Green Oak mall fills five storefronts within months

Within the last couple months, an outdoor shopping mall near Brighton has filled five storefronts.

Green Oak Village Place shopping center is filling up quickly, with just a few storefront vacancies – and a Halloween store is temporarily filling one of those for the season.

“We’re approaching maximum occupancy there. We only have a few spaces left,” said Sean Valentino, director of retail operations for the center and Southfield-based real estate firm Redico.

The shopping center recently announced two more stores will open soon, in addition to three stores announced in June.

National retailer Spencer’s is expected to open a new location in the shopping center by the end of the year.

Spencer’s, known for gag gifts, graphic T-shirts, adult toys and novelty décor such as lava lamps, will occupy a more-than 2,500-square-foot storefront. The space was previously occupied by Kay Jewelers, which closed in 2020, amid nationwide location shutdowns.

“Spencer’s is typically a traditional mall-based tenant, but they are looking to expand with outdoor access like we offer, and some indoor malls have closed,” Valentino said. “You’ll see more and more of the mall-based locations are moving to outdoor malls. It’s easier for people to park, with a curbside option, and it gives them more flexibility to set their hours.”

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Also recently announced, a European Wax Center will open in a storefront in the shopping center that has never been occupied before.

“We’re seeing an expansion of new retailers in health and beauty,” Valentino said. “This will bring new life in (a storefront) that had not been previously occupied. That square footage (about1,700 square feet) has been popular because smaller spaces are becoming more limited, and new centers are not being constructed.”

Two more stores recently opened and another is set to open soon. Athleta, an athletic apparel brand owned by Gap Inc. opened in August. F45 Training, an Australia-based fitness franchise, is expected to open a location this fall. 

US-Mattress, which is headquartered in Brighton, also opened a new showroom this summer. Founded online in 2000, US-Mattress has opened more than 20 new brick-and-mortar stores in the last few years, growing from five to 27 in about two years, district manager Cody Quint told Livingston Daily in June.

The shopping center had been struggling after some national retail closures, including Pier 1, which went out of business following pandemic closures. 

While the shopping center works to fill that space, Halloween store Halloween City has set up temporarily in the former more-than 9,800-square-foot Pier 1 for the second season in the row.

Valentino said retailers have shown interest in the storefront and he hopes to have it filled in the coming year.

In the meantime, he said, Halloween City has been a draw that also complements the shopping center’s annual trick-or-treating event, Boo Fest.