Philadelphia, PA and/or Wilmington, DE Shops

[ErikD 3]

Hello - I will be traveling to Wilmington, DE next week arriving in Philly on Sunday.  I would like to know if anyone can recommend any local shops I could check out.

Thanks in advance. 

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

The Pro Shop at The Pond would be the closet to Wilmington. The closet Pure (Total) Hockey is in Exton, PA. The closet Hockey Giant is in Cherry Hill, NJ. On the PA side, you could check out Ice Works in Aston, PA (where we had SummerJam 6) and Ice Line in West Chester, PA (on the way to the aforementioned Pure Hockey). Not sure if there is anything worth checking out on the Jersey side. I'm sure you will get more feedback by the weekend. 

[hollowicked 39]

I recommend the Pond its in Newark as 215 mentioned, not too far and a good selection with good prices. Ice Works will also be close but the  pro shop is dead. That shop is not useful for anything more then a sharpening.

[Miserable 6]

Depends on how far you want to travel.

If you're staying close, the Pond is pretty decent for a smaller in-rink shop. They also have decent prices and some good deals from time to time and no tax. The others mentioned will require a bit of a trip but if you wanted to make one, you could hit Ice Line which is a pretty decent shop and then hit Total Hockey in Exton which is about 10 minutes away from Ice Line and then there is a Hockey Giant abut 30 minutes from there in Norristown. If you're set on going to Ice Line, call first, they keep weird hours in the summer. They also have good deals, I get my skates there usually and they are always lower than TH. If you're planning on hitting the 3 in PA, you're going to need a couple of hours to do it.

 

Oh, U of D has a pro shop as well, they are excellent at sharpening but the pro shop is geared towards figure skating so not much window shopping to do there. 

[EBondo 232]

Hockey Giant in Cherry Hill. Stop on in, I work there. I won't be there this week, on vacation til Monday but we have a great staff and an awesome selection of gear.

[ErikD 3]

Thanks for the recommendations guys.  Did not make it to any hockey shops today in Philly or around Philly.  I did go see some of the historical stuff like the Liberty Bell.  I climbed the stairs like Rocky.  Had a cheese steak from Pat's.  And finally drove down BROAD street on my way out of town to head to Wilmington.  I ate breakfast in O'Hare at the Blackhawks bar.

I am going to try and hit The Pond and if I have time U of D pro shop one night this week. 

[ErikD 3]

So I hit up The Pond and the pro shop at U of D.  No deals worth paying to get the stuff home but both shops were worth the visit.  

At The Pond I got a couple shirts (local youth teams) for my daughters that were on sale.  The staff were very friendly and willing to answer any of my questions, I even interrupted the managers lunch.

At the U of D I picked up a Blue Hens sweater/jersey, it was also on sale.  I asked if they had any game pucks and the man behind the counter let me have one free of charge.  He was very knowledgeable about Blue Hen hockey as I was asking questions about the different jersey selections.

Both arenas looked to have quality ice and I was a little bummed I did not have my skates.

If I do make it back out that way anytime I may try to hit up Ice Works for a West Chester jersey or puck. I wish I would have asked if they had logo pucks at The Pond so I guess that will be an excuse to go back. 

EBondo I did not have the flexibility in my schedule to make it to HG in Cherry Hill, maybe now that I have seen the sights in Philly I can make the trip next visit.

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

Nice. Hopefully, you get more time during your next visit.

[sher-awesomeness 0]

Definitely check out the Hockey Giant in Cherry Hill, NJ next time you get a chance. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable, and they were attentive to my needs. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the Norristown, PA location, so I would avoid it unless they have an item you really need. The only real "advantage" is the shooting range for testing sticks, but that's only because they have so much empty space in the store. Cherry Hill is a cramped space, but it reminds me of a mom-and-pop store because of it, kinda like Max's Hockey Shed was.