ„ Dealing with less foot traffic: Walk-in sales are down, but it has offset that through new online customers: 40% of sales come from its website, and the company has explored selling on TikTok.
đ„ Quality above all: âThatâs what our customers expect,â said Justin Bernstein, who co-owns the business with his father, Howard, on their promise to loyal customers.
Twenty years ago, Urban put down roots at Philadelphiaâs Navy Yard. Since then, the company has grown, expanding from one building to a campus that houses 15 buildings and just over 2,500 employees.
To commemorate this momentous anniversary, a decommissioned 1977 tugboat, painted in Urbanâs signature yellow and marked by its logo, is now permanently stationed outside its headquarters â as a sort of mascot to cofounder and CEO Dick Hayne.
Urban has almost 800 stores worldwide under the brand names Urban Outfitters, Free People, FP Movement, and Anthropologie and continues to grow.
A Philadelphia wedding photographer was sued on Friday by the Pennsylvania Attorney Generalâs Office for allegedly ripping off her customers for at least $75,000.
A move by the Haverford Township School District to buy artificial intelligence tools for students and teachers has been met with protest from parents who fear the technology will erode learning.
đ€ Hereâs Tommy Rowan with a look back at the skirmish between unpaid Revolutionary War soldiers and members of Congress.
The power of the purse came later.
First came mutiny.
It started with a group of unpaid Revolutionary War soldiers who marched against the countryâs primitive government during a weeklong saga in June 1783.
The confrontation so startled the early version of Congress that its members fled from Philly to â of all places â New Jersey.
Cheers to Laura Oakes, who correctly guessed Saturdayâs answer: RittenhouseTown. It was the site of the paper mill that was the only source of paper in America for more than 40 years.
Carlota Ttendant (Michael Byrne) makes her grand entrance at Gay Bingo at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.
đ One more story to go: For one night each month, Carlota Ttendant has been an entertainer and an equalizer, responsible for uniting people â gay and straight, from Haddonfield to Phoenixville â around a common goal. Now, after 30 years and raising millions for people with HIV/AIDS, sheâs hanging up her heels.
đđœ Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Inquirer. Have a great day.
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As we approach the 250th anniversary of Americaâs founding, I canât help recalling my 1999 visit to the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan, whose dictator had a fetish for white marble architecture decorated with gold.
As I drove around the dusty capital of Ashgabat, it was impossible to escape Saparmurad Niyazovâs face.
It was emblazoned on banners hanging from government buildings and appeared on every denomination of paper currency. Statues of the dictator (I learned there were more than 2,200 of them in a country of 4.2 million people) loomed all around the city. The oil fields of this desert backwater funded Niyazovâs whims. Much of the countryâs budget went into his private slush fund â all while he slashed resources for healthcare and renamed the months of January and April after himself and his mother.
What sticks out most vividly among my memories, as President Donald Trump turns our nationâs Semiquincentennial into a celebration of himself â festooning government buildings with huge banners of his face and holding a political rally on the mall Wednesday to kick off July Fourth events â is Niyazovâs arch.
The three-legged arch, sitting in the center of Ashgabat, supported an observation tower that, at 226 feet, soared higher than the nearby presidential palace. The structure was topped by a 36-foot gold plated statue of the Asian potentate that rotated constantly to face the sun. Perhaps if the planned 250-foot high âArch de Trumpâ ever gets built, and blocks the view of Arlington National Cemetery, the face on the gold winged figure atop the memorial will look familiar.
It seems all dictators and wannabes have the same instincts: to build grandiose monuments of marble and gold, the bigger the better, in order to impress their subjects with their magnificence. Back in Ashgabat all that seemed bizarrely amusing. Whoever thought it could happen here?
Instead of honoring the countryâs founding values and documents in this yearâs celebrations, Trump is performing like a wannabe Niyazov of Turkmenistan.
The main point of the Declaration of Independence was that governments âderive their just powers from the consent of the governed,â i.e., the people. The 13 colonies were quitting the British Empire because they refused to submit to a monarch who tried to rule by decree, rather than respect the elected representatives from the colonies.
Trump, who disdains any restraints on his powers and wants to rig election rules so they guarantee GOP victories, is turning the meaning of the Fourth of July on its head. I find it personally painful how this distortion has changed attitudes toward the United States all around the world.
National Park Service ranger James Benson uses an enlarged copy of the Declaration of Independence while talking to visitors in the Assembly Room â where both the declaration and U.S. Constitution were signed â on the first floor of Independence Hall in Independence National Historical Park in August 2025.
For decades Iâve reported on the struggles of other countries to achieve the kind of free elections that most Americans have taken for granted for decades. I had the privilege of bearing witness to struggles for some form of democracy in the Soviet Union and China, in new post-Soviet nations, during the 1980s upheavals in the Philippines and South Korea, during the Arab Spring revolts, in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, and during the post-Taliban interval in Afghanistan.
Those who struggled for the right to choose their leaders often paid a terrible price. More often than not, their struggles failed or have been reversed after brief periods of freedom.
Throughout those struggles, the U.S. election system was a lodestar – even though reformers abroad may have opposed specific U.S. foreign policies or the U.S. exercise of overweening power. That admiration was especially evident in the â80s and â90s inside communist countries that were trying to break away from their past.
Russians listened to Voice of America (now nearly shuttered by Trump) and would eagerly query me about U.S. politics on my yearly visits to Moscow during those decades.
In 1989, I shadowed then-President of the Soviet Republic of Russia Boris Yeltsin for a day when he visited the room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted inside Independence Hall. He asked the National Park ranger how the American colonies apportioned power between states and central government after independence. I realized only later that he was preparing to take Russia out of the Soviet Union and wanted tips on how the Founding Fathers managed their exit from the British Empire.
Boris Yeltsin views the Liberty Bell during a visit to Philadelphia in Sept. 13, 1989. Seeking to view U.S. democracy up close, he traveled the country, including a visit to the White House.
In May 1989, Chinese students erected a 33-foot-tall Goddess of Democracy statue in Tiananmen Square inspired by the Statue of Liberty. I was in Poland at the time, observing that countryâs first free parliamentary elections on June 5 that were won by Lech Walesaâs Solidarity movement. But on June 4, I watched with horror on television, along with Polish colleagues, as the Chinese army sent tanks into Tiananmen Square.
Yet, despite hundreds to thousands of deaths (the exact figure is stillunknown), Chinese democrats didnât give up. In the 1990s, I reported on their efforts to press the central government to permit village, and then town, elections. I interviewed law students at top universities who traveled to small villages to instruct peasants on their rights according to Chinese laws that were ignored by officials.
This progress has been totally reversed by Chinaâs hard-line dictator Xi Jinping, who also crushed democratic institutions in once autonomous Hong Kong. But as recently as 2023, it was inspiring to hear Hong Kong high schoolers, who were protesting the ongoing crackdown by Beijing, recite from memory their rights under law as they had learned in civics classes. Since then, such classes have been banned, and students must memorize rote lessons on âpatriotic educationâ or âXi Jinping thought.â
It saddens me now to hear self-exiled Russian liberals or Hong Kong democrats or visiting Chinese who once worked for some form of democracy at home, express shock at Trumpâs attacks on Americaâs democratic institutions and efforts to rig elections. Repeatedly, I get the same questions expressed with genuine bewilderment: Why isnât it possible to stop him from doing this? How is it possible that this can happen in the United States?
