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Convention buzz: Rich's to new mall BYLINE: Milo Ippolito; Staff Secrets were revealed, others hinted at, and struggles foreshadowed at this year's International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas. The big news was the disclosure to conference attendees that Rich's is on target to become the fifth anchor store at the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett. Developer Ben Carter did not announce that to the media but confidently pointed out the Rich's location on a scale model to convention attendees. Simon Property Group, managing owner of the mall, says for the record that it is on the verge of a deal with the fifth anchor, but did not name Rich's. Mall of Georgia officials say they have completely filled one of two major vacancies in The Village, an outdoor shopping component of the mall, and are close to a deal with a major tenant for the final building. The Village has four free-standing buildings, a few steps from the mall's front door. Barnes & Noble and Restoration Hardware have signed on for two of those buildings, but no stores have been announced for the two buildings originally targeted for FAO Schwarz and Virgin Entertainment. Deals fell through with both of those stores. Simon spokeswoman Billie Scott said some major good news for the mall may be announced any day now. Meanwhile, the developer of DeKalb's Stonecrest, Forest City Group, expected to close a deal with Rich's to be the fifth anchor at that mall. But on the closing day of the recent convention, Forest City real estate development manager Michael Dobeck said there's more work to be done. The Mills Corp. was busy pitching its new outlet malls in Charlotte and Nashville and did not focus much attention on attracting retailers to the upcoming Sugarloaf Mills near Lawrenceville or the steel mill project in Midtown. Few clues were offered as to how Sugarloaf will look, but signs of possible design struggles with Gwinnett County were evident. Mills uses neon at most of its malls and large outdoor signs at some. Gwinnett is picky on both of these issues. Neon is often banned in zoning conditions, and restrictions are placed on the size of signs. Brick monument signs on the ground are preferred. Mills already cleared its zoning hurdles but will still need to apply for sign permits. Metro Atlanta made a strong showing at the convention as being on top of the trend toward "Main Street" or village shopping centers. These are open air shopping centers with plazas, benches, trees and other touches to give shoppers a pleasant environment to stroll. Some attempt a nostalgic feel reminiscent of an old Main Street or town square. Cousins Properties is building its first, The Avenue at East Cobb. The shops are arranged around a U-shaped drive. Developer RonPfohl shopped around his plan for Forum at Peachtree Parkway. Pfohl wants to build strip malls facing each other across a narrow parking strip to evoke the look of a city street. The Mall of Georgia claims to be the first to use this concept in conjunction with an indoor mall. The International Council of Shopping Centers could not contest that claim. Several of the scale models and architectural renderings proposed around the country -- whether they go for the old-time look or not -- show a strong resemblance to Carter's project. A cluster of free-standing shops in front of the entrance to an indoor shopping center was the common element.
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