The holiday is over but that doesn’t mean the drama has ended. I’ve pulled in two Inquirer Features staffers to help answer the familial conundrum.
Evan Weiss, Deputy Features Editor: Okay, the question is…
My sister brought her new boyfriend to Thanksgiving and asked if we like him. Should I tell the truth? (Which is no.)
Stephanie Farr, Staff Columnist: I think honesty is always the way to go, but when it comes to your loved one’s partners, you must tread carefully.
I definitely think you shouldn’t say no flat-out, but you could turn it around and ask questions of her: How do you feel he did? What do you like about him? What did he think of us?
Jason Nark, Life & Culture Reporter: This is a tough one because I’ve learned, after the fact, what people thought of partners. It would have been helpful to know their opinions ahead of time.
Stephanie Farr: I definitely brought a stinker of a boyfriend to Thanksgiving once, and while I didn’t ask what my father’s opinion of him was, I didn’t have to. My dad didn’t say anything about the dude and I didn’t ask because I knew and he knew and he knew I knew. If he liked him, he would have said it, there would be no need to ask.
Jason Nark: My mom has said “Would it have mattered?” It probably wouldn’t have. lol
Stephanie Farr: And I think that’s exactly the point! When you’re in a relationship with someone that you don’t want to leave — for whatever reason, good or bad — very little anyone says is going to change your mind. And if it’s your family, well then you start to think they just don’t want your happiness or understand you.
Jason Nark: I feel like there needs to be a devil’s advocate in life situations, the one relative who will get you the straight story. I would like to be that person but it’s hard.
Stephanie Farr: DRUNK UNCLE FTW!
Jason Nark: Yes, I’ll be the drunk uncle.
Stephanie Farr: Haha! I got one, he’s great.
Jason Nark: Then again, I would never want to be “I told you so” kind of person.
I think, if my theoretical sister was looking for a life partner and was very serious, I would express my concerns if I saw red flags. What if the guy rooted for the Cowboys?
But if it’s less serious, I’d probably hold back.
Evan Weiss: You really don’t want to be in the situation where you disparage the person so heavily and then they end up marrying them and it’s awkward forever.
Stephanie Farr: I think if you’re genuinely concerned about your sister’s partner, maybe pointing out specifics instead of disparaging the entire person is the way to go. For example: “I didn’t like that Brad didn’t say ‘Thank you’ to you for clearing his plate. Is he usually better about such things?” or “I noticed Brad spent the entire trip home watching football instead of hanging with the family. Was it us or is that how he usually is?”
Sow the seeds of doubt, if warranted, but don’t pull out the entire weed because you don’t know how far his roots have grown.
Jason Nark: Mostly, I’d want to see how he treats her in little moments. Does he ask her if she needs something? Does he laugh at her jokes? Is he family-oriented and not a curmudgeon?
We’re reporters after all, we’re great observers.
Evan Weiss: I think a big question for Thanksgiving specifically: Does he help out?
If he isn’t cooking… does he clean?
Stephanie Farr: 110%. I think that’s a big question when considering a life partner overall too, but if you want to impress someone’s family, offer to do chores! I can’t cook, but I wash all the dishes at my in-laws’ holiday gatherings (Bonus: It also gives me alone time. Shhhh!)
Jason Nark: I guess my takeaway is this: If you express your concerns, do it gently, with grace, knowing your opinion could be ignored.
Stephanie Farr: Yes, do it sneakily!
Evan Weiss: And don’t get mad if things don’t go your way.
Stephanie Farr: For sure, you have to be prepared to be the bad guy if you want to be brutally honest.
Corinne Low, a Wharton economist, didn’t have to search far for an example of how women’s familial and professional choices are shaped by an uneven playing field.
In 2017, Low gave birth to her son while building a tenure-track career. Her life soon began to feel unmanageable. She was commuting up to six hours a day from Manhattan to Wharton while also taking care of the household tasks that kept her family functioning: groceries, laundry, cooking, childcare.
The situation reached a crisis point when Low found herself pumping in an Amtrak bathroom while crying; she had been in transit for hours and realized she wouldn’t make it home to see her son before bed.
Low, 41, was not a single parent. But her husband had recently left his job to start his own business, a choice that did not reduce his working hours, but did reduce his salary — to zero.
Wharton professor Corinne Low (right) and her, wife Sondra Woodruff, spend time after dinner playing and reading with their kids.
When Low examined her own life, she made two major changes that freed her time and altered her circumstances. First, she divorced her husband and decided to exclusively date women. (A summer article in the Cut about Low, headlined “This Economist Crunched the Numbers and Stopped Dating Men,” went viral.) She is now married to a woman.
The less viral but equally meaningful shift was that she left New York City — and embraced Philly.
“The underplayed hero of my story, of the changes that I made, was moving to Philadelphia,” she said recently in an interview. “That was actually the more important upgrade.”
When she was living in Manhattan and struggling to keep up, friends had recommended that she hire a live-in au pair, which they said was a more affordable, less transactional form of childcare. But of course, like most New Yorkers, Low had no spare room.
In Philadelphia, she was able to afford a bigger house with more space, which meant she could have an au pair. And her commute went from over two hours to seven minutes by bike, freeing her to build a life “filled with friends, community, time outdoors.”
It all added up. In Philadelphia, Low writes, “I rediscovered myself. I found who I had been before I became a stressed-out, angry, rapidly aging person. I was fun! I was creative! I could relax.“ (She adds the disclaimer that she is “not advocating that everyone who reads this book should leave their marriage and move to a new city,” although, perhaps they should, assuming they move to the right city.)
The book analyzes economic data to show women how to get a “better deal” for themselves.
She wanted to show that the feeling many working women experience — of being under siege from all sides, unable to figure out how to gloriously “have it all” — was not some symptom of being hysterical, but was instead rooted in data.
“I want people to figure out how to claw back some of their time from these structural forces that are squeezing us,” Low said. “Knowing the data, it gives you permission to make some of those choices.”
She found that even in families where women were the primary breadwinners, they still overwhelmingly had to put in a “second shift” at home. Some statistics in the book are startling: For example, men who earn only 20% of the household income in a heterosexual family do the same amount of housework as those who earn 80% of the family’s income, which Low found by analyzing the American Time Use Survey, a massive dataset of how individuals spend their time.
That means even when a woman earns more than twice what her partner earns, she also does twice as much cooking and cleaning.
