Several new and moved stores have recently opened at the Shoppes at Seymour near the interstate on the east side of Seymour as part of the owner’s plan to gear the center toward local business.
From auction centers to camo outfitters, what once held big chain stores is now focusing on smaller businesses and services to fill the units.
“The focus is not to be an outlet center,” said Patti Healy, leasing and property manager of the building owned by Cobra Properties based out of Florida.
Instead, Healy said she and the owner want to make Shoppes a “lifestyle center” that brings all types of people out who are either stopping by for an appointment at one of the health centers or browsing for screwdrivers at Discount Tools.
“He (Cobra Properties owner Randy Garciga) is very, very eager to make it an asset to Seymour,” Healy said.
While The Great Escape movie theatre, Reebok shoe outlet, Factory Brand Shoes and Bon Worth remain the only original faces from when the mall first opened in the 1990s and remain a draw, newer names popping up are small, locally owned businesses and health care or other services.
Healy said that the 2010 Strategic Retail Business Plan done by outside consultant Jennifer Stanton suggested moving the Shoppes at Seymour to a regional center, of which Healy said they had already started doing before the plan was created.
“It was just very good that she, as an outside consultant, said that,” Healy said.
Healy said that the Shoppes, formerly known as Tanger Outlet Mall, lost business after the “outlet store craze” of the 1990s diminished and outlet malls started consolidating.
To draw more attention to the center, Healy said they hope to hold monthly events in the parking lot or empty units.