One of the original tenants at a Hixson shopping center expects to move to another location on Highway 153 as a string of retail shifts continues on the busy corridor.
Marshalls, which opened at the Oak Park Town Center anchored by Walmart in 2001, is to relocate into space that formerly held the Best Buy electronics store, Katline Lewis, who works for the clothing retailer, said Monday.
But Lewis said the move to Towne Center North, which is also on Highway 153 just a few minutes away by car and anchored by Target, isn’t expected to happen until after the first of the year.
“It will help with business,” she said.
The build-out at the new Marshalls site at the shopping center will involve 19,745 square feet, according to the contractor network PlanHub.
When Marshalls opened at Oak Park more than two decades ago, the store had 29,400 square feet, the shopping center’s website said.
(READ MORE: Oak Park Town Center sold)
The Best Buy store at Towne Center North closed in March 2023 after 17 years of operation. Best Buy kept open its other Chattanooga store on Gunbarrel Road near Hamilton Place mall.
“This closure is a part of our regular and ongoing review process of stores as leases come up for renewal,” Best Buy said in a statement last year.
Also late last year, off-price retailer Burlington shifted its Hixson store to the Target center.
(READ MORE: Burlington shifts to Target center)
Burlington moved from Northgate Mall at Highway 153 and Hixson Pike to a smaller storefront vacated earlier last year with the liquidation of Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Burlington was the second-largest tenant in the mall, with a 63,000-square-foot store. Burlington had operated a store in Northgate for the past decade, and its lease continues at the mall until 2026, according to owner CBL Properties.
In 2021, the Applebee’s restaurant that had operated at Northgate Mall for nearly three decades moved to a stand-alone building on the lot of Towne Center North.
Wade Crawford, director of marketing for Applebee’s franchisee Quality Restaurant Concepts, said at the time that the eatery had “a wonderful relationship for a long, long time” at the mall.
“Over the years, things change a little bit,” he said. “You have to make a decision of what’s best for the company.”
Chattanooga-based CBL is working on plans to help revitalize the mall and re-imagine much of its vacant space, according to the company.
“We are currently evaluating several possible redevelopment scenarios, but it’s too early in the process to make any announcements,” company spokesperson Stacey Keating said late last year.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
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