When Patty O’Connor opens the doors to her store Crazy for Animals — a pet boutique carrying stylish accessories including leashes, jewelry and clothes — April 27, she will be fulfilling a dream she believes will only continue to get better.
After months of preparation recruiting stores and businesses, The Shops at Atlas Park — New York’s first-ever lifestyle retail center — will officially open for business tonight, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with retailers and Councilwoman Melinda Katz.
The Glendale shopping center, which will have 14 retailers opening that night with many more expected to open in the upcoming months, is expected to provide Glendale residents with many more local and convenient shopping alternatives.
“We are delighted to see our vision — providing Queens residents and visitors with the finest urban retailing experience possible — come to fruition,” said H. Dale Hemmerdinger, President of Atco Properties & Management, the developer of The Shops at Atlas Park. “It is our hope that The Shops at Atlas Park will be a vibrant destination for the community to meet, dine and, of course, shop for many years to come.”
As The Shops at Atlas Park begins to open, reactions in the community appear to be positive about what it will bring to the neighborhood.
“The shops are going to be great,” said Kathy Masi, President of the Glendale Civic Association. “It’s a wonderful economic situation for Queens.”
“Everyone is pretty excited, but nobody knows what to really expect,” said Werner Lehner, owner of Zum Stammtisch Restaurant in Glendale and President of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. “It’s been a good response so far, but people are mainly concerned with traffic issues.”
In addition to traffic concerns, some neighboring commercial areas are worried about how the new shops will affect their businesses.
“In the Myrtle Avenue commercial district, there is concern about the impact that the shops will have on it,” said Ted Renz, Executive Director of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District. “People that are shopping on Myrtle Avenue may decide to go there [to The Shops at Atlas Park].”
On Thursday, April 27, 14 retailers are scheduled to debut, including fashion boutique Stein Mart, White House/Black Market, Marmi, Aerosoles, Gymboree, Stella Gialla, Jos. A. Bank, Coldwater Creek, Chico’s, J. Jill, Crazy for Animals, Claire’s, Fine Art Gallery and Orange, a caf’e and bar, with many others slated to open throughout the summer and into the fall.
“If we can’t make it here, we can’t make it anywhere,” O’Connor said. “I think this will be the start of something that will allow us to grow to even more stores.”
Marmi, a women’s shoe store that specializes in stylish shoes in hard-to-fit sizes, has 33 national locations, including one on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, and has already generated great interest for their new store.
“Over the last two days, we have received over 100 phone calls asking when we were going to open up,” said Don Hall, Vice President of Retail for Marmi.
O’Connor believes that The Shops at Atlas Park will provide an experience for shoppers and businesses owner that they cannot receive elsewhere.
“It’s not the typical mall setting,” she said. “I think people are going to enjoy walking in and out of the shops, and you have the opportunity to capture the whole audience.”
When all of the tenants finish moving into their locations, the area will have more than 50 shops and generate nearly 1,200 new jobs for the community.
HOW TO GET THERE
Directions from Flushing, College Point, and the Whitestone Bridge:
bottom of the ramp, then Right onto Metropolitan, then take an immediate Left onto 80th Street North.
80th Street between 77th Avenue and Cooper Avenue.
For more information about directions and access to The Shops at Atlas Park via public transportation, visit:
https://www.theshopsatatlaspark.com/Directions/tabid/59/Default.aspx.
