By Sara Nesbitt, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Feb. 15--The area's first Staples office supply center is one of several new stores scheduled to open over the next year at First & Main Town Center, being built on Colorado Springs' east side.
First & Main, now home to Cinemark movie theaters, is becoming the centerpiece of a fast-growing Powers Boulevard retail corridor, growth largely being driven by a nearly 10-year-old housing boom in the area.
The Framingham, Mass.-based national office supply chain will occupy about 19,000 square feet just north of the center's Lowe's home improvement store.
'This location is going to be a lot easier for customers,' said Fred Veitch, an executive with The Nor'wood Development Group, which is developing First & Main. 'And the mix of retailers we already have here is making others follow suit.'
On Thursday, Veitch revealed other local and new retailers to follow in Staples' footsteps:
Linens 'n Things will move its only Springs location from near the Citadel Mall to a new 24,000 square-foot First & Main site, and will open early next year, Veitch said. It isn't unknown when the Citadel location will close or what will occupy that space. Officials at the chain's corporate office in Clifton, N.J., didn't return phone calls seeking comment, and corporate policies don't allow local employees to give out company information. There are 343 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Cold Stone Creamery will open its second Springs location near the Cinemark Theaters, just north of Lowe's. The Tempe, Ariz.-based ice cream shop has about 180 stores throughout the country. The other Springs location is at 7230 N. Academy Blvd.
There's also a possibility of Cost Plus World Market - an imported food, wine and home decor retailer with four locations in Denver -- locating in First & Main, but Veitch declined to give any details.
Nor'wood is in the process of negotiating leases with Red Robin and Chick-fil-A, Veitch said.
The new stores will neighbor the Springs' first 175,000 square-foot Super Target store at the northeast corner of Powers Boulevard and North Carefree Circle.
The Super Target -- which will be the fourth in Colorado -- combines a grocery store, and possibly a Starbucks, with traditional Target discount store fare. The three other Super Targets are in the Denver area. The new retailers also will be near the new Galyan's, a high-end sporting goods store under construction near the Cinemark Theater. Super Target and Galyan's will be open by October, Veitch said.
About 500,000 square feet of space is leased in the First & Main center, and there's about 1.2 million square feet left for other retailers, Veitch said.
Those new retailers will have some new competition by that time. The new Shops at Briargate lifestyle center, which will include Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma and J. Jill, is scheduled to open next spring at Briargate Boulevard and Highway 83.
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(c) 2002, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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