In this Sept. 3, 2015, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin observe a parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan’s World War II defeat, from Tiananmen Gate in Beijing.
Ukrainians, who have fought bravely for more than four years to save their independence from Vladimir Putinâs imperialism, ask me how a U.S. president can back a dictator who hates the West, and wants to restore the Soviet empire. As Independence Day approaches, POTUS continues to ignore the parallel between Ukraineâs courageous struggle for freedom and ours long ago against the imperial British.
Europeans have given up on Trump, and I understand why, having watched Vice President JD Vance at the 2025 Munich Security Conference praise far right, neo-Nazi parties and demean Europeâs democracies. Trump, Elon Musk, and other MAGA acolytes continue to support extremist Europeans whose values would make the Founding Fathers gag.
So it isnât surprising that a new Pew Research Center poll reveals a steep decline in the popularity of the United States worldwide, especially over the past year. Only a median of 37% of adults polled across 36 countries hold a favorable opinion of our nation. Only 23% express confidence in Trumpâs leadership of world affairs, ranking him behind Putin and Xi.
But what is even more striking is that only 39% believe the U.S. government respects the personal freedoms of its own citizens. This is how the world now views a country that was once seen as a beacon of democracy.
During July Fourth celebrations across the country, in places far away from Trumpâs pollution of the capital, I hope Americans will reflect on what the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us 250 years ago. For inspiration, reread the Declaration of Independence and brainstorm with friends, colleagues, and family on how to prevent the president from desecrating its principles at the polls come November.
Philadelphia has a long-standing reputation as an underdog city, but when it comes to hosting the FIFA World Cup, Anne Ryan, Pennsylvaniaâs Deputy Secretary of Tourism, sees Philadelphia as a front-runner.
Ryan visited the FIFA Fan Festival as it hosted âPA Dayâ on Saturday, which included visits from a Ben Franklin impersonator, Philadelphia Union mascot Phang and Hersh the Hershey Bar.
âIâm a Philadelphian,â Ryan said. âI do love that underdog mentality, but are we underdogs anymore? Weâre ranking [at the] top as one of the best host cities in the country, because of our Fan Fest and our experiences.â
Despite cloudy and rainy conditions, crowds of fans entered the festival grounds again on Saturday for Croatia-Ghana, Philadelphia Stadiumâs fifth and final group stage match.
Croatians and Ghanaian supporters were well-represented in the crowd, and both went home happy, despite a 2-1 win for Croatia. Ghana, who advanced to the knockout round as one of the eight best third-place teams, had already secured a round of 32 spot entering Saturdayâs match, and Croatia was able to get off the third-place cut line by surpassing Ghana for second.
English fans at the festival went home happy, too, as England finished atop Group L with a 2-0 win over Panama.
While the state office of tourism has not formally measured the economic impact driven by Philadelphia hosting the World Cup, Ryan said the success of the free Fan Festival in Lemon Hill â which has hosted 250,000 fans since opening on June 11 â is a good indicator of how many fans have visited Philadelphia during the tournament.
âThe fact that weâve already had 250,000 attendees here, itâs just insane,â Ryan said at the festival on Saturday. âSome of our original projections were 15,000 [visitors] a day. And then, to have close to 54,000 just last Friday alone, has been fantastic.â
Ryan said her office could see through flight data and bookings of Airbnbs and other rental properties that plenty of international fans were traveling to Philadelphia for the tournament.
According to Ryan, visitors on flights from France to Philadelphia International Airport are up 59%, year over year. Passengers from the Netherlands to PHL airport are up 48%, and up 25% from the United Kingdom.
The tourism office also considered the economic profile of the nations Philadelphia was hosting, and how people from those nations like to travel. The World Bank Group classifies three of the nations Philadelphia hosted in the group stage â Haiti, Ivory Coast and Ghana â as âlower middle incomeâ nations as it relates to gross domestic product per capita.
If fans from those nations successfully navigate partial or full travel restrictions to follow their team, theyâre more likely to pick a high-capacity rental than a traditional hotel.
Over 250,000 people have already come through Philly’s FIFA Fan Festival during the World Cup.
âThere was so much projection pertaining to the World Cup, like, âIs this going to be a flop, because all of our hotels arenât sold out?,ââ Ryan said. âBut you have to look at the teams weâre hosting and how they travel. Ghana, Haiti, Curaçao, Brazil, Ecuador â theyâre not staying in a boutique hotel in Center City. Our three bedroom-plus Airbnb bookings are up 53%, year over year, for June and July.â
Ryan said overall, in the five-county region surrounding Philadelphia, Airbnb bookings are up 48%.
âThey came, and theyâre riding,â Ryan said. âTheyâre taking SEPTA. And weâve actually heard good feedback. We did some man-on-the-street interviews with visitors. People [are] really complimenting SEPTA and our buses, and the transit here.â
And despite high ticket costs, another sell-out crowd watched Croatia-Ghana at Philadelphia Stadium (aka Lincoln Financial Field). The World Cup broke its attendance record after Thursdayâs slate of matches, with 3,605,357 fans attending matches across the continent entering Friday. After Saturdayâs match, 341,620 fans have attended five World Cup matches at the Linc.
While it will take time for the cityâs official accounting to come out on hosting the tournament, Ryan suggested the stats and indicators in key areas show the city is positioned to meet, and potentially exceed, its pre-tournament estimation of 500,000 visitors generating $770 million worth of economic impact.
The Ghana-Croatia game on Saturday had a sellout crowd of 68,324 people.
âIâm a betting girl, and Iâm going to say for the World Cup, weâre probably going to net out close to 800,000 [visitors],â Ryan said. âAnd the $770 million in economic impact, I wouldnât be surprised if thatâs closer to $900 million, based off of that increase.â
More visitors are likely on the way to Philadelphia because of how the tournamentâs group stage shook out. If Germany beats Paraguay on Monday, and France beats Sweden on Tuesday in the round of 32, it would set up a match between the Germans and the French, two star-studded European powers, on July 4 in a round of 16 match at Philadelphia Stadium.
âWeâre still waiting to hear who weâre hosting on July 4,â Ryan said. âLetâs see what our hotels and Airbnbs look like after Tuesday.â
IRVINE, Calif. â For Philadelphians new to seeing a World Cup in person, it might feel like the road to this point began when FIFA picked the city to host games in 2022.
For others, it might feel like the first steps were taken when the U.S.-Canada-Mexico joint hosting bid won the formal vote in 2018, or when the bid was filed the year before.
In fact, the process began much longer ago than that, in 2007. Thatâs when U.S. Soccer Federation officials started seriously thinking about bringing the menâs World Cup back to the United States for the first time since 1994.
Nineteen years is a long time in American sports, and especially American soccer, where so much changes from year to year, not just decade to decade. So as the 2026 spectacle unfolds, itâs worth taking a moment to step back and turn to the history books.
There arenât too many Americans whoâve been on the entire ride. In fact, thereâs barely anyone at U.S. Soccer who has been, in part because the presidency has changed hands twice since 2007.
One who has and who knows Philadelphia well is Sunil Gulati. The longtime economics professor at Columbia University led U.S. Soccer from 2006-18 and has also served on the FIFA Council and the former FIFA Executive Committee.
