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One of the rituals of my childhood was the annual Christmastime trip to the Wanamaker's department store in Center City Philadelphia. My mom, my sister, and I would take the bus to the el (that's the elevated train line for you nonurbanites) to 13th and Market streets. We'd head straight to the Wanamaker's "grand court" to join the throngs watching the holiday light show, an extravaganza of light bulbs and organ music.
While attending the eTail conference in Philly a few weeks ago, I stayed in a hotel a block from Wanamaker's, which is now - after having become a Hecht's and then a Lord & Taylor - a Macy's. New Yorkers, of course, have their own holiday memories of the Macy's flagship store in Manhattan. But if you're a Philadelphian, you can't help but suffer a tremor...