“That bothers me, because it’s inefficient,” Low said. “Because you’re using the ‘more expensive’ person’s time on these home production tasks.”
In the book, Low aims to advise women on how to get a “better deal” for themselves, by employing the stark logic of her field.
She writes about how women might improve their “personal utility function,” which she describes as a “personal video game score at the end of your life,” grounded in one’s priorities and values. She urges women to think about dating as a job interview for a co-executive in a multipronged, multiyear enterprise, and to think of a job as a “technology for converting time into money.”
She also encourages readers to throw away their houseplants if they are not increasing personal utility function.
“You need to be ruthless in protecting your time from things that are not investments in your future and do not bring you joy,” she writes.
Corinne Low and her wife, Sondra Woodruff pictured here with their kids at Clark Park. ,
One of her most interesting arguments is that women today effectively “hire themselves” for too many jobs within the home. It has become normalized to outsource “male-coded” tasks, like changing a car’s oil or fixing an electrical outlet, by hiring a specialist to do it, Low said.
But women have not updated their mindsets about the market value of their time, and so there remains stigma to outsourcing “female-coded” tasks, like laundry, cooking, or home childcare.
Low sees Having It All as a rejoinder to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: While “leaning in is doing more of what’s not working,” as Low put it, she wants readers of her book to “level up” by removing whatever constraints they’re able to.
Of course, many of the problems facing working women remain systemic, and she writes in the book’s afterword about the necessity of societal changes, including parental leave underwritten by the federal government and creative thinking by employers about how to allowfemale employees to meet both their professional and domestic obligations during peak child-rearing eras.
After a book tour, Low is now back in Philly with her two young children and her wife and still reveling in the charms of her city.
“When I was busy and on book tour,” she said, “neighbors walked my son to school.”
Readers told Low that they are making changes to their personal lives based on the book. No one has told her they’re moving to Philadelphia — yet.
Thanksgiving is always the busiest travel time of the year and as always, the AAA has come up with their annual projection: this year a record 81.8 million Americans will be going somewhere, at least 50 miles from home.
6 million people will get there by plane, train, bus, or cruise, but nearly 73 million will travel by car, representing almost 90% of all holiday travelers.
I will not be among them. I get a lot of photo enjoyment out of road trips, but holiday travel is not the seeing-the-USA-in-your-Chevrolet or getting-your-kicks-on-Route-66 kind.
While my newspaper print column has been around since 1998, this online version actually started during the summer of 2007 with three or four posts every week (back then it was called blogging) as I traveled the region’s roadways with my camera, bent upon discovery.
After 9/11, like most Americans, I looked at my country in a new way. Inspired by the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, I set out to retrace their 3,700 mile journey, known as the Corps of Discovery, on my own epic cross-country road trip across America.
Since then I have made lots of more local road trips. I sought out retro kitschy giant roadside Muffler Men‚ wandered New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, and Pennsylvania’s political T-zone during the 2020 election.
And one of my favorites: visiting all 10 of the New Jersey joints and restaurants featured in a 2015 episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown, by the late Anthony Bourdain, a chef, author, TV personality — and a Jersey Boy from Bergen County.
Speaking of food and other roadside attractions, this is on my maybe to-do road trip list this winter:
I photographed that Buc-ee’s sign near mile marker 291 on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike earlier this year, near the Bowmansville Service Plaza, back when the closest outpost of the Texas-based travel center described as a “theme park on the highway” was the one off I-95 in Florence, South Carolina.
My daughter has been sending me social media food videos (mostly by international visitors) and even bought me a mug, but I have never been to any of the chain’s 51 locations across 11 states or experienced their extensive gas stations, “world-famous” restrooms or Beaver Nuggets.
A new one opened in Virginia this past summer, off I-81, two hours southwest of Washington, D.C. — only 275 miles from Philadelphia’s City Hall.
So, readers, let me ask you. Is it worth a trip? Let me know here.
Or do I just stick with getting my highway food-fix at Wawa, Sheetz, Royal Farms, Turkey Hill, QuickChek, or Circle K?
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
November 17, 2025: Students on a field trip from the Christian Academy in Brookhaven, Delaware County, pose for a group photo in front of the Liberty Bell in Independence National Historical Park on Thursday. The trip was planned weeks earlier, before they knew it would be on the day park buildings were reopening after the government shutdown ended. “We got so lucky,” a teacher said. Then corrected herself. “It’s because we prayed for it.” November 8, 2025: Multitasking during the Festival de Día de Muertos – Day of the Dead – in South Philadelphia.November 1, 2025: Marcy Boroff is at City Hall dressed as a Coke can, along with preschoolers and their caregivers, in support of former Mayor Jim Kenney’s 2017 tax on sweetened beverages. City Council is considering repealing the tax, which funds the city’s pre-K programs. October 25, 2025: Austin Gabauer, paint and production assistant at the Johnson Atelier, in Hamilton Twp, N.J. as the finished “O” letter awaits the return to Philadelphia. The “Y” part of the OY/YO sculpture is inside the painting booth. The well-known sculpture outside the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History was removed in May while construction continues on Market Street and has been undergoing refurbishment at the Atelier at the Grounds for Sculpture outside of Trenton.October 20, 2025:The yellow shipping container next to City Hall attracted a line of over 300 people that stretched around a corner of Dilworth Park. Bystanders wondered as they watched devotees reaching the front take their selfies inside a retro Philly diner-esque booth tableau. Followers on social media had been invited to “Climb on to immerse yourself in the worlds of Pleasing Fragrance, Big Lip, and exclusive treasures,” including a spin of the “Freebie Wheel,” for products of the unisex lifestyle brand Pleasing, created by former One Direction singer Harry Styles.October 11, 2025: Can you find the Phillie Phanatic, as he leaves a “Rally for Red October Bus Tour” stop in downtown Westmont, N.J. just before the start of the NLDS? There’s always next year and he’ll be back. The 2026 Spring Training schedule has yet to be announced by Major League Baseball, but Phillies pitchers and catchers generally first report to Clearwater, Florida in mid-February.October 6. 