Pod. The Penn Bookstore. Freshgrocer. The Inn at Penn. University Square.
All of these places are staples in the experience of today's Penn students, but only a few years ago, they did not exist.
In their stead was trash, sprawling parking lots and graffiti.
But a few years ago, University President Judith Rodin and then-Executive Vice President John Fry realized that it was time for a change, and decided to concentrate on attracting more businesses to campus.
One of the centerpieces of that change was the West Philadelphia Initiative, a five-point long-term plan created by Rodin in the mid-1990s to, among other things, improve and increase the retail options around campus, and to make University City a more welcoming place to live.
Fry, who could not be reached for comment, was influential in hiring a number of staff members who have focused solely on improving the retail situation.
The University City District, a group devoted to improving West Philadelphia, has also been involved in beautifying the area and marketing it to prospective businesses.
"We are very directly involved in keeping [the area] clean and safe, which is the foundation of success," UCD Executive Director Eric Goldstein said.
Over the past years, the UCD has been impressed with Penn's commitment to the neighborhood, and Goldstein said that shows "Penn [has] realized that it cannot operate in a box without the surrounding neighborhood."
One long-time West Philadelphian, Smokey Joe's owner Paul Ryan, believes that realization occurred, at least in part, just before the University's annual Parent's Weekend a year or two after Rodin took office.
The week before the parents arrived, a student was shot in the leg on the corner of 40th and Spruce streets as he was walking home from the bar.
The meeting Rodin held with parents that weekend did not go well, according to Ryan.
"All the parents were very angry" about the crime rate, he said. "That's when I saw a huge change. I think that's when the president and the trustees said, 'We're going to spend the money. We're going to do something about this.'"
Ryan said that since then, "There has been a huge change to the face of campus," and he added that he has never seen it look better than it does today.
Rodin "came in, and her initiatives really cleaned this place up," he said.
After cleaning up the streets and cracking down on crime, a retail base had to be developed in order to begin attracting more businesses to Penn's campus.
To that end, Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery worked to bring large businesses to campus that would act as set pieces and attract other, smaller stores.
Over the last half decade, Nunery's success has been exemplified with the openings of the Inn at Penn, the Bookstore, Urban Outfitters, the Freshgrocer and more.
Nunery said that his office, as well as the numerous others that are involved in Penn's retail vitality, have been working closely with businesses to try to keep them solvent.
"Twenty or 30 years ago around Penn, someone just decided to open a business. If they made it, great. But if they didn't, it was no big deal," he said. "Now we talk to them, get lots of feedback, and we've been able to help them out."
Executive Vice President spokesman Tony Sorrentino, who has been heavily involved in marketing University City since he was hired in 2000, calls such big retail locations "magnificent anchors."
"Marketing University City became easier once we started building a critical mass," Sorrentino said. "People can see success, and start building upon it."
Rodin said the main goal of her retail focus has been to "build a series of retail options that serve people's needs, and service what they want in creative and energetic" ways.
Despite the recent facelift, some students and other critics of Penn have said that the grand strategy for retail is not streamlined enough, and that it takes the University too long to take advantage of improving situations.
But Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said that a strategy of deliberateness is better for the school in the long run.
"I should not be anxious to try to sell to the first comer while the concepts are not part of our strategy and people have not yet appreciated the value that the thing has created," he said.
He explained that the current situation at 40th Street would have been dramatically different had the University attempted to fill other vacancies before the November 2002 opening of the Bridge: Cinema de Lux.
Since then, there have been a number of new additions to the corridor -- Ben & Jerry's established its first University City location, Bitar's restaurant underwent a renovation and changed its name to Simsum, The Marvelous: Records, Comics and Books opened its doors.
Additionally, Penn officials recently announced that a Metropolitan Bakery, Marathon Grill, and, just yesterday, Qdoba, a Mexican restaurant, will arrive on 40th Street soon.
"If we had marketed the location immediately, while 40th Street was deserted, it would not have worked out," Blaik said.
Rodin added that "when you see vacancies, it's because we're looking for the right tenant for every space, not just any tenant."
But for some smaller retailers, one drawback to the focus on improving the retail situation is the bureaucracy that needs to be navigated to get approval to open a store.
Though Blaik called the process "streamlined," a potential retail owner would have to deal with at least a half dozen University officials -- including marketing agents, the general counsel and real estate operations managers -- before a store could open.
According to some smaller business owners, dealing with so many different people can get frustrating.
Milan Marvelous, owner of The Marvelous, said that "it would have been very helpful if there had just been one person I could talk to," while trying to open his store this summer.
He added that it was not uncommon for him to have to call a number of different offices before connecting with the correct person.
West Philadelphia Locksmith Co. owner Phil Paul agreed, saying that while he appreciated the "increased foot traffic and business" that the University's efforts have brought to his store, he would prefer to have fewer people, and less paperwork, to deal with.
Despite the inconvenience to some small business owners, Penn's dedication to improving retail has, for the most part, been successful.
National Amusements spokeswoman Jennifer Hanson said that it was "the energy and the revitalization of the 40th Street area" that convinced them to locate the Bridge there. The theater's realization, however, was delayed for two years -- thwarted by the bankruptcy of General Cinemas, the partner of Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas, the original backer of the movie theater project.
Four years ago, Blaik said, the 40th Street corner was mostly deserted.
Hanson also characterized Penn as "relatively easy to work with," and Blaik explained that the frustrations felt by some small business owners are more firmly rooted in the process of starting a small business in general, not necessarily a retail outlet.
But this fact has not sent retailers rushing to take up residence in West Philadelphia.
"I think a number of properties have been vacant for a couple of years," Sorrentino said. "The whole idea is that every great city has a great university neighborhood... and [retailers] still need to be shown that. But it's a lot easier today than it was five or six years ago."
