In an old Wal-Mart site, an outlet mall aiming to help small retailers compete with the big guys plans to open next month.
By BETH N. GRAY
Published August 12, 2004
[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
Cal Curry, left, and Greg Wheeler assemble the skeleton of a dividing wall last week for booths at the Small Business Outlet Mall, which is renovating the old Wal-Mart building in Spring Hill. The mall's owner says reaction to it has been promising.
SPRING HILL - A new concept in retailing is coming to Hernando County.
On Labor Day, the Small Business Outlet at Spring Hill Center will open at 3029 Commercial Way.
"It's a mini-mall, a retail incubator for small businesses that can't afford their own storefronts," said Frank Territo of VA Development, owner of the 80,000-square-foot site, former home to a Wal-Mart.
The strip center, home to an electronic store and some service business, has been without an anchor since the national discount giant vacated to open a Supercenter at 1485 Commercial Way. Since then, the parking lot has been sparsely populated and shoppers scarce.
VA plans to attract customers back to the center by filling a big-box void and providing small retailers a boost by marketing the Business Mall as a unit, Territo said.
Reaction has been promising. Of 300 spaces at 100 square feet each, 240 have been "spoken for and we really haven't even advertised," Territo said.
Interest has been generated by word of mouth but advertising of space availability is on the firm's agenda for the near future.
Booked so far are clothiers, jewelry stores and a furniture company, all offering new merchandise. Clustered in one area will be service businesses, including real estate agents, mortgage brokers and cabinet remakers. Occupying the former Wal-Mart's alfresco garden shop area will be a farm market hawking discount fresh produce, breads and cheeses.
Hungry shoppers will have a place to eat on the premises as well. A Greek restaurant, a full-service restaurant, a snack bar and a coffee and pastry shop are contracted to operate in the mall.
Territo said his firm is taking care to provide a good mix of retailers under one roof, as shopping malls do. He'd welcome more clothiers and would like to take on a sporting goods outlet as a tenant.
"But again, it's open to anybody," he said, adding a caveat, "It's not crafts."
"It's going to be a place for people to come because we don't have a mall (in Hernando)," Territo said.
"Wal-Mart . . . is great but this is for the small retailer. This gives a small business a chance to flourish. Each individual tenant is responsible for his own business and we will assist them in any way we can to grow and make it. It's a win-win situation."
For $250 a month for a 100-square-foot space, renters also will be provided with cash registers and wire telephone service. This compares with rentals of up to $4,000 a month for a kiosk at a mall, Territo said.
Outlet hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, another boon to small business entrepreneurs who may need to rely on other jobs until they build their individual and independent enterprises.
"We may extend the hours in the future," Territo added.
While VA will erect 4-foot partitions around each rental unit - low walls will enable an overall and spacious view, Territo explained - the businesses will install their own merchandise display units and field their own employees. Signs hanging from the ceiling will help direct shoppers to the various venues.
Territo said this is not his first small business outlet venture. He said has opened similar outlets in St. Augustine and Lake Buena Vista so has confidence in the success of the concept.
Refurbishing is under way. The smell of fresh paint permeates the location. Ladders are A-framed about the interior perimeter and walls blossom brightly in sunny yellow and white hues.
Rows of plant pots on the floor delineate where half-walls will be erected and aisles laid out. Territo spread his arms wide at the entryway, showing where a lobby with generous seating will be provided for the shopped-out or those non-shoppers who came along for the ride.
Also, the building's roofline and the parking lot are being reconfigured for aesthetics and convenience.
"This is going to be run as a mall, with shows, car shows, entertainment," Territo said. "It's going to be a fun place."