Sunil Gulati (center) walking behind Barack Obama in 2015 at a White House ceremony to honor the U.S. women’s soccer team’s World Cup win.
Few people have seen more of soccerâs growth in this country up close, not just in his years as president but in a variety of roles across Major League Soccer, FIFA, and recently as the chair of European soccer confederation UEFAâs Club Financial Control Body.
Gulati has a lot of stories to tell, and not all of them are allowed to see the light of day. But he was happy to share some with The Inquirer as he enjoys this tournament just like the rest of us.
âThe day afterâ
When U.S. Soccer took those first steps in 2007, Gulati had been president for less than a year, and it was only 13 years since the 1994 tournament â not too long in World Cup terms. But some flickers of the afterglow were still there, and he knew how long it would take to bring the fire back.
âThe â94 World Cup had been highly successful, and hosting an event like the World Cup generates a lot of positive benefits â and theyâre not pure economic benefits, including this [2026] World Cup,â he said. âIt was never about the financial returns to the federation, or federations, in this particular World Cup, and there are three of them.â
In his view, âit was always about trying to increase the demand for the game, [and] accelerate the growth of the game in the United States. Itâs [wondering] what does the sport look like the day after?â
That acceleration included building the foundations of a soccer infrastructure in this country. Many future power brokers had launchpad moments in 1994: future U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn, promoter and media personality Charlie Stillitano, broadcaster Derek Rae, and future womenâs World Cup, Olympics, and NWSL executive Marla Messing.
Above all, that World Cup produced Major League Soccer, as FIFA required the U.S. to launch a top-level league as a condition of hosting.
âAll the people that worked in senior positions or in entry-level positions that became part of the landscape in the sport ⊠those people became important players in the growth of the game in different ways,â Gulati said. âAnd obviously, then if you talk about MLS, the development of the league leads to huge changes in infrastructure, the stadiums in particular, training facilities.â
Harold Mayne-Nicholls (left), the head of the FIFA Inspection Delegation, exchanges a FIFA banner with then U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati at the conclusion of FIFA’s bid inspection for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Gulati believed another World Cup could do even more. So the long road began, with U.S. Soccer going in on 2022 when it became clear 2018 was going to Europe.
For some time, it seemed like effort would pay off. But in December of 2010, a day came that will live in soccerâs infamy.
So many people around the sport remember where they were when then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter pulled Qatarâs name out of the envelope instead of the United Statesâ. It hurt as much as any loss on the field, perhaps even more to some people.
But Gulati was ready for the gut punch because he sensed it might be coming.
Perhaps the most infamous day in FIFA’s modern history: when then-president Sepp Blatter announced on Dec. 2, 2010, that Qatar would host the 2022 men’s World Cup.
âI had a better inkling, I think, than members of my team that it was going to go the wrong way for us,â he said. âBecause we had a pretty accurate vote count, and that vote count relied on three European votes. And I had a pretty good idea that we werenât going to get those â the votes that the weeks earlier, I was quite confident that we were going to get.â
Had those three votes on FIFAâs executive committee gone the U.S.â way in the final round of voting, it would have been an 11-11 tie, and Blatter would have broken it in Americaâs favor.
âIt didnât shock me, but I think it probably shocked some other members of the team who maybe werenât quite as close to the vote count,â Gulati said. âAnd it was obviously a huge disappointment, but not a shock.â
âRight after the decision, I wasnât sure if I ever wanted to go near this process again, or if I wanted to start right away,â he said, and he referred to an even stronger version of that line he gave to Franceâs Le Monde newspaper earlier this month.
âOn the one hand, I wanted to immediately jump into our next bid,â that version went, âand on the other, I told myself that I never again wanted to have anything to do with that kind of thing, or with those people.â
Sunil Gulati (center) with various international soccer officials at the Washington Monument in D.C. in 2019.
As allegations that Qatar bribed FIFA officials to win the bid piled up, it would be a few years before the winner of Gulatiâs internal battle emerged. When it did, the soccer landscape had changed in an even more epic way.
On May 27, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice raided the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, and arrested a slew of international soccer officials. A few hours later in Brooklyn, N.Y., the department formally announced the charges and the people charged.
That day would lead to Blatterâs resignation and a pile of other impacts, including reforms to the World Cup bidding process.
Since Gulati was on the FIFA Executive Committee at that point, he had a role in those reforms. He acknowledged to The Inquirer that he wanted âto try to influence what the rules of the competition, in terms of the bidding process, would be. And those changed, which then allowed us to be more comfortable bidding again.â
By the end of that year, the wheels were in motion, and in 2016, Gulati started pushing for a multicountry plan. It started with just the U.S. and Mexico, as Gulati worked with the then-chairman of the powerful TV network Televisa, Emilio AzcĂĄrraga Jean. Then Canada joined the fold.
âThere were some cultural reasons, frankly, that I wanted to do it with Mexico, about Hispanic relations, Mexico-U.S. relations, and so forth,â Gulati said. âAnd then weâre having a parallel set of discussions with Victor Montagliani, who was the president of the Canadian federation, and it eventually came to the three of us doing it together.â
From left, Victor Montagliani Sunil Gulati, and then-Mexican soccer federation president Decio de Maria presenting their joint bid to host the 2026 men’s World Cup.
Gulati knew a multicountry bid would look better to FIFA, but it would take convincing U.S. Soccerâs board first.
âI preferred having a 90% chance of winning 75% of the World Cup games than a 75% chance of hosting it all,â he said.
He also preferred the new FIFA president. Gulati played a key role in getting Gianni Infantino elected. During the election vote at the 2016 FIFA Congress, Foxâs TV broadcast repeatedly showed him working the hall.
âU.S. Soccer is very much responsible for his rise,â Schaerlaeckens said of Infantino. âDid they anticipate what he would turn into? I suspect not.â
Another aspect doesnât attract big headlines but has had a huge impact behind the scenes. This is the first menâs World Cup where FIFA hasnât had a national-level local organizing committee, run by domestic staff in the host countries, that handles marketing, venue deals, political relationships, and so on.
Instead, FIFA has tried to do almost everything itself. And as even casual soccer fans have seen by now, it has not gone well â especially just north of here in New Jersey.
Gulati didnât want to go too far down that road in public, but he opened the door enough to sense what was beyond it.
âSome of the key figures in this World Cup are people that work for FIFA, which is fine, but itâs different, certainly,â he said.
Asked if FIFA was told that they werenât going to be able to unilaterally rule over North American governments, he said: âThey understood that. And thatâs obviously posed a bunch of challenges ⊠Not just state, local, federal, but three countries in this case.â
FIFA president Gianni Infantino (left) on a visit to Philadelphia last year to promote the Club World Cup.
And asked in particular about dealing with state and local governments that donât exist in other countries, Gulati said: âThatâs obviously come up, and I get it. But look, thereâs always some issues that come up in these things, whether itâs immigration or taxes, or whoâs going to pay for what, or exclusivity, all those things â those are kind of par for the course in World Cups.â
A moment later, he added: âMaybe itâs a little bit easier given the obvious differences in governance that exist in other countries.â
In the end, Gulati is an optimist about this World Cupâs long-term potential, including for Philadelphia specifically. He knows the city well, and knows the spotlight itâs in this summer.
