Monday, June 25, 2007
Major chain stores are coming to Christiansburg
The goal of the mall expansion is to make the New River Valley rival Roanoke for shopping.
Construction is now under way to bring a collection of large, national chain stores and restaurants to the New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg.
Cheryl Dougherty, vice president of marketing for mall owner Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, confirmed this week that Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Old Navy, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, PetSmart, Banfield, Staples and Shoe Carnival will all open in the mall's long-planned retail "power strip" in November.
A Ross Dress For Less is slated to join the 175,000-square-foot strip in 2008.
The additions, visible from the U.S. 460 bypass, are part of a $50 million renovation project aimed at improving and updating the New River Valley Mall.
Begun more than a year ago, the renovations included internal as well as external overhauls.
Among them, a stone mall entrance, a working fireplace, new flooring and a number of new tenants.
Within the mall, the old 11-screen Regal Cinemas movie theater is being replaced by New River Community College classrooms and a 9,000-square-foot food court. And in recent months, a new 14-screen movie theater with stadium seating has joined other recent additions, including Dick's Sporting Goods and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, outside the mall.
Mall executives and regional economic development officials say they hope the new power-strip tenants will lure New River Valley shoppers who previously had to travel outside the area to shop.
"It'll really help us keep dollars that are leaking to Roanoke," said Brian Hamilton, Montgomery County's associate director of economic development. "And Montgomery County needs that for schools."
Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust acquired the New River Valley mall, along with 25 others, in 2003, after merging with previous owner Crown American Realty Trust in a $381 million deal.
According to its Web site, the investment trust was founded in 1960, owns 38 malls and 11 power strips and has seven properties under development.
On the Web: shopnewrivervalleymall.com
