RSS
|
|
ROANOKE RAPIDS -- Seven shops in Becker Village Mall apparently plan to move to the new Premier Landing shopping center at Fourth Avenue and U.S. Highway 158.
CATO Fashion, Radio Shack, GNC, Athlete's Foot, Hibbett Sports, Friedman's Jewelers and Dollar Tree have signed contracts to be included in the new strip mall development, slated to open sometime this spring, according to Premier Landing developer Michael Dunlow.
The Super Wal-Mart which anchors the new retail area will open its doors in a few weeks. The mall is scheduled to begin operations approximately 60 days later.
Seventeen shops are contracted in phase one of the Premier Landing in addition to Super Wal-Mart and an Arby's restaurant.
Sally Beauty Supply, in the Plaza Shopping Center and Payless Shoe Store, at 1300 Julian Allsbrook Highway, will vacate their current locations to move to Premier.
A Hallmark store has also agreed to open in the new shopping center.
Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce President Brenda Blackburn is not worried Becker Village Mall will fold as a result of the change.
"The Brookhill Group is extremely committed to making the mall viable for the long term," Blackburn said. "Right now they are working as hard as they can to get interested tenants."
The Brookhill Group, based in New York, manages and owns the Becker Village Mall property, which opened in 1980.
Instead of seeing Premier as competition, the Brookhill Group is utilizing Premier Landing as a selling point to lure new tenants, according to Nancy Northington, Becker Village Mall marketing director.
"The more (retail) choices we can bring to this area the more shoppers we can get and we all benefit," Northington said. "We don't think of Premier Landing as our biggest competition here. We think the biggest competition are those (retail) stores that are not here, causing people to shop somewhere else."
Becker Village Mall has experienced a significant loss of tenants in the past year and a half. Optometric Eye Care, Kmart, Ben Franklin, Hallmark and Maurice's all terminated their leases.
This month, Waldenbooks did not renew its lease at Becker Village Mall and closed its doors.
The Radio Shack move is not a certainty. Radio Shack spokesman Mike Braun said, "We are exploring our options and no decision has been made yet."
Northington and mall manager Marvin Ward are currently negotiating with several potential tenants, but there is no timetable as to when the empty stores in Becker will be filled. "Of course, we would like to get those spaces filled as soon as possible," Northington said.
The mall contains 321,000 square feet of retail space, anchored by Belk, J.C. Penney Co. Inc., and Lowe's Foods. These anchor stores are another great selling point for the Becker Mall location, Northington noted.
"Our goal has always been to provide the community with the right stores in an inviting atmosphere where customers can feel comfortable shopping," she said.
Dunlow, a partner with Premier Land LLC, said the demand for retail space at the Premier Landing site is moving the development along faster than he ever imagined.
The city should approve plans for Phase II of the project within the next two weeks, "And we should break ground from there," Dunlow said.
Multiple tenants have already expressed interest in Phase II of Premier Landing, Dunlow said.
Phase II of the project will add 200,000 square feet of retail space to the Landing. If progress on Phase I is any indication, construction for Phase II may begin as soon as late summer of 2003.
Comments