Northgate Burlington slated for September opening

photo Northgate Mall patrons walk away from the Sears store Friday as renovation work continues at the Hixson shopping complex.

NEW NORTHGATE STORES, 2014Old Navy, opened January 2014Salons by JC, opening in OctoberBurlington, opening in SeptemberShoe Dept. Encore, opening by end of 2014Old Chicago Pizza, opening by end of 2014NORTHGATE REMODELSGymboreeGNCApplebee'sNORTHGATE RELOCATIONSPayless Shoe SourceLenscraftersColony 13Source: CBL Properties

Coats, hairspray, shoes and pizza are on their way to Northgate Mall this year.

The sprawling Hixson retail site is starting to reap the rewards of a two-year, multimillion dollar renovation by owner CBL & Associates Properties, as new, high-quality tenants move into the no-longer-dingy building.

Burlington, formerly called Burlington Coat Factory, will open in the mall by September and will be the first Burlington store in the region. The company held a job fair for the new store on Tuesday and Wednesday to hire up to 100 employees for the new store.

"We can't wait for Burlington to open," said CBL's Catharine Wells. "It's a perfect fit for Northgate."

Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom will also open this fall, moving into the former Shane's Rib Shack in the mall. The restaurant will offer craft beer, 36 taps, pizza and fourteen 60-inch flat screen TVS, director of marketing Mike Shannon said.

And across the hall from Burlington, a Shoe Dept. Encore will move in and open up later this year, Wells added. The 13,000-square foot store will include at least 12 different shoe brands.

The 823,00 square-foot shopping center is about 80 percent occupied now, Wells said. Rodney Bass, who owns the Colony 13 store in the mall, said the renovations have made a huge difference for his shop. Colony 13 has been in Northgate for 36 years.

"Around 2000, the traffic started to diminish in the mall," he said. "The company that owned it before just let it dwindle down. We saw a decrease in traffic. But since they've started renovating and we moved, it's like night and day. It's been good for us."

Shoppers are more excited when they step into the mall now, he added.

Across the mall from Burlington, the old Northgate movie theater is being turned into 34 hair salons, a move that Wells said will reinvigorate the section.

"That was the old, old theater, and that space has been vacant for a very long time," she said.

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com

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