âI think what it can do is bring greater attention to the sport and greater attention to the city if it becomes an important attraction, and games go well, and people feel at home, and itâs welcoming, and so on,â he said. âPhiladelphia, itâs a great sports city, itâs got great venues. And hopefully, some of the teams that are playing there â and the fans more importantly â come, and they talk about it, and thereâs more people that want to visit in the future.â
On 20th Street between Market and Chestnut, much has changed in the past 50 years. One tenant that hasnât: Nuts To You. The snack shop, wrapped in yellow wallpaper speckled with walnuts, remains packed with shelves of nuts, candy, and dried fruit galore.
Nuts To You, a snack haven owned by the same family for three generations, is celebrating 50 years in Center City. Since its first location opened in 1976, Nuts To You has survived the rise of the internet, and the emptying of the business district in a post-pandemic Philadelphia, building decades-long customer relationships on the way.
Pulling off such a feat is ârare, and itâs really hard,â according to Erika Tapp Duran, director of Temple Universityâs Small Business Development Center.
Nuts To You freshly roasts their nut products at a warehouse in Frankford. Over the years they have broadened their inventory to include freshly popped popcorn (also made in-house), as well as chocolates, candy, dried fruit, and almost anything else one could find in a kitchen pantry.
Gummy candies sold at Nuts To You, a family-owned and operated snack store.
They sell those products out of three city storefronts: on 20th Street near Rittenhouse Square, 16th and Market Streets on the ground floor of Centre Square; and Seventh and Walnut Streets in Washington Square West.
But the brick-and-mortar business has changed. In 2018, Nuts To You had six physical stores, and its leaders were considering expanding into Washington, D.C.
âWe used to have lines during lunch rush,â said Justin Bernstein, who co-owns the business with his father, Howard Bernstein. âThat just doesnât exist anymore.â
The location beneath Centre Square has a front-row seat to the evolution. At the end of 2025, the office building had the highest vacancy rate in Center City. Developers are now planning to convert it into a mixed-use complex with apartments and luxury hotel rooms. With three years left on that lease, Nuts To You is uncertain about the 16th and Market storeâs future.
But for now, âWeâre still here,â said Justin, who has spent most of his life as part of Nuts To You. âWeâre still going.â
Fewer walk-ins and a digital pivot
James Troutman, 77, a regular at the Seventh and Walnut Street location, piled bags of rolled oats, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, and sunflower seeds into his gray backpack as he left the store on a Tuesday morning. Heâll later combine those ingredients into his daily homemade cereal, which he has been making from Nuts To You products for decades.
âThatâs why Iâm so young looking!â Troutman joked.
Employees said this location, the companyâs most popular, draws an estimated 100 customers a day. But Nuts To You is not immune to the struggles facing brick-and-mortar businesses. In-person sales are down 30% to 40% from pre-pandemic levels, which the owners attribute to less foot traffic as more people have remote or hybrid work arrangements.
Anthony Feaster (left) makes a purchase with the help of employee Brianna Boyko at the 16th and Market Streets Nuts To You.
The entry of big retail competitors into Center City has also changed the business.
âFifty years ago, there was nobody selling this product,â said Howard. âCVS and all those drug stores didnât have full lines of nuts and candy.â
For Nuts To You, the decline in foot traffic has been offset by an increase in online sales. The company launched its website in 2010, but was only making about $100 to $200 a day online before the pandemic. Within two days of COVID-19-related lockdowns taking effect, sales increased to $3,000 a day.
Now, 40% of Nuts To Youâs sales come from its website, and the company has forayed into selling on TikTok. As of June, only about 1% of their sales come from TikTok Shop, but Justin said thatâs already more than expected.
In lieu of the nuts and oats that traditional walk-in customers buy, online customers tend to purchase sugar-free products or nostalgic novelties like wax bottles or Sugar Daddies.
âThink about all the things that have changed for consumers in the last five or six years, and then multiply that out over 50 years,â said Templeâs Tapp Duran. âYou have to be able to pivot.â
Howard says that Nuts To Youâs popularity has stemmed from its business strategy, which he defines as âlargest variety, lowest prices, highest quality.â This may have been true for many years. Though, with larger retailersâ entry into Center City â Justin cited Trader Joeâs in 2003 and Target in 2016 â it has been difficult to beat corporate giants on prices.
However, the owners say what they can still ensure is quality â âThatâs what our customers expect,â Justin said. They source their walnuts and pistachios from small growers in California, with whom theyâve maintained yearslong connections.
âWe donât want to switch to another brand, even though I could save a dollar,â said Howard. âMost customers appreciate that.â
In addition to greater competition and a changing retail landscape, Nuts To You has faced challenges common among small businesses in 2026.
Within the past few months, theyâve joined the ranks of small businesses who were sued for violating the Americans With Disabilities Act, based on allegations that the Nuts To You website relied on a visual interface that was inaccessible to individuals who are blind or use screen readers. Another lawsuit came out of a Proposition 65 claim â a law that requires products sold in California to warn consumers for potential exposure to dangerous chemicals â leading Nuts To You to adopt a disclaimer on its website.
âYou think youâre OK, weâre running smooth, we know our expenses, then all of a sudden you get served papers,â said Justin. âAnd itâs like, what?â
Generations of work
For years, Basheer Ali, 65, has been traveling from Southwest Philly to the Center City Nuts To You stores for his fresh nuts and candy. Employees there have helped him navigate a diabetic diet, introducing him to sugar-free chocolate pretzels.
âThe people need these kinds of stores,â Ali said.
The company sees very little employee turnover, Justin said. At least half its 19 employees worked at the company for more than a decade.
Regina DeLeon, manager of the Washington Square West location, has been with the company for 26 years. When prompted by a customer, she recalled Nuts To Youâs founder and first-generation owner, Manny Radbill.
Radbill predicted in 1975 that nuts were going to be the next health craze. He wasnât wrong: In 1992, a study found an association between nut consumption and a lower risk of coronary heart disease, which kicked off decades of research on the health benefits of eating nuts.
With the help of Radbillâs daughter, Caryn, and her then-husband Howard, they opened that first store on South 20th Street, which is still in operation today.
Justin first entered the family business when he was 2 years old, pushing buttons on the cash register. Howard required him to gain outside experience first, but Justin said, âI always kind of knew this is what I wanted to do.â
Justin Bernstein smiles at his father, Howard Bernstein, inside one of their three Center City Nuts To You stores.
So, after his college graduation and a brief stint at Boscovâs, about 20 years ago Justin joined Nuts To You and has since become co-owner.
As iconic family businesses like Di Bruno Bros. have been acquired, buyers have approached the Bernsteins, but Howard and Justin decided against it. They entertained one offer, but the deal-breaker was a requirement to close all of the physical stores â the owners refused to put their staff out of jobs.
Over their 50 years in business, Justin said he is most proud of staying family owned.
âWeâll see what happens, what the future holds,â said Justin. âAt least another 20 years, call it.â
America stands on the brink. The ultimate question of independence hangs over Philadelphia.
And Thomas Jefferson has a declaration to draft.
His heart is in Virginia. His âcountry,â as he calls it. But here he is at Seventh and High Streets, 33 years old, living in two sweltering rooms, with his chance to make his mark on history.
