ASHEVILLE, N.C. — New England Development, a retail and outlet mall developer based in the Boston suburb of Newton, Mass., has opened the 75-store Asheville Outlets located at 800 Brevard Road in Asheville. The 325,000-square-foot, open-air outlet center houses such brands as Ann Taylor Factory Store, Banana Republic Factory Store, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Coach, Cole Haan, GAP Factory Store, J. Crew Factory, Nike Factory Store, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour, and Vera Bradley Outlet.
New England Development plans to open a 50,000-square-foot Field & Stream at the outlet mall in October. In addition to the retail shops, Asheville Outlets also includes a 350-seat food court that features free Wi-Fi and Asheville’s first dog watering fountain and way station.
“We truly appreciate the dedication of the men and women who have worked so hard on this project,” said Douglass Karp, president of New England Development, during the grand opening ceremony on Friday, May 1. “I’m especially pleased to welcome the stores and the nearly 1,000 local employees who will be instrumental in making Asheville Outlets a special, regional shopping destination here in Asheville.”
Asheville Outlets serves the greater Asheville market, along with upstate South Carolina and east Tennessee, and is located at the intersection of two major interstates — I-40 and I-26.
“We have a site with great access and great demographics — and we like the market from the tourism standpoint,” said Karp during an interview with Shopping Center Business. Nearly 1.3 million people, with an average household income of $57,000, live in a 50-mile radius, and there is no other outlet center within 80 miles.
Asheville is the regional and economic hub of western North Carolina. The town is also a tourist destination with such attractions as the historic Biltmore Estate, Blue Ridge Parkway, mountain biking and hiking in the Appalachian Mountains and more breweries per capita than any other city in the United States. More than 9.1 million people — with an average household income of more than $100,000 — visit the Asheville region each year with 3.1 million staying overnight.
More than 1,300 jobs in Buncombe County and $33 million in annual, additional local income are being created with the opening of Asheville Outlets, according to New England Development.
The outlet mall opened with roughly 55 stores operating, and the remaining stores and restaurants will be opening in the following months. In addition to the shops and eateries, the outlet mall has seven retail-merchandising units where small and local businesses can sell their items out of carts.
Built with sustainability in mind, upwards of 280 trees have been saved on the property and more than 790 new trees have been planted above and beyond those that were preserved, along with more than 4,800 shrubs and 12,400 groundcover plantings. The outlet mall also features 72 bike racks holding a total of 144 bikes and four electric car-charging stations.
New England Development partnered with Tremont Realty Capital on the project. In addition to Asheville Outlets, New England Development plans to open Outlets of Little Rock in Little Rock, Ark., this year. In 2016, the company will open the Outlets of Des Moines in Altoona, Iowa; Clarksburg Premium Outlets in Clarksburg, Md.; and Outlets of Michigan in Romulus, Mich.
— John Nelson