Shopping center anticipates spring opening of style-and-value-conscious retailer
in two-story former Mervyn’s

General Growth Properties, Inc. recently announced it has signed deals with fashion retailer Forever 21 for six new stores at GGP malls serving five metropolitan areas in Houston, San Antonio, Louisville, Las Vegas and Birmingham. One of the new stores will be at The Woodlands Mall in the 85,000 square foot, two-story building that was formerly Mervyn’s.

Celebrated by many style-conscious shoppers, Forever 21 is the source for the most current fashions at the greatest value. The six locations total 580,000 square feet of space and all are planned to open in 2010. These Forever 21 locations are larger in square footage than average Forever 21 stores, offering a larger selection of apparel and merchandise.

‘Forever 21 is a highly successful retailer, with one of the strongest formulas for success in today’s market,’ said John Pew, general manager of The Woodlands Mall. ‘We are pleased to be selected for one of the retailer’s new stores. The new Forever 21 will be 15 times bigger than its current location here at The Woodlands Mall, so the retailer will have space to expand collections. And, of course, with the bigger store, more jobs will be created for area residents, making the expansion of Forever 21 an economic win as well.”

The other new Forever 21 stores will be located at Baybrook Mall in Friendswood, Texas; North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas; Mall St. Matthews in Louisville, Kentucky; Fashion Show in Las Vegas, Nevada; and Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham, Alabama.

Forever 21's latest Fashion Department Store concept is based on its strong brand foundation of the latest fashion at affordable prices. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Forever 21 has built a consumer franchise over the past 25 years that is known for offering the hottest fashion trends at a great value. Forever 21’s model of fast fashion works by keeping the store exciting with fresh merchandise offerings brought in daily.

Construction is expected to begin on the new Forever 21 location toward the end of 2009, with a spring 2010 opening anticipated.

“When our customers visit GGP shopping centers, we want them to discover an ever-improving mix of shopping and entertainment experiences,” said Adam Metz, chief executive officer of General Growth Properties, Inc. “Our partnership with Forever 21 gives us a chance to introduce an extremely popular retailer who is a market leader at combining great fashions with realistic prices. Today, that is just what people are looking for.”

“We are very pleased to open six new fashion department stores in strong GGP malls so that we can offer more merchandise categories having the fashion and affordability that is Forever 21. We are also pleased to be adding jobs at this challenging time,” said Don Chang, founder and CEO.

The retailer operates hundreds of stores in the United States, with international operations in Canada, Japan, Korea, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Jutta "Utah" Burden

Find more shopping and entertainment in The Woodlands at http://www.utahburden.com/Recommended-Links