Unlike his fellow delegates, lodged in rooms along Philadelphiaâs booming riverfront, Jefferson takes quarters along the cityâs rural western edge, two blocks from the Pennsylvania State House, where the rebels conspire. The orchards and pastures bordering the downtown of British Americaâs largest and wealthiest city offer an escape from Philadelphiaâs stifling summer heat and foul smells. Its stinking creeks, rotting trash, and unchoked illness. The verdant outpost, elsewise occupied by a bricklayer and his family, provides âthe Squire,â as his friends back home call him, some small semblance of his mountaintop mansion, Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson’s Philadelphia in 1776.
He is living out of leather-bound trunks. Fresh air and sunlight stream through a window overlooking High Street â Philadelphiaâs main thoroughfare, busy even on the outskirts. Hinterland farmersâ wagons clatter over cobbles, headed for the market. The sweet scent of fresh loaves drifts from a shopfront bakery. Jeffersonâs thoroughbred â Caractacus, perhaps, his favored bay stallion, whose regal appellation derives from a first-century British chieftain â nickers in a nearby stable.
Robert âBobâ Hemmings, Jeffersonâs 14-year-old enslaved valet â and half brother of Jeffersonâs future paramour, Sally â attends his every need in Philadelphia, sleeping in a garret off the writing parlor.
The Declaration House, 7th and Market Streets, in 1856.
The rag paper resting on Jeffersonâs mahogany travel desk â a small, portable lap device of his own design that the inveterate tinkerer had commissioned from a Chestnut Street cabinetmaker upon his arrival in Philadelphia a month earlier â remains blank. His quill is still. In the shadows, a grandfather clock ticks a stately rhythm.
Tick ⊠tock ⊠tick ⊠tock.
The master of Monticello is working on a deadline.
Just weeks earlier, more than four thousand Philly patriots braved driving rains to gather in the brick-walled yard of the State House. Celebrating the Second Continental Congressâ decree to form new governments apart from King George III â the masterstroke of John Adams, 40 â the drenched Philly masses thunder for independence.
City Tavern Monday, June 15, 2026. The original building was demolished in 1854 and reconstructed in 1975.
George Washington himself takes brief leave of his embattled army, digging in for an expected British assault on New York, to update the 56 congressional delegates in Philadelphia. The generalâs tidings are lost to the centuries. But hear the lusty huzzahs that greet the stoic warrior at the representativesâ nightly repast at City Tavern, their unofficial headquarters.
âGeorge Washington, and victory to the American arms!â goes the toast.
Inside the locked chamber, radicals like Adams and his older cousin, and backroom operator, Samuel, 53, lead the fight for liberty. Jefferson, whose resolve for popular government in America is unquestioned, but who detests public speaking, rarely rises.
In early June, it is Jeffersonâs fellow Virginian, the passionate patriot Henry Lee, who delivers a decisive stroke, boldly uttering words hitherto unsaid in Congress: âThat these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.â
The thunderclap is met by delay. Delegates from powerful colonies, including Pennsylvaniaâs own reluctant son of liberty, John Dickinson, are hesitant to cut the cord. Radicals work furiously to build unanimity.
Clock tower at Independence Hall (Pennsylvania State House) Monday, June 15, 2026.
Philly headlines â in the same papers publishing fugitive slave ads and notices for the sale of Black children far younger than Bob Hemmings â decry âour mortal enemy the King of Great Britain.â
âThe people wait for us to lead the way,â Jefferson will note.
During the delegatesâ fiery, closed-door debates, his long legs folded underneath his desk, Jefferson stays mum.
But now the poet-philosopher and slaveholder, whose bright brilliance and dark contradictions mirror perfectly the promise and sins of the nation he seeks to author, must find all the words.
A renaissance figure among the rebels
It is John Adams, in characteristically gruff fashion, who appoints Jefferson first quill. The good gentleman from Virginia is but one of five men appointed to draft Americaâs creed â including Adams and Franklin, home sick with gout and other ailments â but Adams argues it is Jefferson, with his âpeculiar felicity for expression,â who should do the writing.
âReason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business,â Adams recalls telling Jefferson in the committeeâs first convocation. âReason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write 10 times better than I can.â
Adams is right.
Replica desks in the Assembly Room in Independence Hall (Pennsylvania State House) Monday, June 15, 2026.
Both drawn to the flame of American independence â the noblest cause of their age, and any other, they believe â the freedom fighters cut an odd coupling.
Adams, short, plump, balding, cantankerous. Jefferson, tall, lean, formidable, a shock of copper hair, freckled in the Philly heat, his illusive eyes described as blue or hazel or light gray. The Southern planter and legislator who matriculated at the College of William & Mary is soft-spoken and painfully gracious and polite, charming, flirtatious. He abhors confrontation.
Behold this true renaissance figure among the rebels.
Monticello, the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia, April 22, 2026.
A lover of food and wine and fine things, he studies art and history, philosophy and mathematics, science, botany, astronomy. He speaks four languages and can aptly read ancient Greek. He has been building his Palladian plantation house â situated on land more than five times bigger than the core of Philadelphia, the makeshift colonial capital city, and toiled by more than 100 chained souls â since the age of 14.
Adams, obsessive even in his sightseeing, catalogs and compares the marvels of Philadelphia â its spacious thoroughfares, leafy green spaces, commanding skyline, including Christ Churchâs heaven-kissing steeple, the tallest structure Washington had ever laid eyes on, its booming ports, gleaming institutions, exotic foods, and bottomless wine, porter, and punch.
During his few hours free from the rigors of revolution, Jefferson shops.
With Bob touting bulging bundles, the Squire strolls Philadelphiaâs abundant artisanal shops, buying maps and books across all his tastes â so many volumes, he commissions his favorite Philly cabinetmaker to make a specialized bookcase to ship them home â and tools for Monticello. He buys fine fabrics for his wife, Martha, whom he is heartsick for. An elegant doll for his 4-year-old daughter, Patsy. He buys a straw hat for himself, and shoes and socks for Bob. At a market stall, he pays a shilling to gaze upon a merchantâs exotic monkey.
Along with his compatriots, he sups at the City Tavern most nights, enjoying as many as three glasses of wine, but also favors the regal rusticity â and punch â of the Sign of the Conestoga Wagon Tavern on High Street.
A replica of the room where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, inside Declaration House (home of Jacob Graff, Jr.) Dec. 20, 2023.
Envision him, this sun-freckled Moses of American history, in flesh and bone, a living, breathing man, donning a sun hat, whose first memory is being held on a pillow by an enslaved worker, and who will within days pen the most revolutionary, if fatally flawed, manifesto ever put to parchment, walking among, but set apart from, the working classes of Philadelphia. The laboring, the indentured, and the enslaved â all those he would conversely see lifted to the altar of democracy or sold at the auction block.
See this man. And understand America.
An expression of the American mind
He envisions his task to âplace before mankind the common sense of the subject.â A justification for revolution, yes. A litany of proof that King George was a tyrant â and among other things, in an epic, and ultimately unsuccessful, act of blame-shifting, responsible for the entirety of the slave trade. But not a wholly original document. Rather, a soaring summation of the American revolutionary zeitgeist.
âNeither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and precious writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion,â he will later explain.
