Sunday, March 11, 2001
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Sunday, March 11, 2001 |
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Stein Mart coming to Banks Crossing By MONROE ROARK
The old Belk location in the Banks Crossing shopping center will not be vacant much longer. Stein Mart, a retail chain based in Florida, will be opening a store there May 10, according to a spokesperson at the corporate headquarters in Jacksonville. The 40,000-sq. ft. site will be the chain's 12th metro Atlanta location, Stein Mart director of stockholder relations Susan Edelman said Thursday morning. Fayetteville officials, plagued with large empty storefronts for much of the past year, are thrilled with the news. "We are tremendously excited," said City Manager Joe Morton. "It'll be great for the shopping center." Belk vacated its Banks Crossing location last year to move into a new building at Fayette Pavilion. Another large Banks Crossing tenant, Kmart, cleared out soon afterward when that company closed a number of its stores. Kmart has not reopened in Fayetteville. Morton pointed to Stein Mart and other developments, such as World Gym and Hobby Lobby recently locating in Fayetteville Corners long after Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie left, as proof that the retail market is picking back up in these formerly vacant areas. The city has been active in pursuing tenants for some of these places, and Morton said there is some interest in the Kmart site as well as the former Roberds location, vacated last year when that company went bankrupt. But the city had nothing to do with the Stein Mart move, he added. Since Stein Mart is not constructing a new building but is instead moving into a former retail location occupied by a store similar to its own, there is little city involvement at all. All store improvements are interior and require only Building Department approval, and signs also can be approved at the staff level, Morton said, meaning neither the City Council nor the Planning and Zoning Commission need be involved in the move.
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