Michael Jordan Brand to Open Philly Store
As reported in Sports Illustrated and elsewhere, Michael Jordan’s Jordan Brand, along with Nike, have submitted plans for opening another of the basketball legend and business entrepreneur’s “World of Flight” stores in the City of Brotherly Love, at 1617 Walnut Street. This establishment in Philly will be his fourth personally branded retail space in the world, behind the likes of Italy, Japan and Dubai, and his first in North America. According to the application sent to the Philadelphia Historical Commission, “Philadelphia’s Jordan The World of Flight will deliver a timeless, thoughtfully designed store that can contribute to the neighborhood and character of the streetscape. The clean design language paired with the materiality and details used throughout achieves a look/feel that will convey a sense of history and permanence.” Moreover, their submission indicated that the concept for this store, located in a building erected in 1921, will be “the intersection of Philadelphia Historical Architecture and the Jordan Brand.” Sounds great. Just do it.
Photo: Via the Philadelphia Historical Commission
Bald eagles take flight in NJ
Bald eagles in New Jersey continue to be on the rebound. According to New Jersey Conservation Foundation, when the state first started keeping records of nesting pairs in the 1950s, at least 20 were located in the Delaware Bay region. That number would plummet to only one breeding pair, in Cumberland County, by the 1970s due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT which impacted the eagles’ eggshells, leaving them thin and frail. And though the chemical had been banned in New Jersey as early as 1968 and nationally in 1972, the residual eggshell thinning effects continued. In 1982 after that last breeding pair’s eggshells cracked for the 6th year in a row, biologists from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) removed the final egg from the nest and incubated it artificially, then returned the hatchling. That artificial incubation process continued every year until 1989, when a younger female took over the nest and the pair was able to successfully hatch their young naturally again. At the same time, the biologists determined that they needed to increase the odds of survival beyond that one nest alone and so, in 1983, began releasing younger eagles from Canada into the state, ultimately releasing 60 birds in an 8-year period. The numbers of active eagles’ nests began to take off, from just 4 in 1990 to 23 in 2000; up to 82 in 2010 and 150 in 2015 then 220 in 2020. As of 2023, the New Jersey statewide bald eagle breeding program counted 286 territorial pairs with 255 active nests producing 309 chicks, and eagles’ nests were found in all 21 counties!
Bald Eagle in it’s Nest homer spit alaska
Source: njconservation.org, Hope soars as NJ’s bald eagle population grows, Alison Mitchell, 2/15/2024