Statue of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, his primary residence and plantation of in Charlottesville, Virginia, April 22, 2026.
In his parlor, with the tall clock ticking and Bob tending to tea, Jefferson works fast, pulling from his own writing â including his recent draft for a new Virginia constitution â and also from a declaration of rights for Virginia, penned by pal George Mason. From the whirling stream of his intellect, he plucks at will the inspirations and ideals of the seminal works of enlightened thinkers like John Locke and David Hume, whose writings on natural rights and freedom (âLife, liberty, and property,â Locke wrote, before Jefferson amends it for the better) provide the bedrock for the revolution.
Quickly, he begins to find his words. The rag paper fills.
âWe hold these truths to be self-evident,â writes the man from Monticello.
A faded copy of a draft of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson, known as the âFair Copy,â on display at the American Philosophical Society Monday, June 15, 2026.
Dispatches from 1776, Part III will be published online on July Fourth. Read Part I here.
This historical sketch is based on interviews with Tyler Putman, manager of gallery interpretation at the Museum of the American Revolution, and Michael Idriss, manager of the African American interpretive program at the Museum of the American Revolution, as well as J.M. Duffin, assistant archivist at Penn Libraries, historian and author Michelle Craig McDonald, and Stephen Nepa, history professor at Pennsylvania State Universityâs Abington campus. The author also based this series on historical newspaper accounts and research from âJohn Adams,â by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2001), âDeclaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776,â by William Hogeland (Simon & Schuster, 2010), âAmerican Scripture: Making of the Declaration of Independence,â by Pauline Maier (Random House, 1997), âThe Revolutionary: Samuel Adams,â by Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown & Co., 2022), âCocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolution,â by Brooke Barbier (Chicago Review Press, 2026), âThomas Jefferson: The Art of Power,â by Jon Meacham (Random House, 2012), âRum Punch and Revolution: Taverngoing and Public Life in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia,â by Peter Thompson (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), âThe Thomas Paine Readerâ (Penguin Books, 1987), and â1776,â by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2005).
HARRISBURG â Three years after a bitter budget standoff over allowing state funding to be used for private school tuition, top Democrats in Harrisburg are ready to engage on school choice.
Legislative action and comments from a top House Democrat this week expressing openness to a federal school-choice program marked a notable change from 2023, when a fight over school vouchers put Democratic lawmakers at odds with both Republicans and Gov. Josh Shapiro, a member of their own party.
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said this week that some of the uses of Trumpâs tax credits, which are opposed by the countryâs largest teachers unions, are âintriguing.â And he noted he is proud of some money the state now pours into one of thetax credits to fund private-school scholarships for low-income families in low-achieving districts. Those comments from Bradford, a top leader in Harrisburg, suggested a public softening on an issue that was previously a non-starter for his partyâ and signaled the school-choice debate may once again factor into state budget negotiations.
âFor our members of our caucus who want to see alternatives for the poorest kids in the poorest schools, weâre being responsive to the needs of those constituents,â he said in an interview, referencing growing support for school choice among some House Democrats, particularly those from Philadelphia.
State Rep. Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery County) during a press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 3, 2026.
The school-choice movement, a largely Republican-backed effort to allow public dollars to go to private schools, faces strong opposition from education advocates who say such programs can take money from public schools.
And that debate is sure to continue. Bradford said more oversight â and an overall reform of the current tax credits â is needed to make sure the state tax dollars are actually reaching poor students.
Earlier this week, House Democrats fast-tracked an overhaul to the stateâs current $680 million school-choice tax-credit programs to require additional reporting from private schools in order to secure funding. The legislation is likely to face opposition in the GOP-led Senate, where Republicans on Thursday advanced a $25 million increase to the programs ahead of a June 30 deadline to pass a state budget.
Senate Republicans called the tax credits a âpriority for empowering parents,â while the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said the House bill would be âdevastatingâ to local Catholic schools and lead to fewer scholarships for students.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said his office is reviewing the House bill, and declined to comment on whether his position on school choice has changed. Shapiro, who has sent his own children to private school in Montgomery County, has previously said he supports school choice, including school vouchers.
Shapiro has until the end of the year to decide whether to opt in to the federal program. But the signal of openness from Bradford, who is close with the governor, offers potential insight into his path forward.
That program, enacted last year under Trumpâs âOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,â would offer federal tax credits to donors for giving to organizations that grant private school scholarships. Many GOP-led states have already signed on, while some Democratic governors have declined to participate.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro taking questions from media on election day, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. He voted today at Rydal Elementary (West) 1231 Meetinghouse Road Rydal, PA. At left is Jamila H. Winder, Chair, Montgomery County Commissioners.
Shapiro will also likely face questions about school choice on the campaign trail.
He is running for reelection in November against Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Garrityâs platform focuses, in part, on expanding school-choice options in Pennsylvania and she has the support of Commonwealth Partners, a political action committee largely funded by Pennsylvaniaâs richest man, Jeff Yass, which has poured money into supporting school choice.
The issue will also likely surface a national stage if Shapiro enters the 2028 Democratic presidential primary race. His support for vouchers drew criticism from fellow Democrats in 2024, when he was a potential vice presidential nominee.
Debate over state tax credits
Pennsylvania does not have a direct school voucher program. Instead, the state sets aside $680 million each year for tax credits that allow businesses and individuals to write off charitable giving that supports private school scholarships.
House Democratic support for those credits has quietly grown in recent years. In a June 2025 letter recently obtained by The Inquirer, 10 House Democrats, including five from Philadelphia and the head of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, asked their leadership to expand a portion of the tax credits forstudents in the lowest-achieving school districts â revealing more Democratic support for the programs than was previously known.
Public education advocates who oppose voucher programs say the state is funneling money to private schools with little accountability.
âItâs just a pot of money that a bunch of people get, and nobody really knows where it goes or what happens to it,â said Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA.
New requirements approved by the state legislature last year are set to take effect in November andwill require scholarship organizations to report the dollar amount of each award, the recipientâs district of residence, and where they attend private school.
The bill advanced by the House in a 105-97 vote this week would also require organizations to report each scholarship recipientâs income level â reducing the currentlimit to $144,000 for a family of four â and the amount of remaining tuition charged to a student. Advocates, including Spicka, called that information key to gauging whether scholarships are going to families who otherwise could afford private school.
Bradford said heâs proud of the $110 million earmarked in existing state tax credits to provide additional money to kids attending schools where a majority of students are getting scholarships. House Democrats say their newest proposal would steer more money toward those students.
But the proposed legislation â which would also reduce the tax credit donors could claim for some contributions, and require scholarship organizations to set 2% of funding aside for state oversight of the programs â drew swift backlash from private school advocates.
Schools affiliated with the Philadelphia archdiocese educate nearly 44,000 students across 117 schools in the region, according to its website.
Bradford, who is Catholic, said the Archdioceseâs response âmissed the mark,â arguing that this legislative effort is trying to achieve a similar goal of serving students from poor families who attend the roughest schools.
âIâm proud of my own Catholic faith. I love when my Catholic Church stands for those communities,â Bradford added. âNo one should ever fear transparency, especially when youâre talking about three-quarters of a billion dollars of state tax dollars.â
President Pro Tempore Kim Ward gavels the opening as the Pennsylvania Senate hosts a ceremonial meeting at the National Constitution Center Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans on Thursday amended another House bill to increase the stateâs current tax credit programs to $705 million.