2025: Fluorescent orange safety cone, 28 in, Poly Ethylene. Right: Paint Torch (detail) Claes Oldenburg, 2011, Steel, Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic, Gelcoat and Polyurethane. (Gob of paint, 6 ft. Main sculpture, 51 ft.). Lenfest Plaza at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on North Broad Street, across from the Convention Center.September 29, 2025: A concerned resident who follows Bucks County politics, Kevin Puls records the scene before a campaign rally for State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the GOP candidate for governor. His T-shirt is “personal clickbait” with a url to direct people to the website for The Travis Manion Foundation created to empower veterans and families of fallen heroes. The image on the shirts is of Greg Stocker, one of the hosts of Kayal and Company, “A fun and entertaining conservative spin on Politics, News, and Sports,” mornings on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.September 22, 2025: A shadow is cast by “The Cock’s Comb,” created by Alexander “Sandy” Calder in 1960, is the first work seen by visitors arriving at Calder Gardens, the new sanctuary on the Ben Franklin Parkway. The indoor and outdoor spaces feature the mobiles, stabiles, and paintings of Calder, who was born in Philadelphia in 1898, the third generation of the family’s artistic legacy in the city.September 15, 2025: Department of Streets Director of Operations Thomas Buck leaves City Hall following a news conference marking the activation of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras on the Broad Street corridor – one the city’s busiest and most dangerous roads. The speed limit on the street, also named PA Route 611, is 25 mph.September 8, 2025: Middle schoolers carry a boat to the water during their first outing in a learn-to-row program with the Cooper Junior Rowing Club, at the Camden County Boathouse on the Cooper River in Pennsauken. September 1, 2025: Trumpet player Rome Leone busks at City Hall’s Easr Portal. The Philadelphia native plays many instruments, including violin and piano, which he started playing when he was 3 years old. He tells those who stop to talk that his grandfather played with Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, and Dizzy Gillespie. August 25, 2025: Bicycling along on East Market Street.August 18, 2025: Just passing through Center City; another extraterrestrial among us. August 11, 2025: Chris Brown stows away Tongue, the mascot for a new hard iced tea brand, after wearing the lemon costume on a marketing stroll through the Historic District. Trenton-based Crooked Tea is a zero-sugar alcoholic tea brand founded by the creator of Bai, the antioxidant-infused coconut-flavored water, and launched in April with former Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham as a partner.August 4,2025: Shanna Chandler and her daughters figure out their plans for a morning spent in Independence National Historical Park on the map in the Independence Visitor Center. The women (from left) Lora, 20; Shanna; Lenna, 17; and Indigo, 29, were stopping on their way home to Richmond, Virginia after vacationing in Maine. The last time they were all in Philadelphia Shanna was pregnant with Lenna.
The buyers: Jessica Lubniewski, 41, museum educator; David Jacobs, 40, electrical engineer
The house: A 1,300-square-foot rowhouse in East Falls with 3 bedrooms and 1½ baths, built in 1930.
The price: listed for $325,000; purchased for $327,500
The agent: Benjamin Camp, Elfant Wissahickon
The ask: Jessica Lubniewski and David Jacobs didn’t want to buy just any house; they wanted to buy their friend’s house. But when the friend didn’t accept their offer, they had to pivot.
The couple started looking for houses that cost less than $375,000 in East Falls. They wanted at least three bedrooms, a bathroom on the first floor, and a dining room that was big enough to entertain. “That was a really big thing for me,” said Lubniewski. They also wanted character and original details — not a recently flipped property.
Lubniewski and Jacobs in their dining room that is big enough to entertain.
The search: The couple went to a few open houses and spent their evenings browsing Zillow listings, where Lubniewski spied a preview listing for a house that wouldn’t be on the market for a few weeks. “I just kept looking at it and being like, ‘Man, that house looks so cool,’” said Lubniewski. “It was right around the corner from where we were renting our apartment and had all the things we were looking for.” Lubniewski and Jacobs told their agent they wanted to see the house and he worked to get them “the first viewing on the first day that it was on the market,” said Jacobs.
The appeal: The couple loved the look of the first floor,which includes two fireplaces. “Neither of them are working,” said Lubniewski, but the mantles are “so beautiful.” The one in the living room has its original facade.
The arched doorways in between the living room and the dining room and the dining room and the kitchen give “a nice look,” said Lubniewski. Jacobs appreciates the house’s central air system.
Arched doorways separate the living room from the dining room and the dining room from the kitchen
The deal: A few hours after visiting the home, the couple put in an offer. Their agent suggested they bid a few thousand dollars over the asking price, so they offered $2,500 more for a total of $327,500. Lubniewski thinks they may have been the only people to see the house.
The seller accepted their offer and after the inspection, agreed to cover $5,000 of the closing costs. He also threw in the patio furniture and the grill. In exchange, the couple did a 30-day closing.
“It all happened pretty smoothly and pretty quickly,” said Lubniewski.
One of the couple’s favorite aspects of the house were the two original fireplace mantels in the living room and the dining room.
The money: The couple had $90,000 to spend on their home. That included $40,000 of personal savings.
“We don’t have any kids. We don’t have a lot of expenses,” said Lubniewski regarding how they were able to save. And after Jacobs got his current job as an electrical engineer, they were “able to save a lot quite easily,” she added, a first for both of them.
They also got $40,000 from Jacobs’ parents, and additional money they inherited from relatives who died earlier in the year.
They tried to pursue a first-time homebuyer’s mortgage but were about $500 over the income limit, Lubniewski said, so they got a 30-year-mortgage with a 6.45% interest rate instead. They put 20% down, about $65,000.
The move: Lubniewski and Jacobs made a few changes to the house before they moved in, including ripping out the carpeting upstairs. “It was horrible work, so gross,” said Lubniewski. They hired someone to redo the floors and buff the original hardwood downstairs. They officially moved in at the end of July, said Lubniewski, “on what felt like the hottest day of the summer.”
Original details, like the woodworking on the staircase banister, was important to Jacobs and Lubniewski.
Any reservations? Jacobs wishes they had time to replace the old electrical wiring they discovered after they moved in. “In the basement the electrical all looked really good, and the inspector didn’t flag anything.” But when they tried to replace a light fixture in the dining room, they encountered old, fabric-wrapped wire, an outdated type of electrical wiring that exists in many old homes. They think there may be more, but they don’t want to bust through the walls right now to find out.
Life after close: Since moving in, Jacobs and Lubniewski have been busy getting to know their neighbors. In fact, a woman who grew up in the house stopped by on Halloween and asked to peek inside. “She was really excited,” said Lubniewski. She even had her son take a photo in front of the fireplace mantel, the same spot her mother took a photo of her on Halloween in the ‘70s. “It’s always so interesting to know what has changed,” Lubniewski said. Or in the case of the fireplace mantel, what hasn’t.
