Pews are a decidedly Western innovation and are rare to unknown in many Orthodox countries. Here in the United States one will often find them in Orthodox churches purchased from Protestants or Catholics. Also the Greek Archdiocese and the Antiochians seem to have adopted their use. But the Russians Serbs and Jerusalem patriarchate generally shy away from them, though it is not uncommon to find a few chairs or benches near the church walls for the elderly and infirm. Pews are often criticized as being contrary to the Orthodox Praxis because the ordinary posture for worship is standing. Prostrations are also very difficult in a church with pews though I note that kneeling is a penitential act and prohibited by church canons on Sundays and during the forty days following Easter. See the below link for a pewless church.
http://orthodox360.com/tours/stnicholas-dc/
When Pope Francis goes to Philadelphia in September, I guess he will do what Pope John Paul II did when he went to Philadelphia many years ago, and celebrate an outdoor Mass along "Ben Franklin Parkway", where most people present will be standing for the whole Mass (other than some people in wheel chairs, and maybe some people in folding chairs they carry there, if they can find a space to use them).