What's coming to The Marketplace?
| Tuesday, Feb 09 2010 02:29 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Feb 09 2010 02:40 PM
Images
Oralia Moreno cleans the walls, Tuesday, in the rain at The Marketplace in southwest Bakersfield.
Several shoppers were out, even on a rainy Tuesday morning at the Marketplace in southwest Bakersfield.
Shoppers were walking around the Marketplace shops, Tuesday morning in southwest Bakersfield.
At the Marketplace, the building under construction, right, is being sectioned off into three separate stores that will open here.
The Marketplace is putting new emphasis on fashion with a flurry of new stores, and rearranging some older tenants to put clothing front and center.
The old Thomasville Furniture spot that was temporarily transformed into Anchor Lighting over the holidays has been divided in three. Coldwater Creek is confirmed for the center spot. It will be the first Bakersfield store for the Idaho-based retailer of clothes and home decor, said Michele Babcock, executive vice president of mall owner Donahue Schriber.
Negotiations are underway with a cafe and a lingerie shop for the other two spots, Babcock said. She declined to identify the prospective tenants.
"What we've been focusing on the last 12 to 18 months is to bring some additional clothing options to our merchandise mix," Babcock said.
The Marketplace added Louella's Children's Boutique, a children's clothing store that moved to the lifestyle center from Coffee Road, in September.
Kaur Boutique, which Babcock described as "fun, contemporary fashions," is set to open in March. Both stores are locally owned independents.
Kaur means "princess" in Punjabi, a language spoken in parts of India and Pakistan. The store will sell trendy women's fashions, said owner Navi Sanghera.
"We're catering to teens to 40s," she said. "We want teens to be able to come in and buy clothes that are cute but still affordable, and for their moms to be able to find something, as well."
Coldwater Creek did not return repeated phone calls requesting an interview.
The national retailer based in Sandpoint, Idaho, sells clothes, accessories and home decor and gift items.
Founded in 1984 as a catalog company, the publicly traded chain (CWTR) generated $1 billion in net sales in fiscal 2008, according to its latest annual report.
In fiscal 2008, Coldwater Creek opened 42 retail stores, increasing its store count to 348 locations in 201 markets, the report said.
To give clothing more prominent placement, Color Me Mine was relocated to another location within the mall near the food court area, Babcock said.
Color Me Mine sells ceramic pottery and figurines that customers can custom paint on site. Owner Kathy Hunt said she's "thrilled" with her new location.
"It's very pleasant looking out at the fountain as opposed to looking out at a parking lot," she said. "It's probably less visible, but there are still lots of people walking around, and I'm just glad they're filling the vacancies and getting people in here."
The Marketplace also got a new candy store in November called Lil B's Sweet Tooth. The owner is Florence Crosby of Bakersfield.
Crosby's son, Jon Baker, serves as manager and said his mother is pleased with The Marketplace and the changes will only enhance an already popular shopping venue.
"We wanted to be here because it's one of the only shopping centers in town where people don't just come to shop. They come to hang out," Baker said.