Standing alongside his parents and his six siblings, Caleb Quick posed for a photo with Brandon Graham and Milton Williams, wearing a gray shirt that stated, “I kicked cancer’s butt.” After the photo, Caleb untangled the yellow wristbands in his right hand and handed them to both players. The bracelets read: For Childhood Cancer Warriors.
“People see football players as heroes,” Caleb said. “So, when the kids look at them they’ll see their heroes wearing the bands to support them.”
When speaking with Caleb, you learn he loves the typical 10-year-old hobbies. He loves to play board games, he loves riding roller coasters, and he loves football. But if you ask him more about himself, you’ll also learn it’s his mission to raise awareness for pediatric cancer after he was diagnosed with leukemia at just 5 years old.
Caleb Quick and his family have made it their mission to battle pediatric cancer after he was diagnosed with leukemia at 5 years old.
The Quick family isn’t your typical family. In fact, they’re quite hard to miss. Naomi and her husband, John, are raising seven kids all under the age of 17. Their youngest is Hannah, who is 6 years old, then it’s Caleb, 10; Noah, 12; Grace, 13; James, 14; John Daniel, 15; and their oldest daughter, Chara, 16.
The Delaware natives have already combined their mission to raise awareness for pediatric cancer with their love for roller coasters, riding more than 100 of them from Minnesota to Tennessee.
“Our family just kind of draws attention,” Naomi said. “So people kind of look anyway so we use that to our advantage. We would wear foundation T-shirts to the different parks to raise awareness for the different foundations that help childhood cancer. It was raising awareness in this really fun way that didn’t leave people sad. Instead it was more hopeful.”
Some of these foundations included: B+ Foundation, the Landon Vargas Foundation, Live Like Lucas, Project Outrun, and Kisses for Kyle. Caleb’s Give Kids the World passport, which grants families free access to parks around the country, made this mission possible.
“Childhood cancer is like a roller coaster that no one wants to get on,” Naomi said. “It is full of ups and downs and it makes you feel sick sometimes. And life is a roller coaster in general. But kids should get to ride coasters. Not have to fight cancer.”
Now, the Quicks are ready to raise awareness through the family’s next love: football.
Caleb Quick (second from left) and his family also share a love for roller coasters, and have used that passion to further their mission of supporting pediatric cancer awareness.
‘Bad luck’ for the Quicks
Just months before Caleb was diagnosed with leukemia, his father, John, had just battled ocular melanoma, the most common eye cancer in adults. “Both him and Caleb had genetic testing done and there’s no link between the two,” Naomi said. “So, it’s just like a really bad situation. I don’t know what else to call it, bad luck.”
John was diagnosed in 2019 and was declared cancer free in January 2020 after he was treated by sewing in radiation seeds into his eyeball, the procedure ended up taking the vision from his right eye. Seven months later, Caleb was diagnosed with leukemia.
Naomi remembers bringing Caleb to the emergency room in August 2020, after Caleb was complaining about being tired and having knee pain. She wasn’t expecting her next conversation with the doctor to be something so life changing.
Caleb Quick was in remission within 28 days, but continued treatment for another two years.
“To have a doctor sit across from you and tell you that you’re really spunky, climbs-all-over-everything, never-settles-down kid has cancer was …” Naomi said before falling silent.
Caleb’s initial hospitalization at the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington was 22 days. Within the first three days, Naomi said, Caleb couldn’t walk and he was covered from head to toe in bruises.
“It was a really quick progression, and then he developed blood clots unfortunately in his central line, which meant he had to be on blood thinners for a good portion of his treatment as well,” Naomi said. “It was definitely a little bit more complicated than even just the regular treatment.”
By that November, after months of physical therapy and using a walker to move around the house, Caleb rebuilt his muscles and learned to walk again. However, he still has slight residual weakness in one leg from chemotherapy.
Caleb was in remission within 28 days. But due to a high rate of relapse without the maintenance period of chemotherapy, his treatment lasted another 25 months. His official Ring the Bell date was Oct. 22, 2022. Right after his last dose, he went home to ring the bell in front of his family.
When asked what he wanted to do with his meds and supplies, Caleb responded: “I wanted to burn them.”
Of course, they didn’t burn the medicine. But they did throw a big party and burned a few papers to signify he was done with his treatment. And throughout the Quick family’s battle with cancer — not once, but twice — they gained an even stronger sense of community.
“Our family has seen those really hard times bring us closer together and make us stronger,” Naomi said. “For all of us, we learned to get through hard times doing it as a family and doing it together. Nobody here had to fight alone, which was good. But that can’t be said for all the other families and so I think it’s really made us more aware and more passionate about fighting on behalf of other families that are going through their own cancer battle.”
Brandon Graham, whose mother overcame leukemia, gave inspiration to Caleb Quick during his battle with cancer.
‘Football was the saving grace’
On Sept. 19, 2022, Caleb had finished one of the biggest chemo days he had left in his treatment. Later that night, he and his family attended the Eagles’ home opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Eagles invited the Quicks to the sideline before the game after learning that they were divided between Vikings and Eagles fans. “It’s split 5-4 in favor of the Eagles, I’m proud to say,” Naomi said. “The Vikings fandom comes from their father’s Minnesota roots.”
Caleb Quick (left) and his family pose with Brandon Graham at the Eagles’ 2022 home opener against the Vikings. The family is split between Eagles and Vikings fans due to their father’s Minnesota roots.
Caleb is a fan of both teams. So it was a dream come true for the family to witness both teams in action. Before the game, Graham walked over, welcoming the family with a sweaty hug and words of encouragement.
“He looked at me and he said, ‘My mom had leukemia as a kid and she was told she would never have kids, and look where I am,’” Caleb remembered.
A few weeks earlier, Caleb took part in the Phillies’ Childhood Cancer Awareness Night, and got to meet then-first lady Jill Biden.
Caleb Quick (left) got to meet Jill Biden, then the first lady, and many Phillies players during Childhood Cancer Awareness Night in 2022.
Two weeks later, toward the end of his treatment, Caleb took a dive in health. The cumulative effect of over two years of chemo had taken its toll on his body. He developed three different viral infections and four different bacterial infections.
“It was a little scary, and I just remember thinking to myself, replaying those words that Brandon had spoken. He did say that, ‘With God, all things are possible. He’s a fighter, he’s going to make it,’” Naomi recalled. “And I just held onto that because I needed that encouragement. And to have it come from somebody who is a hero to the community, it was a really special interaction.”
