Posted on Dec 18, 2003

EastChase adds 3 stores By Mike Sherman Montgomery Advertiser Construction continues Wednesday at the new shopping center in EastChase that will contain PETsMART, Ross Dress for Less and Cost Plus World Market. -- Photos by Julie BennettAdvertiser An import market with furniture, foods and wines, a name-brand and designer apparel store, and a superstore for pets are under construction at EastChase. Will Wilson is vice president of development for Jim Wilson and Associates, a 50-50 partner with Alfa in the sprawling development south of Interstate 85 and east of Taylor Road in eastern Montgomery. Wilson said a Cost Plus World Market, Ross Dress for Less store, and a PETsMART are going up south of the recently opened Target in EastChase Plaza. "All three are brand new to the market, so we didn't steal from another place. It shows Montgomery is getting newer stores to come to town," Wilson said. Shopper Suzanne Webb, who is an aide to Attorney General Bill Pryor, said, "I absolutely will shop those new stores," as she left Target Wednesday afternoon. "We live out here, and so they will be very convenient," the Pike Road resident said. More development is expected at the Plaza portion of EastChase. About 30,000 square feet of space for small business will be available. Wilson said he is negotiating with sporting goods, shoe and ready-to-wear stores and a hair salon. Wilson said capital investment in the Plaza portion of EastChase is $15 million. Cost Plus World Market, which opened its first import store in 1958 in San Francisco and still operates on Fisherman's Wharf, offers furniture, lamps, floor and window coverings, collectibles, tabletop and kitchen accessories, gourmet foods and wines. As of Nov. 19, the company operated 204 stores in 26 states, expanding from 175 stores last year. Electricians work on lighting Wednesday inside the shopping center under construction in EastChase in Montgomery. A call to Cost Plus headquarters in Oakland, Calif., was not immediately returned. PETsMART, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is the nation's leading retail supplier of products and services for pets. It operates more than 600 pet superstores in the United States and Canada. The PETsMART closest to Montgomery are in Columbus, Ga., and Dothan. The standard PETsMART store is about 20,000 square feet. The company offers pet supplies, food, grooming, training classes, small animals, wild bird supplies, domestic birds and adoption centers in association with local animal shelters. Andrea Davis, a spokeswoman for the company, said the target date for opening is April 1. The typical store work force is 30-40 full- and part-time associates, she said. Most stores include a Banfield pet hospital, she said. "We work with animal welfare organizations. PETsMART screens them and they become approved adoption partners. Then we provide space so pets can be adopted at the stores. Any fees go to the adoption partner," Davis said. Katie Loughnot, vice president for investor relations, said a May 2004 grand opening is scheduled for a 30,187-square-foot Ross store. "Alabama is one of our newest markets, and an outgrowth of our Southeast expansion strategy. We entered the Southeast in 2001 and our goal is to grow rapidly," Loughnot said. Ross also plans to open stores in Hoover and Mobile in 2004. "We will end 2003 with 568 stores in 25 states and we expect to generate almost $4 billion in sales," Loughnot said. The company's headquarters is in Newark, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay area. Ross began in 1982 with six stores in the same area. Ross' target customers are women and men between the ages of 25 and 54 with middle to upper-middle income levels. The average Ross store employs 40-50 full- and part-time workers, she said. Developer Wilson said he is pleased with continuing development at EastChase. "Ever since the project opened, it has really taken off great. It slowed as the economy slowed, but Dillard's is working toward a March opening and Target is open," he said. "We have 130 acres to go, and I think the people of Montgomery are happy with the quality and what we have delivered," he said.