Scottsdale Lands National Retailers

Tallgrass Development Inc. announced on May 21 that three national retail chains plan to open stores in Rogers’ Scottsdale Center, at the intersection of Interstate 540 and U.S. Highway 71B.

The stores and their square footage are Old Navy, 16,000; Pier 1 Imports, 9,000; and Linens ‘n Things, 32,000. Pier 1 plans to open in Rogers by December. The other two stores are shooting for March.

Old Navy is a division of Gap Inc. of San Francisco, the leading U.S. apparel chain. Gap Inc. opened its first area store in 1998 at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville. Last year, the company opened the first Old Navy in the area just south of the Fayetteville mall. The company plans to open a Gap store in Scottsdale Center this coming August.

Gap Inc. had $13.7 billion in sales for the fiscal year ended Feb. 3.

Pier 1, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading retailer of specialty home fashions with $1.4 billion in sales last year. The company has more than 800 stores worldwide, including one in Fayetteville’s Northwest Village shopping center.

With 2000 sales of $1.6 billion, Linens ‘n Things is a national retailer of home textiles, housewares and home accessories. At the end of the 2000 fiscal year, the company had 283 stores in 40 states and three provinces across the United States and Canada.

The 500,000-SF Scottsdale Center is expected to cost more than $50 million by the time it’s completed in March. In addition to retail stores, developers say the center will eventually be home to nine restaurants and three hotels.

Already open or planning to open in the shopping center are Lowe’s, Kohl’s, Malco Theaters, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Chili’s, The Dixie Cafe, Kisor’s and Colton’s Steak House.