Football has always played a special role for the Quick family, through both Caleb’s and John’s cancer battles. For John, it was an escape. For Caleb, it was an inspiration.
“John was diagnosed right in the middle of the football season,” Naomi said. “So, football games were this way that we could have normal family time. It was just kind of an escape from reality during both of their cancer fights. Meanwhile, football was an inspiration for Caleb to walk again.
“Football was the saving grace, and like I said, when he lost his ability to walk, he would say, ‘Mom, I can’t play in the NFL anymore.’ He wants to play in the NFL and he can’t do that if he can’t walk.”
Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith was wearing his yellow bracelet in support of childhood cancer awareness when he caught this touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in December 2022.
‘For childhood cancer warriors’
During the 2022 season, Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith wore a yellow wristband given to him by 10-year-old Nicholas Purificato, who was battling Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Starting that October, Smith wore the bracelet every day at practice and during games to support his fight.
One day, Caleb spotted the yellow bracelet and looked up at his mom and said, “Mom, No. 6, Smith, he cares about kids like me. Look at those bands,” Naomi recalled.
At that moment, she ordered similar yellow bands for her son, with the words “For childhood cancer warriors”and a gold ribbon engraved on them.
At last year’s Big Climb, a fundraiser for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Caleb met Milton Williams and Tarron Jackson, a pair of former Eagles defensive ends. Williams, who signed with the New England Patriots this offseason, shared his story about his mother’s battle with breast cancer and proudly accepted Caleb’s bracelet. A few months later, Williams was still wearing the bracelet.
“We offered him one and then he took a whole bag to the locker room and passed them out,” Naomi said. “We ended up seeing the team pictures later in August and he was wearing them in his team pictures. Caleb was showing it to all of his friends and family. It was a cool moment.”
But it’s not just Caleb and Naomi’s mission to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. After watching Caleb battle leukemia at such a young age, his siblings have made it their mission as well.
“Since we know how hard it is for kids to go through cancer, we know that other families who have to go through the same thing, it’s hard for them too,” said Caleb’s sister Grace. “So, when you raise awareness, those families know that you care.”
Caleb’s older brother J.D. added: “If they’re wearing bands and they’re asked by a reporter why they’re wearing them, then people start to wonder more about cancer because a lot of people don’t know a whole lot about cancer until somebody they know has had it.”
The Quick family’s ultimate goal is to get bracelets to all 32 teams in the NFL.
“September is childhood cancer awareness month and it really doesn’t get as much publicity as some other awareness months do, which is odd,” Naomi said. “It seems to be that you have to be in this world to know a lot about it. So, our hope was that if we could get to all 32 teams, then kids across the country, no matter who they’re rooting for, will know that there are people rooting for them. Every child deserves that. Every kid deserves to know that they’re not fighting alone.”
As of October, Caleb was moved to annual visits after his three-year off treatment lab results came back perfect.
It’s almost Thanksgiving and maybe you’re not the cooking type. Or maybe you just have too much on your … plate. I invited two Inquirer journalists to answer the age-old holiday conundrum. We do get to the bottom of it.
Evan Weiss, deputy features editor: OK, the question is …
Is it rude to bring a store-bought Thanksgiving dish when everyone else is cooking from scratch?
Margaret Eby, food editor: I feel very strongly about this! The answer is no, of course not! Unless you said you were bringing a homemade casserole and show up with a bag of half-eaten Doritos or something, it’s not rude.
Sam Ruland, features planning and coverage editor: I think it comes down to how much you like these people.
Margaret Eby: Oooh OK so homemade is only for people you like? Or vice versa?
Sam Ruland: If they’re the relatives you adore, put in the effort. Make something, even if it’s simple.
If they’re the relatives who fight over politics and ask why you’re still single? Pay $12.99 for a pie, pop it on a plate, and walk in confidently.
Margaret Eby: Hahahah that’s a spicy take. To me, I appreciate someone bringing something. I love cooking! But I don’t always have the energy.
I also have a weird problem, which is that people don’t like cooking for food editors and writers. I think they assume I’ll judge them in the same way we review restaurants, and that’s not true at all. I find it to be a huge compliment whenever anyone cooks me anything, down to a grilled cheese.
But maybe that’s part of why I feel like it’s fine to let yourself and other people off the hook. Plus, restaurants and bakers and other professionals are great at cooking! It’s fine to let them cook for you!
Sam Ruland: I totally get that — cooking for food people does feel like a high-stakes audition.
Margaret Eby: That’s just because you can’t see us behind the screen eating string cheese for lunch.
Sam Ruland: And this is where my chaotic Thanksgiving philosophy kicks in: I’m a huge fan of buying something and quietly placing it in your own dish like you spent hours on it. If it saves your sanity, do it.
Margaret Eby: I support that entirely.
It is not anyone’s business who made those potatoes.
Evan Weiss: OK, what’s the best thing to buy and pass off as your own?
Margaret Eby: A whole pizza.
No, just kidding. But bringing a whole pizza to a party — it’s kind of a baller move.
Bring a Johnny’s Pizza from Bryn Mawr?
Sam Ruland: Honestly, I’m more offended not by someone buying it from the store, but by not even trying to hide it. At least commit to the bit! Put it in a real dish!
Margaret Eby: I think if you’re attempting to pass it off as your own, you do have to be a little realistic. Like that beautifully crafted hand-latticed pie is a great thing to bring. But if you don’t bake pie, your cover is going to be blown pretty quickly.
The homemade thing people are always impressed by no matter how “rustic” it looks is bread, I’ve found. I’ll bring over a really complicated dish and bread as an appetizer, and people are always more impressed by the bread
Sam Ruland: Right, the pie lie has limits. This is why I fully endorse buying something like lobster mac and cheese, putting it in your casserole dish, and sighing deeply like it took you hours. Play to your strengths: commitment and presentation.
Margaret Eby: Feigning struggle is an important part of Thanksgiving!
Sam Ruland: The sigh, the smudge of flour on your shirt that you did not earn — it’s all part of the illusion.
Evan Weiss: Also, so many great restaurants around here do great Thanksgiving takeout. You might get some cred if you say where you got it. (Also, bonus because then you don’t have to lie.)
Sam Ruland: That’s true, restaurant flexing is its own kind of prestige. But I maintain: the quiet dignity of transferring it to your own dish and pretending you suffered for it? Iconic.
