Instead of meeting "in front of the bookstore" or at "36th and Walnut," students and city residents alike are now being invited to refer to these common gathering spots as University Square.
University Square represents the third name that the core of campus retail has held in the last two years.
The area, stretching from 34th to 38th streets between Walnut and Chestnut streets, was officially renamed University Square earlier this month in an effort to unify the area and tag it as an appealing destination. Venues under the University Square name include Urban Outfitters, Douglas Cosmetics, Bucks County Coffee and Auntie Anne's Pretzels.
But while Penn officials are quite pleased with the name change, certain vendors have expressed indifference.
Various names such as Sansom Common, Sansom Row and the Shops at Penn previously applied to different parts of this area. The name Sansom Common was abandoned in January of this year, and an interim name of "36th and Walnut Street" was used until the University Square name was unveiled this month.
Tony Sorrentino, marketing manager for business development, said that planning for the renaming began once Penn officials realized the necessity of a more cohesive name for the entire area.
"We were making it difficult on the consumer, especially the consumer who doesn't work at Penn or go to school at Penn," he said. "We need to create a new identity... to unify all these terrific assets under that brand identity."
"We need to create something with coordinates, agile and flexible, [so] a lot of businesses can fall under the name," he added.
The name University Square was chosen because it incorporates both Penn's name as well as the idea of a central outdoor area. The name was especially attractive because of the recent conversion of the parking lot at 36th and Sansom streets into a public green space.
The name "came about because of the green space and became more and more appealing," said Omar Blaik, vice president for facilities and real estate services.
Now, the green space serves as "the nucleus" of University Square, according to Sorrentino.
Blaik said that the new name provides more of a unified identity for the area.
"It's a sense of place," he said. "And really, University Square does give you the indication of a destination point, of a place where there's lots of activity."
"It's not only an identifier within the campus community, but also for people who are visiting us from the outside," Blaik added.
Free weekly outdoor concerts and decorative street banners are just part of several techniques intended to alert people to the new name.
"Every Thursday night from now until the end of October, we do free concerts," he said. "That's just a simple way to draw people to University Square and remind them that they're at University Square."
Managers of the different retail venues in University Square have varying opinions about the area's latest name change.
"Being that it's just changed, I don't think that many people know that it's changed, and I don't think it's going to affect business at all," said Tiana Netti, one of the managers at the Gap.
And Bill Dixon, manager of Cosi, said the new name and the addition of the square are positive changes for the area, but that it has not noticeably altered the flow of customers to the coffee and sandwich shop.
"We were busy before they put the square in, and it's just a little bit more aesthetically nice," he said of the green space. "It definitely looks much nicer."
"As for an awareness, I don't think it's changed our business too much," Dixon said. "They knew how to find us."
