The Shops At Nanuet Preparing For Opening

Slightly more than three weeks remain before the grand opening of The Shops At Nanuet. Work continues at a feverish pace for the 30 to 35 tenants expected to welcome customers on Thursday, Oct. 10th. 

The Shops At Nanuet General Manager Ryan Hidalgo led a preview tour of the site, busy with construction workers, trucks, equipment and building supplies. Piles of bricks and other materials sat next to rows of flowers and trees ready for planting.

“It’s a very active construction site,” said Hidalgo.

Work goes on seven days a week outside and inside the 750,000 square foot open-air shopping center. Hidalgo said the center’s architecture reflects Rockland County’s history of brickmaking with many brick facades on storefronts as well as incorporating 21st Century touches of glass and steel. A few retailers name’s were visible, Michael Kors, The Limited and the Apple logo. 

The main entryway called Fashion Drive will allow two-way traffic and for shoppers to park directly in front of the stores or restaurants they want to visit. Movie and fitness center patrons will find parking areas in front of their main entrances. Overall, the center will have 3,500 parking spaces. 

Even though it is described as an open-air shopping center, Hidalgo said there will be covered walkways and most stores will have canopies over their entrances. He said the town square concept with stores and restaurants new to the county is expected to attract patrons at all times of the year. He noted a town plaza area will have seating and landscaping and will serve as location for special events as well as a place for people to relax. 

“I feel that we have enough things here to attract people in all months,” Hidalgo said.  

All of the 50 tenant spaces in the center have been leased except for one, which has multiple proposals.  Hidalgo said that is a positive position for a center not yet open.

He said the retailers were pleased with the quality and number of applicants who attended an August job fair. Within the next seven to 10 days he expects the stores and restaurants to start bringing in staff and fixtures to arrange the interiors. Simon Properties, which owns the center, has added treatments to the sides of Sears and Macys, which face the rest of the center. The two stores own their buildings and decide what additional work may be done on the exteriors.

The Shops At Nanuet replaces the Nanuet Mall, which opened in 1969, expanded in the 1980s and began to decline after the Palisades Center in West Nyack opened. Hidalgo said the new concept will attract young professionals and that its crossroads location will draw shoppers from New Jersey and New York City.

The grand opening on Oct. 10th is expected to begin at 10 a.m. and run through the weekend with live music, entertainment, kids activities and more. The Shops At Nanuet’s operating hours will be Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with hours extended during the holiday season. Fairway Market, which is one of the junior anchors, will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

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