Margaret Eby: I think if you put the thought into picking up a fabulous pie from The Bread Room or a whole bundle of goodies from Zig Zag, for example, people will be just as impressed by that effort as if you made it your own.
Or I would be, anyway.
The Bread Room by High Street Hospitality’s line up of Thanksgiving treats, clockwise from right to left: miso caramel apple pie, dirty chai chocolate pie, and basque pumpkin cheesecake.
Sam Ruland: True! Like my family loves the cannolis from Isgros, so that’s something that would be a crowd pleaser no matter what and wouldn’t get grumbles.
Margaret Eby: Picking up cheese from DiBruno’s is also a great move. And you don’t have to pretend that you have a secret cheese cave in your basement.
However, I believe that the holidays are all about long-running bits with your friends and family. And passing off a dish as your own instead of purchased is a classic bit.
So maybe DO pretend you made the cheese, why not.
Evan Weiss: “Yes, I made this wine in Sonoma in 2013!”
Margaret Eby: “It was a great year, thanks!”
Evan Weiss: So the answer is: No, it’s not rude to bring prepared food. But either commit to the bit or get it from somewhere good.
Margaret Eby: Yep, we solved it.
And don’t be like my friend in college who would bring a ziplock bag of whiskey to parties.
No one appreciates that.
Have a question you’d like us to answer? Email us!
The Gobbler has seen some bougie updates in the years since Wawa made it a thing. But the offering from Dolores’ 2Street isn’t fancy, and that’s to its credit. It’s built with solid ingredients, on a seeded Sarcone’s roll. Owners Peter Miglino and wife Victoria Rio lean hard into the leftover motif by offering a mostly cold sandwich made with cold cuts: thick slices of oven-roasted turkey and squares of orange-colored cheddar cheese. The little bit of heat (and crunch) comes from the house-made stuffing, carefully crafted by Miglino’s mother, Maria, a Philly restaurant veteran.
Adding stuffing to a hoagie shouldn’t work. But this isn’t just any stuffing. This is Maria’s family recipe, which she prepares for almost an entire day so it’s just right. This Gobbler is as inclusive as a big Italian family, marrying the cold cuts and stuffing with a nice tang from a cranberry mayo that doesn’t overpower the palate, rings of raw onion, a confetti of lettuce, small slices of tomato, and a splash of olive oil. It’s a heavyweight sandwich, clocking in at just under a half-pound; you will most definitely need a nap afterward. As Rio compiled my sandwich on a mid-November afternoon, she said I ordered the first Gobbler of the season. They got it right from the jump. Dolores’ 2Street, 1841 S. Second St., 267-519-3212, facebook.com/Dolores2Street
— Tommy Rowan
A grilled Swiss cheese with turkey, bacon and cranberry chutney at Marathon Grill comes with a cup of soup. This “special” is so popular it hasn’t left the menu in over a year.
Turkey-cranberry grilled cheese special at Marathon Grill
By this time next week, most people will likely be in turkey leftover sandwich overload. But right now still I’m pre-gaming for Thanksgiving hard, and I could not resist this seasonally appropriate special at Marathon Grill. It’s essentially a grilled Swiss cheese on excellent sourdough bread, with turkey, cranberry chutney and bacon also tucked inside. That can potentially be an overwhelming mess. But I was impressed by how carefully the sandwich was built, with no particular ingredient overwhelming the others. The grilled bread’s buttery crisp and moist interior hit all the right savory and sweet notes for a preview of the feast to come. It’s served alongside a cup of tomato-basil soup for extra value (I swapped mine out for Marathon’s excellent matzo ball soup), so it’s no surprise it’s been a hit. In fact, Marathon’s regulars love it so much it’s been a “special” since they put it on the menu additions an entire year ago. Marathon Grill, 1839 Spruce St., 215-731-0800, eatmarathon.com
— Craig LaBan
Oysters rest on ice as shuckers work nearby at Pearl & Mary.
Fish and chips at Pearl & Mary
To quell the anxiety of a visit to the phone store, I found myself at Pearl & Mary, Michael Schulson’s Center City raw bar. My companion dove right into the Savage Blonde and Pink Moon oysters, both from Prince Edward Island. Oysters aren’t my thing, but my soul was soothed by the aroma wafting from the broth of my shrimp dumplings — a perfect small plate on this brisk Sunday morning. But my main highlight was the traditional fish and chips, with an especially succulent piece of cod and a buttery crust with a robust tartar sauce that leaned into its zest. The french fries are thin-cut and extra salty, as they should be. Pearl & Mary, 114 S. 13th St., 215-330-6786; pearlandmary.com
Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington — watch their exits blur past on I-95 as you head farther south and see color return to the trees. The leaves that have already fallen in Fairmount Park and Rittenhouse Square seem to reappear here, lighting up the old oaks and elms that line Richmond’s stately streets. Autumn clings a little longer in this university town, where nature — from wild riverside woods to formal gardens — feels ever-present.
Just over four hours from Philly, Richmond, Va., offers everything you’d want in a weekend escape: smart restaurants, fascinating history, and a new hotel from one of the country’s most creative hospitality groups.
One of the best bakeries in the country, Sub Rosa calls Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood home. After a devastating 2024 fire and a long rebuild, it reopens this November — and it’s absolutely where any RVA weekend should begin. Made with house-milled Virginia and Pennsylvania flours, its pastries include croissants stuffed with garlicky mushrooms or sour cherry-pistachio, crunchy biscotti, and polenta thumbprints filled with housemade jam. Order one of everything — you’ll wish you had anyway.
📍 620 N. 25th St., Richmond, Va. 23223
Learn: Poe Museum
A 15-minute walk from Sub Rosa (just enough time to finish that coffee and croissant) brings you to the Poe Museum. Edgar Allen grew up and worked as a journalist in Richmond before achieving literary acclaim, a life chronicled inside this petite museum founded in 1922. It’s filled with letters, first editions, and personal relics — including the silver candelabras by which Poe wrote The Bells. The museum complex includes the Old Stone House (the oldest standing residence in the city), Poe Shrine, and the lush Enchanted Garden. Keep an eye out for the resident black cats, whose shenanigans are detailed on the @poemuseumcats Instagram account.
