Business in Branson is producing big bucks, and more and more businesses are wanting to be a part it. Branson Tanger Outlet Center General Manager Jamie Whiteis said the current expansion of the shopping center is due to the number of businesses wanting to expand into Branson.
“There are approximately a dozen businesses wanting to get in here,” Whiteis said. “Those are all chains that have stores in some of our other locations that want to come here now.”
The Branson Tanger, which attracts an estimated 4 million visitors a year, is currently working on a 25,000 square-foot retail expansion project to accommodate some of those stores, who are looking at Branson as a step in the right direction. The $2.6 million addition will make space for three more stores.
Those spaces are already accounted for by Nautica, a Nike Factory Store and the Disney Store, which will relocate from its current spot in the outlet center.
“We’re set to be done with the construction by Sept. 3,” Whiteis said. “At that point the stores will come in and start doing their work. Our goal was to give them enough time to be open before the Thanksgiving shopping period.”
Other stores are also coming into vacant storefronts, such as a Gymboree, which is slated to open today. The renovations and expansion seem to be striking the right notes with visitors.
“We come down here three on four times a year,” Kansas City resident Jim Beckman said Wednesday while shopping at Tanger. “The women like (the mall.) They like to have new stores to go into.”
Gary Taylor, who is vacationing in Branson with his wife, Julia, was surprised at Branson’s offerings Wednesday morning while shopping at Tanger.
“This is our first time (in Branson,)” Taylor said. “I like it here. The impression I had from my parents was that it was for older folks. They were wrong. We’ll come back again.”
Whiteis said the prosperity at Tanger may be because of another shopping center located on the banks of Lake Taneycomo in Branson’s downtown.
“Branson Landing has really helped us,” Whiteis said. “It’s bringing more people to town, and when the convention center opens, it will bring even more.”
This expansion is only the most recent of several improvements to the mall that is part of a two-year comprehensive remodeling and expansion project. In fall 2005, the center was given a new paint scheme. Last spring Tanger’s recognizable blue roof was changed to green on the center’s canopies and copper on the towers to match the new color scheme.
Whiteis said after the expansion is complete, he is unsure what step Tanger will take next. “Right now we’re maxed out on parking,” Whiteis said. “If we can figure out a way to expand our parking then we would probably look at making room for more stores as well.”
Information courtesy of Branson Daily News