New Jersey clothing retailer Burlington will relocate its headquarters and 2,000 employees to Philadelphia

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Clothing retailer Burlington will relocate its corporate headquarters to the Schuylkill Yards development in Philadelphia in a $370 million move that state officials say will bring at least 2,000 jobs to the city over the next five years.

The company’s current headquarters are located in Burlington, New Jersey. It will purchase property at 3151 Market St., an office and lab tower developed by Brandywine Realty Trust.

Burlington’s decision “is a powerful vote of confidence in our city and our people,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said Thursday.

Gov. Josh Shapiro described the move as “the largest headquarters relocation to the city in years” and one of the largest ever to Pennsylvania. Two Fortune 500 companies, Comcast and Aramark, are based in the city, and 20 are headquartered in the state, Shapiro said.

“We made clear we wanted Burlington right here in Philly. It’s a big deal, and it’s proof that everything we’re doing to make our commonwealth more attractive to great companies like Burlington is working,” Shapiro said during a news conference at Schuylkill Yards.

New Jersey business leaders lament their loss

The announcement drew anguished responses from New Jersey business groups, who called on the state to cut taxes and reduce regulatory burdens in order to keep and attract more large employers.

“It is very sad that New Jersey is losing Burlington Stores, which is an iconic brand in our state named for one of our own municipalities, as well as another Fortune 500 company,” said Michele Siekerka, president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, in a statement.

She contrasted New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation corporate tax rate of 11.5% to Pennsylvania’s rate of 7.49%, which is scheduled to gradually decline to 4.99% in 2031. She also called for permanent sunsetting of the 2.5% corporate transit fee that is scheduled to expire at the end of 2028.

“We have often said that many businesses do have the opportunity to move just across the river for a more competitive business environment, and we can certainly assume that figured into the decision here,” she said.

Christina Renna, president of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, said Burlington’s planned move highlights the intensifying competition for companies and significant dollars states are spending to attract them.

“When a company founded in South Jersey can move just a few miles across the Delaware River and find a more attractive environment for its future headquarters and growth, we need to pay attention,” she said. “This announcement should reinforce the urgency of making our state more affordable and competitive.”

Outreach by the governor and mayor

Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development enticed Burlington with $30 million in incentives — a $20 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant and a $10 million Pennsylvania First grant, Shapiro’s office said.

The city is giving the company $7 million in the form of a forgivable loan, as well as a Job Creation Tax Credit worth 2% of annual wages or $5,000 per new job created, whichever is higher, up to a specified limit, according to the city’s website.

SEPTA and the Philadelphia Parking Authority will also offer discounted commuter savings for Burlington employees.

Formerly called Burlington Coat Factory, the company was founded in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1972. It has 1,300 stores in 47 states, including 43 in the Philadelphia area. Parker said there are eight stores in Philadelphia, including one on the Market East business corridor in Center City.

Burlington Stores CEO Michael O’Sullivan said the company has 80,000 employees and is one of the nation’s fastest-growing retailers. This year it is opening 115 more stores and hiring 5,000 additional workers, he said.

Sullivan said Burlington has outgrown its current headquarters and started searching for a new location about a year ago. Conversations its executives had with Parker and Shapiro “played a huge role” in the decision to relocate to Schuylkill Yards, he said.

“We were very impressed by their clear priorities and their focus on getting stuff done around economic development, education and training, public transportation, public safety and fiscal responsibility,” Sullivan said. “What came across was a spirit of mutual cooperation and partnership, and for all of us at Burlington, that sense of civic partnership is really important.”