📍 1914 E. Main St., Richmond, Va. 23223
Stay: Shenandoah Mansions
Ash Hotels’ forte is retrofitting historic buildings into eccentric, artsy-craftsy inns, and the new Shenandoah Mansions is no exception. Expect four-posted beds draped in tentlike canopies, block-printed quilts, hand-painted lamps, and checkerboard-tiled showers. Located in the Fan District — a neighborhood full of architectural candy — the inn feels residential yet central to everything.
One of Richmond’s greatest assets is its proximity to nature. The James River Park System covers more than 600 acres, all within walking distance of Broad Street, the city’s main thoroughfare. Pick up the head of the North Bank Trail at South Cherry Street and Oregon Hill Parkway for an hourlong walk along boardwalks and dirt paths, past historic cemeteries, and through tunnels of color-changing leaves.
📍 4001 Riverside Dr., Richmond, Va. 23225
Visit: Maymont
Exit the trail near Hampton Street and Kansas Avenue, and you’ll find yourself at Maymont, a 19th-century estate built by financier James Dooley and his wife, Sallie. Though the Gilded Age mansion is closed to tours while undergoing renovation, the grounds alone are reason to visit. Wander through the Italian Garden, along the butterfly trail, and through the Japanese Garden (the oldest on the East Coast), where boulder-backed waterfalls, koi ponds, and storybook bridges create incredible photos.
Fires, fortunes, presidents — and even a few alligators — have passed through the grand Jefferson Hotel since it opened in 1895. Every visitor should see the lobby’s marble floors and sweeping staircase, even if you’re not checking in. Stop by TJ’s Restaurant & Lounge for a predinner cocktail under the chandeliers; the Rotunda old-fashioned tastes like grapefruit, walnut, and old money.
A Richmond legend since 1983, Stella’s remains the last word in Greek cooking here. The food (artichoke moussaka, ouzo-kissed crab cakes, feta-and-Manouri cheese fries covered in shaved lamb) is just enough off-center from traditional to be interesting, while still honoring the soulfulness of the country’s cuisine. The regulars pack the dining room, creating a comfortable, gregarious vibe. Go ahead and think it: If we lived in Richmond, we’d be here all the time.
For the most part, award-winning author Diane McKinney Whetstone’s characters live their complicated lives in between El stops in early to mid-20th-century West Philly.
In her new book Family Spirit, released by Amistad earlier this fall, her protagonist Ayana works at a fictional West Philly coffee shop in 2019.
And Ayana is clairvoyant.
Whetstone packs a lot of Philadelphia in this 229-page book. Ayana weaves in and out of downtown office buildings. Her aunt Lil flashes back to 1970s Philly when she was shopping at Wanamakers and up for a gig on TheMike Douglas Show, when the variety show was filmed in Old City.
Diane McKinney Whetstone, author of newly published book Family Spirit at her home in Wynnewood, PA., Thursday, October 23, 2025.
But the majority of the story takes place in Southwest Philly at the Mace family house, where women on Ayana’s paternal side have gathered for 100 years to take part in rituals that reveal the future.
We talked to Whetstone, a lifelong Philadelphian, about her perfect Philly day.
5 a.m.
I get up early and make really strong coffee. Every day I spend a couple of hours writing. I have to, that’s my best time of the day. Sometimes I will write for three hours. Other times, I write until noon. Sometimes, I write the whole day if the spirit hits me.
8 a.m.
If it’s not a writing day, and I’m done for the day, my husband and I will go out for breakfast. Sometimes we will go toSabrina’s Cafe in Wynnewood.
A student from the Krieger Schechter Day School of Baltimore, MD, on a field trip to the Franklin Institute on February 12, 2020, enters the right ventricle of the Giant Heart.
But lately, I’ve really liked going to Boutique River Falls off Kelly Drive, near Midvale. They have the best pancakes and fried fish. If my grandkids are with me, we will go to the Frankie [The Franklin Institute] and go through “Body Odyssey,” especially the “Giant Heart.” They love it.
If we have a lot of time, we take a nice long walk on Kelly Drive. I’m a big walker.
11 a.m.
Both my husband and I are from Philadelphia and we like to drive around our old neighborhoods. On some days we will head down Lancaster Avenue where it intersects with Haverford and reminisce about the days it was a central shopping district like Center City.
Sometimes we will drive down to 52nd Street. When I’m over there, the sounds of the El train, the way the houses are situated on the street, it takes me immediately back to my childhood.
1 p.m.
If it’s a nice day in the summer, we may go to theNile Swim Club in Yeadon. My sister has a membership there. On any given day there are families there relaxing, sharing stories. It’s a really nice place to relax.
A historical marker is pictured ahead of the opening for the summer season at Nile Swim Club in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 27, 2022.
2 p.m.
Again, if my grandkids are in town, we may go to a matinee atthe Academy of Musicin Philadelphia. We saw The Wiz. It was so good. Then we went around the corner to Samurai Japanese Restaurant. I’m not a real big fan of raw fish, but the teriyaki there is just so good.
4 p.m.
I cook a lot at home and especially a lot of fish. I eat salmon three times a week and I love it fresh. I really enjoy going down to Fairmount to pick up my order from Small World Seafood. I love that I get to cook restaurant-quality food.
Bri Smith of West Philadelphia poses by the Roots Picnic sign with the city skyline in the background before the start of day 2 of the Roots Picnic at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
8 p.m.
I would end my day at a concert at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts. I saw Cynthia Erivo there in June and it was incredible. She sang Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I saw Your Face” and I nearly cried. The view of Philadelphia’s skyline is amazing. It’s just a wonderful way to end a day.
For the Nowell family, the outlets are an annual tradition.
Every Veterans Day, a dozen relatives venture to Limerick Township in Montgomery County, where they kick off their holiday shopping at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
Even this year, as bitter winds whipped through the outdoor plaza, the family was undeterred.
After a morning of shopping, the multigenerational group, which included two veterans, warmed up with their yearly food-court lunch, courtesy of matriarch Geri Nowell, 77, of Telford. Then, the men returned to the cars and dropped off dozens of shopping bags, which they’d been carting around in a wagon. The women walked on, hunting for their next find among the more than 130 shops.
The Nowell family poses in front of a holiday backdrop during their annual outing to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
“It’s super fun,” said Ann Blaney, 47, of Drexel Hill.
“We get great deals,” added Kim Woodman, 55, of Hatboro.
The tradition is an experience they say can’t be replicated online. The fact that the complex is open-air and contained in a 550,000-square-foot plaza somehow adds to the fun, they said.
