Tanger building $60 million outlet center in Mebane during struggling economy

By: Fran Daniel | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: August 18, 2010

MEBANE

As many retailers across North Carolina try to recover from the recession, a sign of optimism is taking shape in Mebane.

Tanger Outlet Centers Inc. is building a $60 million, 317,572-square-foot outlet shopping center just off Interstate 40/85. The company said yesterday that the center will open Nov. 5, offering items at an average of 40 percent off retail prices. It will have 80 stores.

VOTE ONLINE: Would you drive an hour or more to shop at an outlet mall?

Britt Beemer, the chief executive of America's Research Group, said he doesn't expect the outlet center to draw many customers away from shopping centers in the Triad, such as Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, and Friendly Center, the Shops at Friendly Center and Four Seasons Town Centre in Greensboro. Those malls are 30 to 60 miles from Mebane.

"I can't imagine that much of their business comes from that far away," Beemer said.

He also said he doesn't think that the increase in outlets in Mebane will help rejuvenate the once booming outlet business in nearby Burlington.

Glendel Stephenson, the mayor of Mebane, said that Tanger expects about 4.5 million people a year to visit the center.

"They are going to be a destination for tourist groups, buses, and people who want to come and spend the day, etc.," Stephenson said.

Kathleen Hackshaw, Tanger's general manger, said that the center will be more high-end than its sister centers. "We are definitely a fashion destination," she said. "There are some housewares, but not as much."

Tanger Outlet Centers, a real-estate investment trust based in Greensboro, owns 32 outlet centers. The Tanger in Mebane will be its third in North Carolina. The others are in Blowing Rock and Nags Head.

The Mebane center will employ about 800 people full and part time. Tanger will hold a job fair from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Mebane Art and Community Center at 622 Corregidor St. in Mebane.

Hackshaw said that the center is 90 percent leased or has leases out for signatures."We do have some tenants who want to come in and test the waters, so they will sign temporary leases," she said.

fdaniel@wsjournal.com
727-7366