A Retail Bright Spot: Food with a Twist
Here’s a tale of excitement and shoppers flocking to get the goods and services they want amidst this retailing climate plagued by gloom and doom.
Providence Town Center is a “power town” shopping center that recently opened in Collegeville, PA – a Philadelphia suburb. The project is intended to be a hybrid power center/lifestyle center. A 132,000 sq. ft. Wegman’s opened on Sunday to a throng of shoppers, including 1,500 who lined up at the door at 7AM. (Wegman’s is a good story in and of itself. They are quite well known in the mid-Atlantic for high quality stores and a loyal customer following.) The twist is this particular Wegman’s includes The Pub, a full-service restaurant located inside the store’s Market Café.
The enthusiasm and excitement of the shoppers is a bright spot and a testament to delivering what the people want and where they want it.
Providence Town Center also includes Best Buy, LA Fitness, Dick’s Sporting Goods, DSW Shoes, Ulta Cosmetics, Five Below, Staples, PetsMart, Michaels’, Raymour & Flanigan, PNC Bank, PF Chang’s, Eastern Mountain Sport (EMS), and Olive Garden. This is one of the larger retail projects to open this year (about 500,000 sq. ft.). Private developer Brandolini Companies also envisions a lifestyle center as part of the project in the future, adding another 200,000 sq. ft. or so. As one might expect, this component has been delayed for the time being. I have seen many hybrid centers around the country but few with full-line grocery stores. Power center developers, take note.
Tags: grocery stores, hybrid shopping centers, power centers, power towns Posted in
Leave a Reply