As Kathy Nelson, 48, of Broomall, browsed the outlets with her friends, she said she also shops at the nearly 3 million-square-foot King of Prussia Mall, less than 20 miles away. But otherwise, she said, “there aren’t many indoor malls left” with the variety of stores she prefers.
Outlets have always accounted for a fraction of the in-person retail market, which is partly why there have been few headlines about dying outlet malls. But some of the country’s roughly 200 outlet malls seem to be downright thriving, with full parking lots on weekends, few vacant stores, and relatively strong revenue.
Shoppers walk by the tree at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets on Nov. 11.
The Philadelphia region’s two major outlet malls — the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Limerick Township and the Gloucester Premium Outlets, both owned by Simon Property Group — are more than 92% occupied, according to a count by The Inquirer during visits to each location this month. Both outlets have found success despite being less than 20 miles from thriving indoor malls in King of Prussia and Cherry Hill.
Tanger Outlets, which has locations in Atlantic City and Lancaster, recently reported more than 97% occupancy across its 39 open-air centers and an increase in average tenant sales per square foot.
“Outlets do good in good times and great in bad times,” said Lisa Wagner, a longtime consultant for outlets, repeating a common refrain in the industry.
The centers have evolved amid the broader push toward more experiential retail and most now have a mix of discount stores and full-price retailers. But they have done so while embracing their reputation as the go-to destination for snagging deals, said Wagner, a principal at the Outlet Resource Group.
“Honestly no one knew what was going to happen after COVID, but [the outlets] came out incredibly strong,” she said. More recently, the retail industry has been rattled by tariffs and economic uncertainty. The outlets have not been immune to those challenges, but they have held strong despite them.
“People want value right now,” Wagner said. “They need it.”
The Philadelphia Premium Outlets has more than 130 stores in its 500,000-square-foot complex.
Outlet malls become one-stop shops
On a rainy, early November Sunday, hundreds of people descended on the Gloucester Premium Outlets.
Shoppers pulled up hoods and huddled under umbrellas as they made their way from store to store. Many balanced several large bags bearing brand names like Columbia and Kate Spade, Rally House and Hey Dude shoes. Some munched on Auntie Anne’s pretzels or sipped Starbucks from holiday cups. An acoustic version of Jingle Bells played over the speakers.
For some, the dreary, drizzly weather was even more reason to spend their afternoon at the 86-store complex in Blackwood, Camden County, about 15 miles outside Philadelphia.
With two young children in tow, Jessica Bonsu, 30, of Sicklerville, was on a mission.
“We came out to go to the indoor playground,” called Stay & Play, Bonsu said, pointing to her rambunctious kids. “Just to get some energy out.”
“And then we can also get some shopping done,” added her cousin, Taneisha Laume, 30, who was visiting from D.C. She needed a gift for her uncle. “Kill two birds with one stone.”
Shoppers peruse the stores at the Gloucester Premium Outlets in this 2019 file photo.
These kind of multipurpose visits are buoying outlet malls, which are increasingly becoming mixed-use destinations for dining, drinking, entertainment, and shopping.
“You’re coming for a little bit of everything,” said Gerilyn Davis, director of marketing and business development at Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
The Limerick Township complex recently welcomed a slate of new tenants, including Marc Jacobs’ first Pennsylvania outlet store, a BOSS outlet, an Ulta Beauty, and an outpost of central Pennsylvania’s Nissley Vineyards, which has an outdoor seating area.
Shoppers walk by the Nissley Vineyards store at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
New Balance, whose shoes are trendy again, is also opening stores in both the Philadelphia and Gloucester outlets.
Justin Stein, Tanger’s executive vice president of leasing, said the North-Carolina-based company is focused on adding more food, beverage, and entertainment options.
While overall occupancy at its Atlantic City center is lower than others, the complex has a Dave & Buster’s and a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. The Simpson, a Caribbean restaurant and bar, is also set to open there in early 2026.
In Lancaster, Tanger is looking to add food and beverage options, Stein said. But that center is still performing well, with a 97% occupancy rate, according to an online map, and only two vacancies.
When there are places to eat and drink at the outlets, “people stay longer,” Stein said, “and when they stay longer, they spend more.”
Philadelphia Premium Outlets had a steady crowd on a bitter cold Veterans Day.
From ‘no frills’ to outlets of the future
Today’s outlet malls look vastly different from what Wagner calls the “no frills” complexes of the 1990s.
At the time, an outlet mall served as “a release valve for excess goods,” Wagner said. “There were some stores that had really broken merchandise.”
To comply with branding rules and avoid competition with department stores, outlet malls were often located along highways between two major metro areas, she said.
“What became clear is that customers loved it,” Wagner said. Soon, brands started overproducing to supply these outlet stores with products in an array of a sizes and colors.
This effort to bulk up outlet offerings was “a roaring success,” she said, with companies finding that more than a third of outlet customers went on to buy their products at full price at other locations.
Philadelphia Premium Outlets, which opened in 2007, has very few vacant storefronts.
As their popularity rose, more outlet malls were built across the country.
As the centers look to the future, their executives are continuing to hone their identity as “not just a discount-and-clearance center,” said Deanna Pascucci, director of marketing and business development at Gloucester Premium Outlets.
Center leaders are bringing in food trucks, leaning into rewards programs, and promoting community events, such as Gloucester’s holiday tree lighting,which took place Saturday. Starting Black Friday, the Philadelphia Premium Outlets will offer Santa photos after a successful pilot program last year.
And the complexes are finding new ways to attract and retain shoppers, online and in real life.
Tanger recently announced an advertising partnership with Unrivaled Sports, which operates youth sports complexes, including the Ripken Baseball Experience in Aberdeen, Md., an hour drive from its Lancaster outlets. Stein said the company hopes to attract families looking to pass the time between tournament games.
Tanger is also using AI and data analytics to email specific deals to customers based on where they’ve previously shopped, Stein said.
“We want you to start your experience online and end it in the store,” Stein said.
Shoppers walk by a new Ulta store at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.
At Simon outlets, customers can search a store’s inventory online before they make the trip, Davis said.
“Online shopping at this point, it’s a complement,” Davis said. “It’s not viewed as competition.”
Wagner, the outlet consultant, said she thinks even more centers will be built in the coming years, with a focus on urban and close-in suburban locations that are accessible by public transit.
As for existing centers, she sees them thriving for the foreseeable future.
“As long as outlets continue to emphasize a value message and use their loyalty programs to reward customers,” Wagner said, “I think they will hold their own.”