President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), a staunch supporter of school vouchers, said in a statement that Bradfordâs attention to school choice is disingenuous, criticizing the House Democratsâ bill as âoverly burdensome auditing requirements disguised as âtransparency.ââ
The 2023 budget breakdown, where Shapiro ultimately vetoed the school voucher program heâd helped draft with Senate Republicans because it couldnât pass the Democratic-controlled House, continues to tarnish his relationships with top GOP leaders, including Ward. He and Ward have hardly spoken since.
âWhile Senate Republicans have consistently advanced legislation to provide scholarships to disadvantaged students, the track record for Gov. Josh Shapiro and House Democrats has been nothing more than a case of whiplash as their words and actions rarely align,â Ward said. âTo me, it seems like the support for school choice by the House Democrat Leadership is more of a façade as they continue to cater to political special interests.â
Bradford, in response, said he is open to conversation about accountability and transparency, but that debate needs to include private schools benefiting from taxpayer dollars.
âWe shouldnât carve out any portion of our K-to-12 education,â Bradford added. âThat conversation needs to be uniform.â
A choice for states on Trumpâs tax credits
Shapiro has previously said he would wait for more details before making a decisionon whether to participate in the new federal tax credit program. The U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier this month released additional details, including that itwill allow individuals to receive up to $1,700 in credits for making donations to private school scholarships that can cover tuition, tutoring, and more. In Philadelphia, families making $368,100 annually, or 300% of the countyâs gross median income,would be eligible to receive the scholarship.
Shapiroâs press secretary Rosie Lapowsky said the governor appreciates the guidance, but continues to await information on âhow this will affect use of our existing tax credits, how states will be expected to administer the program, and how eligibility will be determined.â
Twenty-eight states have opted in to the program, most of which are led by Republicans. And Democrats are facing pressure to stay out of the program.
In a letter sent to Democratic governors this week, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle called the program âa Trojan horse carrying near-universal K-12 private school vouchers into every state that participates.â
So far, Democratic governors elsewhere have taken differing approaches to the program. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said her state will participate but is waiting for final guidance before officially signing on. Other governors like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek have announced that their states will not participate. Democratic governors in Arizona and Wisconsin have vetoed legislative efforts to force their states to opt in, while governorsâ similar vetoes in North Carolina and Kentucky were overridden by legislators.
Bradford said itâs âan abominationâ that funding for Trumpâs program came from Republicans making other cuts to the federal budget, and emphasized that stateDemocrats remain committed to increasing public education funding.
âHere in Pennsylvania,â he said, âwe are a humble 102 [Democrats] in the Pennsylvania House and we are nimble and pragmatic.â
The Navy Yard got a new boat this month. It isnât a military ship and wonât be setting sail.
The decommissioned 1977 tugboat, now painted in Urbanâs signature yellow and marked by its logo, is now permanently stationed outside the companyâs headquarters â as a sort of mascot, to company cofounder and CEO Dick Hayne.
The tugboatâs arrival coincides with a momentous anniversary for Urban: the companyâs 20th year at the Navy Yard. Urban staff started relocating 500 employees there in 2004, and the headquarters was fully operational by 2006. Now it has 15 buildings and just over 2,500 employees.
And the company is continuing to grow.
Urban Outfitters chief development officer Dave Ziel stands with a retired tugboat the company acquired for display at its Navy Yard headquarters.
Urbanâs newest addition at the Navy Yard is a 117,000-square-foot photo studio building, which opened in April.
Urban announced earlier this month that it plans to hire at least 450 workers at the Navy Yard and at least 600 at a new Bucks County facility, which is set to open by 2028. Gov. Josh Shapiro joined Hayne for the news conference, and lauded the business as a home-grown global company bringing jobs to Pennsylvania.
âWe intend to stay here,â said CEO Hayne. âWe have no thought of leaving.â
How Urban grew from Philly roots to global retailer
Urban was founded in 1970. The companyâs roots are in West Philadelphia, where it opened its first store, a Free People. It now has almost 800 stores across the globe under the brand names Urban Outfitters, Free People, FP Movement, and Anthropologie.
Walking into an Urban store doesnât feel like stepping into a Macyâs where there are racks of clothes and bright fluorescent lighting, said senior analyst Gerard Machado at RetailStat.
âItâs not like youâre running an errand to get something,â said Machado. âYou might want to spend a little time looking at things. Thatâs a unique feature of Urban Outfitters.â
Similarly, customers who wander into Anthropologie find artfully arranged dinner plates and glassware amid scented candles â not just items stacked in rows on shelves.
Analysts say Urban is one of the more successful names in retail today, with strong sales numbers, loyal customers, and the ability to market to different audiences with its multiple brands. The company competes with the likes of J.Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Uniqlo, Ralph Lauren, Zara, and H&M.
The company grew profits by more than 15% in its most recent fiscal year, with nearly $465 million in net income in the year ending Jan. 31.
The Anthropologie store at 18th and Walnut Streets in Center City is shown in this 2020 file photo. People walk outside the Urban Outfitters store near 16th and Walnut Streets in Center City in November 2019.
One key feature of Urban is that itâs experimental and innovative, said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData. Nuuly, the companyâs clothing rental platform, which launched in 2019, is one of the âvery few players thatâs really successfulâ in that industry, he said. For $98 a month, subscribers get six fashionable items delivered to their door, which they can wear for a month and then ship back.
But there have been financial hurdles, too.
The Urban Outfitters brand struggled with declining sales in recent years. Gen Z consumers migrated âheavily into ultra fast fashion,â said Machado, and the brand didnât adapt quickly enough. As merchandise piled up in inventory, Urban cut prices, which consumers grew to expect.
To turn the brand around, the company set out to rebuild relationships with customers, bring on more items attractive to Gen Z, and engage with customers on platforms they were already on, like TikTok and YouTube, The Inquirer reported in 2023. The company hired a new president to helm the brand in 2024, and it returned to profitability last year.
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Tariffs have also pushed the company to adapt in part by negotiating better terms with vendors, shipping items by sea instead of air, and slightly adjusting pricing.
There have been workforce challenges too. In 2020, when a racial reckoning erupted in the country and seeped into corporate offices following the killing of George Floyd, Urban saw criticism from within its own workplace. Reports emerged of employees allegedly racially profiling customers as potential shoplifters, and some employees said people of color faced challenges to advancing their careers at the company, or reporting discrimination.
âSince 2020, we have prioritized creating a culture of inclusion and belonging at our home office, in our stores, and at our facilities,â said Meaghan Condon, Urbanâs director of communications and impact, in an emailed statement this month. She said that includes training for new hires and managers focused on inclusivity.
Another key ingredient in the companyâs culture: the Hayne family.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (left) with Urban Outfitters CEO Dick Hayne at the company’s newest building, which houses photo studios. They held a press conference in June to announce Urban Outfitters’ plans to hire over 1,000 new employees.
Cofounder and CEO Dick Hayneâs son, Dave, is chief technology officer and president of Nuuly, and his nephew, Azeez Hayne, is chief administrative officer. His wife, Meg, is Urbanâs co-president and chief creative officer.
