When Vanessa Reyes and Suzan Burdan opened their clothing boutique Stella Gialla in the Shops at Atlas Park two years ago, they noticed an interesting trend taking place.
“Basically in our current store, it’s set up really beautifully, and customers would try to buy the furniture and fixtures off the walls, but they weren’t for sale,” Reyes said.
So, what was their solution?
Reyes and Burdan decided to open Stella Gialla Decorum - a boutique featuring furniture and home goods as well as personal services including home decorating, personal shopping and closet organization - and choosing the site for the second store was easy.
The duo will open Stella Gialla Decorum only a few steps from its other boutique in the Shops at Atlas Park on Thursday, April 24, and Reyes believes their new store will be a perfect fit for the mall.
“You can’t imagine how many times we could have sold things [in their original boutique],” Reyes said. “We wanted to have something for everyone that would appeal to a wider spectrum of customers.”
However, they are not the only tenants expanding their business at the Middle Village shopping center.
Jennifer and Michael Padilla, owners of the fashion-forward menswear boutique M12ThirtyOne, decided to complement their men’s store by opening Femme1231, a specialty shop for women offering trendy and high-end brands such as Affliction, Paper Denim & Cloth and Ed Hardy, along with a DJ booth for in-store fashion show events.
“We had a lot of mothers, girlfriends and fianc/s always looking for presents for their significant others and always asked if we carried any clothes for women, and that’s where it [idea for new boutique] came from,” said Michael Padilla.
Femme1231, which is expected to have its soft opening on April 24 and full opening on June 1, will feature 2,400-square-feet of space - more than double the size of M12ThirtyOne - and Padilla believes that its close proximity to the men’s store as well as being right next to a salon will definitely benefit the store.
“It’s going to be another destination,” said Padilla, who hopes the while the women are shopping at the boutique, the men will visit M12ThirtyOne.
Atlas Park Owner and Development Director Damon Hemmerdinger believes that these two expansions by existing tenants is a great sign for the mall.
“These new store expansions are a terrific indicator of our mall’s future, especially as we hear about other retailers around the country closing up shop,” Hemmerdinger said. “In just two years, we’ve focused on providing our community with a diverse mix of price points and tastes, and these new fashion boutiques will by far close the most significant gap in our offerings - places for the Queens fashionista to dress herself.”
During a difficult economic time, Hemmerdinger said that it’s a very strong statement about the sales history and sales forecast that these tenants foresee at Atlas Park.
“Rather than open a second store somewhere else, they want to open a second store here,” he said.
The Shops at Atlas Park, which features a mix of shops and restaurants, sits on a 12-acre tract of land with The Green serving as its “town center” in the middle. It is surrounded by a unified architectural statement of white-washed buildings designed to create a casual, refreshing meeting place in the midst of a densely inhabited urban environment.
The Shops tries to use their excellent location as well as a number of special events to attract customers to the mall.
“We are really excited that spring is almost upon us,” Hemmerdinger said. “We are repeating and expanding a number of programs from last year.”
He mentioned the opening of the carousel for children, a four-day baseball clinic and music in and around the park three nights a week during the summer as only a few of the activities that customers can look forward to this year.
Meanwhile, the stores in the mall - including the new ones coming soon - are already working together on cross promotion ideas to try to attract more customers to the mall.
“We want to make it like a real community here,” Reyes said.
The Shops at Atlas Park, which will celebrate its second anniversary at the end of this month, has a mix of brand-name retailers including Borders, Regal Cinemas, Starbucks and Aerosoles as well as many local merchants including Crazy for Animals, the first green pet boutique in New York City and Frankie’s Playce, a full-service toy store that incorporates children’s haircutting.
Additionally, Atlas Park offers many flourishing local restaurants including Manor Oktoberfest, a casual German eatery serving up bratwurst, sauerbraten and a variety of German beers, the Zagat-praised Pasticcio offering authentic Italian cuisine from its new expanded operation in Queens and Shiro of Japan, a sushi-and-teppanyaki restaurant.
National chains including Johnny Rockets, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili’s Bar & Grill and Cold Stone Creamery are also part of the exciting dining mix.
