Borders to make Queens debut

at The Shops at Atlas Park
Book, music and movie retailer Borders will open its very first store in Queens in the city’s first-ever lifestyle retail center, at The Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale.
Borders plans a September 2006 opening, and will occupy 22,500 of the center’s 400,000 square feet. It will serve as one of the anchors at Atlas Park. Regal Cinemas will serve as the entertainment anchor.
A variety of restaurants, local and national, that offer casual and fine dining atmospheres will be a feature of the center. Specialty food stores will meet consumers’ everyday grocery shopping needs.
The Borders store will feature a wide selection of books, periodicals, music and movies, along with a Seattle’s Best caf/ and The Paper Chase, an area that will offer greeting cards, wrapping paper, stationery and assorted gift items.
“Borders will have prime visibility, situated at the corner of 80th Street and Cooper Avenue, a high-traffic location within a densely populated, yet under-stored urban retail environment,” said Damon Hemmerdinger, the project’s development director. “By bringing together its appealing mix of merchandise in one highly accessible location with immediately adjacent covered parking, Borders provides a real plus to our project and an important point of difference for our customers.”
Over half of the retail and restaurant space at The Shops at Atlas Park has already been rented or committed in anticipation of the center’s April 2006 Grand Opening.
In addition to Regal Cinemas, national retailers include Chico’s, White House Black Market, Gymboree, Coldwater Creek, Bombay Company, Aerosoles, Jos. A. Bank, Claire’s, Johnny Rockets, Cold Stone Creamery and California Pizza Kitchen.
The intriguing restaurant Shiro’s of Japan, local Italian eatery Pasticcio and fashion boutique Stella Gialla are also among the center’s major tenants.
“It is a tremendous compliment to our project that so many of the retailers have chosen The Shops at Atlas Park for their first foray into Queens,” Hemmerdinger said. “More importantly, we are fulfilling our promise to provide the community with an important new, convenient shopping and dining option.”