Frank Conforti, chief operating officer and co-president at Urban, said the family ties are an asset and part of the culture.
Having a cofounder still at the helm has allowed Urban to focus on long-term strategy and take calculated risks, said Conforti, such as launching Nuuly. Investors werenât all in on the idea to begin with.
Now Nuuly has over 450,000 active subscribers â more than doubling that number since 2023.
âWe sort of donât rest on what we did yesterday,â said Conforti. âItâs not about yesterdayâs bestsellers.â
Racks of clothing inside the Nuuly warehouse in Levittown, Pa., last year. Nuuly is a clothing rental subscription service that offers a variety of styles, sizes, and brands.
A more efficient process
In Urbanâs newest building at the Navy Yard, rows and rows of wheeled clothing racks are spread across several rooms. Industrial metal shelves are filled with sneakers, sandals, and handbags. Lamps and armchairs wait to be photographed for e-commerce.
The space was once used for building and housing ship components, noted Jennifer Calliagas, Urbanâs North America director of planning, who led the new buildingâs development. Urban bought it from Rhoads Industries in 2016 for an undisclosed sum.
Urban spent about $40 million to fit the space for its needs, which included stripping the building down to its structure, said chief development officer Dave Ziel. Construction started last year, and Urban employees began working in the space by mid-April.
Inside the new building are adjoining rooms to seamlessly carry out the photography process: Clothing, shoes, and accessories are received in one room, then moved into the next room to be styled, and finally to the studio where theyâre photographed. Staging areas are set up to portray bedrooms and bathrooms, functioning kitchens were built for cooking food to show in photos, and plants are on hand to finish off the staged living spaces.
The Inquirer was not permitted to photograph the studios because the merchandise had not yet been released publicly.
Not long ago, the companyâs photo work was done in rented studios in New York City, Calliagas said, or scattered across the company headquarters.
Vintage signage from the early days of Urban Outfitters, now displayed in the company’s Navy Yard headquarters.Massive outdoor signage marks Urban Outfitters’ presence at the Navy Yard.
âAnthropologie, for instance ⊠would be receiving in one area and then going to another building for style-outs, and then sometimes going back into another building for shooting,â Calliagas said. âIt was a really inefficient process.â
At the Navy Yard, the companyâs brands are housed in separate buildings, in part because they each âspeak to their customerâ in a different way, said Oona McCullough, executive director of investor relations. She called this kind of separation âstatesâ rights.â
Consolidating the photo work under one roof has freed up space in other buildings, said Ziel, which is helpful for the continued growth of brands.
âThe brands are still growing pretty aggressively,â said Calliagas.
Jennifer Calliagas, director of planning for North America, discusses how the company will use its photo studios at its newest building in the Navy Yard.
A campus with more possibilities
Conforti refers to the headquarters as a âcampus,â with a âyouthfulâ and âvery collegiateâ atmosphere. When bankers or investors visit the headquarters, âwe tell them to dress down casual,â he said. âThey drop their tie.â
In keeping with standards set long ago by Google and other Silicon Valley tech companies, the campus is full of amenities. The newer ones include pickleball courts, a basketball court, and a walking track. And thereâs plenty of green space for employees to walk their dogs, which are welcome in the workplace.
Most people work in the office at least three days a week, said Conforti.
âWeâre not the most red-tape, bureaucratic company,â he said. âThereâs just nothing like being here on campus getting things done. Thereâs an efficiency to it â and thereâs a community.â
People walk to and from the building that houses Urban Outfitters’ cafeteria, which is open to employees and the public.
On a recent Monday, Urbanâs cafeteria was just about to start serving warm lunches, and a few dozen people waited in line, while others roamed the large building with its decorative pools. Some wore U.S. Navy uniforms â the cafeteria is open to the public. Options included pizza, Teriyaki beef rice bowls, and grab-and-go items like ice cream bars and boxed sushi.
CEO Hayne stopped in for a bag of chips and a wrap, seemingly unnoticed.
At the June news conference, he recalled his first impression of the Navy Yard over 20 years ago: âI drove down Broad Street, came in Kitty Hawk [Avenue], looked at all these beautiful old brick buildings from the turn of the 20th century, and I said âsold!ââ
Then & Now: Building 18 in 1917 and in 2024. Built in 1908 and used as a machine shop, it is now part of the URBN campus. Building 16 in the background was also used as a machine shop and is now a another example of an adaptive reuse project. #discovertheyard#navyyardhistorypic.twitter.com/VutWsQwrUc
When Ziel, Urbanâs chief development officer, first came to the Navy Yard with Hayne, he said, âthere was nobody here.â
âThere was a raccoon â that was who I saw when we looked at the first buildings,â said Ziel, who has led the companyâs real estate development.
Decades later, Ziel still sees more opportunities for growth. âI have a couple excess buildings up my sleeve.â
ARIES (March 21-April 19). People are complex, and you canât predict how theyâll react to what you consider a very normal and ordinary exchange. If someone gets upset, you donât have to match their energy. Give the moment a little room to settle.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). In the same way that silence changes depending on who sits beside you, the emotional atmosphere around a person tells you more than their words do. Pay attention to how your body feels in someoneâs company.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You intend to motivate and inspire, but do you have the right words to do it? You donât need to. The words are the least of your tools. When youâre living the example, explanation and instruction are but a small part of the equation.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). It is safe â fortuitous even â to dream unlimited. However improbable the dream may be, dream it with abandon. Itâs not your job to represent reality, itâs the worldâs. Leave the worldâs work to the world while you mentally soar.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You donât think about your strengths because they are so innate you assume theyâre just part of being human. Of course, thatâs not so. Whatâs ordinary to you is remarkable to others. Honor your gifts and theyâll open doors.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Creative confidence is the belief that you can make something worthwhile even when you donât know exactly how it will turn out. Itâs different from confidence in the finished product. Today, you believe you can figure it out, then you do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You can never be completely objective about yourself, but you can learn a lot by looking at yourself from different angles. The better you understand your own patterns, strengths and blind spots, the easier and more enjoyable life becomes.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Leave some empty space in your schedule because thatâs where the good stuff is likely to happen. Youâll accomplish what needs doing, but the most memorable parts of the day may come from things you didnât plan.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You used to feel compelled to share, and now you place a higher value on your own mystery than you do on the need to be completely known and understood. People will come to their own understanding anyway.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The mind is wonderful at generating ideas, not for storing them. Writing helps you process and understand things. Contradictory thoughts can coexist in the mind, but on paper they can be scrutinized. Ink makes the ideas earn their place.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Being included feels physically different from being tolerated. You shouldnât have to bend and work and dance to belong. Today reminds you of this. Genuine friends make you wonder why you ever settled for less.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You have this sly way of leading others without them knowing it. Youâre not in it for the glory. You want whatâs best for the group and everyone feels that intent. Youâll start today, and others will join in with enthusiasm.
TODAYâS BIRTHDAY (June 28). Itâs your Year of the Living Key in which you are the one who snugs into a role and then turns the lock to open your own destiny. Itâs the friction of life thatâs refined you to fit the opportunity. Everything before has brought you to this moment. More highlights: A special relationship that requires translation and adjustment but pays off in joy. Savvy investing. Increased physical strength. Pisces and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 3, 19, 7, 28 and 9.
