“Collin Creek Mall in Plano recruiting home-grown tenants”

Collin Creek Mall in Plano recruiting home-grown tenants

Posted: 27 May 2010 05:57 AM PDT

PLANO – It's not easy being a 1980s-style traditional suburban mall in a region filled with trendier outdoor shopping centers.

Link: Collin Creek Mall

Blog: Shopping

But Collin Creek Mall isn't giving up. The mall is helping local retailers grow while at the same time filling vacancies through a program that recruits regional chains and start-ups, sometimes putting them in kiosks and gradually moving them to a store space.

On Thursday, it's hosting its second open house this year to show off three spaces, including a 4,259-square-foot store that had been a Borders Express. The first open house in February resulted in three leases.

General manager Kent Hulbert said major mall developers like Collin Creek's owner, General Growth Properties, have had similar programs for years to help local start-ups, but the Plano mall is stepping up its recruiting and offering special lease terms.

"We talk to other malls and keep our eyes open when we're out," Hulbert said.

Mark Kane, a Dallas entrepreneur and founder of CD Warehouse, Movie Trading Co. and most recently Entertainmart, is opening his newest idea, Keeks, this weekend in Collin Creek. The store will buy, sell and trade new and used designer handbags, including Coach, Dooney & Bourke and Louis Vuitton.

"General Growth is willing to give me prime space in one of [its] malls for a novel idea. I need 10,000 to 12,000 women walking past my door to know if it's going to work," Kane said.

Across the corridor, Sunil "Sunny" Verma spent "several thousand dollars" last year to remodel a 1,265-square-foot space to house his Perfume Galaxy shop after securing a permanent lease.

"I started out in the mall in 2003 with a kiosk, and then in 2005 I moved into in-line space under one-year temporary leases," said Verma, who sells 1,700 varieties of men's and women's fragrances at prices competitive to department stores.

Outside Perfume Galaxy, he operates a collegiate gift kiosk without extra help during the week, using additional workers only on weekends.

"There's not enough traffic. We used to have more shoppers before new centers opened in Allen," said Verma, who would like to see more national chains recruited.

In the last year, Kane opened Entertainmarts, which sell DVDs, video games and consumer electronics, in Vista Ridge, Town East and Hulen malls. The Collin Creek store is "the least productive right now," he said.

Easier dealings

But he likes Collin Creek's program, which allowed him to sign a temporary lease for Keeks.

"Malls used to be impossible to deal with, especially if you were selling used stuff," said Kane.

The last decade of explosive retail development in Allen, Frisco, Garland, McKinney and Plano siphoned shoppers and created challenges for a traditional center anchored by Dillard's, Macy's, J.C. Penney and Sears.

Some Plano residents say they prefer Collin Creek because it isn't crowded, but that's not what merchants want. Despite the Plano Chamber of Commerce's "shop local" efforts during the recession – including last year's PlanoFirst campaign – some residents left it for newer sites.

Just before its parent company, General Growth, headed into bankruptcy reorganization, the two-level mall was renovated in 2008 with updated lighting, sparkling floor tiles and its first family restrooms. Soft seating and play areas, a new center fountain, directional signs and landscaping came next. Amazing Jake's, a food place with indoor rides, was added in the old Mervyn's location.

Then, as national chains contracted during the recession, it lost its Starbucks, Hallmark card shop and Borders Express, among others.

It found a local coffee shop. Keeks is filling the Hallmark space. Others are in the works, said Shelly Martz, the mall's common-area coordinator.

"Many local retailers wrongly assume that Collin Creek Mall is only for national retailers. That's far from the truth," Hulbert said. "We are part of the community, and we welcome local retailers."

The center is offering "flexible terms and competitive rates," but Hulbert wouldn't elaborate.

Busy corner

Located on the northwest corner of North Central Expressway and Plano Parkway, Collin Creek is more than 90 percent leased, Hulbert said. Its directory includes the expected mall stalwarts – American Eagle Outfitters, Bath & Body Works, Foot Locker and Victoria's Secret.

Streets bordering the mall continue to attract shoppers and diners with major retail and restaurant chains such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Pier 1 Imports, On the Border, La Madeleine and the area's only CompUSA.

Collin Creek Village shopping center borders the mall on the Central Expressway side. The Container Store just closed after opening a new store eight miles north in the Village at Fairview, one of the twin shopping centers flanking Stacy Road. Owners of the strip center said they're planning a major remodeling of the vacated space and the 200,000-square-foot strip center.

Shoppers give Collin Creek mixed reviews and say the mall needs more restaurants.

Alisa Green of Plano said her family shopped at Collin Creek as she grew up. But now that she's a mother, she takes her children to nearby Garland's Firewheel Town Center.

"Sometimes I go to Allen to the outlet center," said Green, who stopped at Collin Creek for a quick errand. "But mostly we go to Firewheel. There's more to do, to walk around the pond. It's fun outside for the kids."

Stacy Ramsey of Plano is still a fan. She likes Collin Creek because it's convenient for her and not congested like "NorthPark or Frisco."