Saks Fifth Avenue wil anchor center's second phase

February 14, 2008 - 12:06PM by Kyle Arnold  The Monitor

MERCEDES — A Saks Fifth Avenue will anchor the second phase of the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets in Mercedes, developers announced Thursday.

A Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th department store is also planned.

Other high-end retailers expected at the site include Juicy Couture, Kenneth Cole, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nautica and True Religion.

In total, 40 more stores are expected to open starting in March, according to the developer, Chelsea Property Group. The expansion will bring the development to 140 stores, with 575,000 square feet of retail space.

“The site is pretty much leased up,” said Chelsea spokeswoman Michele Rothstein said. “As soon as we get the deals done, essentially every space is spoken for.”

The other announced retailers are Avirex, Bebe, Bon Worth, Brown Shoe Closet, The Cosmetics Company Store, Dickies Factory Outlet, Haggar Clothing Co., L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex, New Balance, Rawlings Sporting Goods, Reebok, Rock & Republic, Rockport, and Vans.

A handful of the stores — though Chelsea didn’t say which ones — are slated to open March 20, just in time for Easter weekend and Mexican nationals’ extended Semana Santa holiday, peak days for shopping. The rest will open throughout the year.

The other 20 stores will be announced as leases are signed and deals finalized, Rothstein said.

Saks is slated to start construction on their 32,000-square-foot anchor store this spring. The store should be finished in November, just before the Christmas holiday shopping season.

With the addition, Chelsea is done with expansion at the Mercedes center, Rothstein said. She said there is little potential for any major additions, despite rumors a Neiman Marcus department store was planning to locate at the site.

“I would never say never, but we don’t have plans to build anything else significant,” Rothstein said.

The expansion comes on the heels of a record year for the city of Mercedes and South Texas’ retail market. The shopping center’s 100 stores tallied nearly $188 million in sales in 2007, according to calculations based on data from the Texas State Comptroller’s Office.

The city of Mercedes also raked in about $2.5 million in sales tax revenue. Another $2.5 million went to Chelsea as part of a tax incentive program.

“The premium outlet stores have worked out tremendously for us,” said Mercedes Mayor Joel Quintanilla. “It is still hot.”

Sales tax estimates show the outlet center had an even better holiday season this year than their opening in 2006. Estimated sales for the center increased about 5 percent in November and December, compared to the previous year.

The outlet center’s popularity also contributed to other retail developments in the area, including a strip shopping center nearby on Expressway 83 and a La Quinta Inn nearby.

The first phase of the shopping center alone created about 1,000 jobs.

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Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410.