South Philly Review

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As a merchandise team associate, Glenicesha Landley will not need to address all of the 80,000 square feet at Burlington Coat Factory, 424 W. Oregon Ave. Such is her ambition, though, that she would likely not mind if management were to enlist her to do so.

The 21-year-old and dozens of her colleagues beemed with enthusiasm Nov. 17, as the retail facility held its soft opening and Charity Day celebration.

The Whitman location, the sixth Philadelphia site for the 87-year-old New Jersey-based company, housed Kmart from 1980 until Jan. 9. Winter infrastructure repairs readied Burlington’s arrival, and last week’s gathering proved the spot is poised to pulse with activity, as the holiday-shopping season begins.

A resident of the 2300 block of Wilder Street, Langley gave the powerful lights competition, as her smile showed her appreciation for leaving behind her time on public assistance.

“Because of the lack of jobs and the fact that I am a senior in college, I applied for welfare early this year,” the graduate of Edwin M. Stanton School, 1700 Christian St., and North Philly’s Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School, said.

Required to enroll with an Employment, Advancement, Retention Network center, the mother of two and former employee at Walmart, 1675 S. Columbus Boulevard, secured aid through the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corp., a Center City nonprofit that annually invests more than $100 million in employment and training initiatives to provide services for unemployed and underemployed individuals.

“After five days of training, I had three interviews planned,” the Temple University criminal justice major said.

All three, including Rite Aid, 801 S. Ninth St., hired her, with her feeling that Burlington would give her the most occasions to grow leading her to pick it.

“I am desiring a career, not a job,” Langley, who also holds certification from ServSafe, a culinary arts training program, said.

The day cooked up a host of memorable events for Langley. Operations commenced at noon and brought a solid stream of patrons into the massive establishment. Burlington, which will celebrate 40 years of retail existence next year, acknolwedged the Point Breeze native and the other hires, honored Charity Day campaign contributors and launched its Burlington Gives Back partnership with Fashion Delivers Charitable Foundations Inc., which began to grace destitute families and disaster victims with apparel and housewares in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina destroyed portions of the southern United States,

Burlington contacted organizations to gauge interest in securing donations from their supporters last month. Having made $5 pledges, donors received admission coupons and earned 10 percent off their purchases, with full distribution of the proceeds going to the participating bodies. Two hours into the festivities, Mayor Michael Nutter, Burlington’s President and CEO Thomas Kingsbury and Fashion Delivers’ Executive Director Gail Garramone greeted Langley and many of the 129 other new employees.

“This day is about jobs, jobs, jobs,” Nutter said, projecting his voice as buyers buzzed about expressing satisfaction with the store’s selection. “...Burlington has given folks a sense of hope, an opportunity, a job and the ability to take care of themselves and their families. I can’t think of a better present that anyone would want to receive.”

After issuing congratulations to his workers, Kingsbury spoke of Burlington’s philanthropic history, which includes coat drives and fundraising efforts for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He also proudly announced the first octet of charities that his and Garramone’s personnel will assist, with Ready, Willing & Able, 1211 Bainbridge St., which has employed hundreds of men who have struggled to lead drug-free lives and overcome poverty, the lone area selection.

Langley, who before joining the local store’s roster of helpers received training at the Center City Burlington, so impressed her supervisors with her pre-employment work ethic that she earned the honor of joining the trio of leaders for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Now everybody go shop!” she said.

As their esteemed customers sated physical desires by feasting on cake and cookies and fiscal wishes by adding items to their carts, some workers marched out into the cold to unload boxes of accessories, apparel, baby products and housewares from a company truck. Thrilled representatives from the charities welcomed the offerings from their chilly hands and shared warm grins with the employees, who danced to try to stay heated.

Sales figures for Burlington have never needed to worry about being figuratively toasty. Its second quarter report, the company’s most recent release, shows that total net sales hit $793.3 million, an 8.9 percent increase over last year’s second segment.

“We are a growth company,” Kingsbury said as he inspected the store, one of the 462 that Burlington operates in 44 states and Puerto Rico.