Meanwhile, plans are in the works for Shoe Carnival and Catherine's retail stores to relocate their operations to the mall, according to developer Mike Bowen, president of the Westwood Group. Westwood owns the shopping center in partnership with Heritage Investment Property Trust Inc. of Boston.
The nearby Lakes Mall continues to drive retail and restaurant growth in the Harvey Street-Sternberg Road area, says Bowen, who has seen retail patterns shift from the Sherman Centre at US 31 and East Sherman Boulevard in Muskegon to the Norton Shores mall over the last eight years. Circuit City was the first of the national or regional large electronics and appliance retailers to land in Muskegon. It located in the Sherman Centre in November 1996 with a 27,000-sf outlet. The new Circuit City store is expected to open and the old store close in mid-September, company officials say.
"The Sherman Centre is approaching 10 years old and has been mainly a Muskegon draw," Bowen says. "Sternberg has now become a regional draw from Holland to Ludington. Circuit City thinks it can do better in a more regional location."
Since 1996, the retail electronics market has shifted in Muskegon. ABC Warehouse opened a store in the Westshore Shopping Center in November 1999, and Best Buy located just north of the Lakes Crossing in February 2001. In moving to the Sternberg-Harvey shopping area, Circuit City is going door-to-door against Best Buy.
The relocation of the Circuit City store to the Lakes Crossing is part of a nationwide upgrade and expansion plan by the Richmond, VA-based retailer. Spokeswoman Amanda Tate says the electronics chain will build 60 to 70 new stores this year, half of which will be relocations within existing markets, like Muskegon.
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