See new photo page on Promenade Shops

Centerra in Loveland, Colorado News & HappeningsOctober 28, 2005 The Promenade Shops Opened this morning with there first full day and the first day of their grand opening celebration. The parking lots were crowded early as the families arrived for the parade and other opening ceremonies. I walked the entire main street to see what was open. You can find a list of shops here. There are 33 shops that were open this morning and more will come through the following two months. I personally found an item on sale at the Best Buy store that was even better than the Ft Collins store so I made my first purchase at the shops. I was by all the evidence joined buy many 1000's of others as there were many shoppers with their hands full of logo printed shopping bags.

It was also reported even before the official opening that the sales at Foley's,  Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy are running ahead of projections. As with most brand new large projects they have some clean up to do but I would say it is easy to get around and easy to find things. If you are hungry, the only restaurant open was Red Robin and they were doing a land office wait in line business at lunch.

There is still much to enjoy at this grand opening throughout the weekend if you are of a mind to do so. See schedule here.

October 20, 2005 Both the Ft Collins and Greeley communities are concerned with the retail sales tax drain that the Centerra area may bring about especially with The Shops at Centerra. This feeling is probably highly justified. In that vain both communities are sponsoring campaigns to keep their citizens shopping in their communities. As an editorial comment I doubt that it will have an impact. Americans like new things so rest assured most of us will visit and shop this area, at least until the luster wears off.

October 18, 2005 The second phase of the Market Place is finishing up very well. It will not be long until McWhinney Enterprises announces more new tenants to join Pier One, Sportsmen's and Target as the major Market Place retailers.

October 10, 2005 Opening day at The Promenade Shops is getting close. Officially it will open October 28th but many shops will not be ready even then and will open on a staggered schedule. Both Foley's and Best Buy are opening  before the 28th with Grand Opening sales.

September 18, 2005
There will be a job fair on Saturday September 24 at the First National Bank Pavilion at the Ranch in Loveland. Almost all of the 40 merchants that are opening stores in the Promenade Shops will be hiring. It is estimated that it could be as high as a thousand jobs. The job fair begins at 10:30 AM and runs through 3:30 PM.

September 9, 2005
The draw of Centerra and the development is increasing. It was recently announced that Greeley's largest specialty medical practice,  Greeley Medical Clinic PC is moving from Midtown Greeley to the western edge of town to the Promontory Business Park just a 10 minute drive to the new regional medical facility being built in Centerra. The Northern Colorado Business Report business writer Tom Hacker has stated that there is a seismic shift going on in the regional medical communities around the new hospital in Centerra. We agree and would add that the medical community is not the only place this shift is occurring and will occur in the near future.

August 23, 2005
Poag & McEwen has announced new additions to the retailers that will be opening at the Promenade Shops at Centerra. They include Charlotte Russe, Hallmark Cards, Jos. A. Bank, Journeys, Lids, Sunglass Designs, Zales Jewelers' and Zumiez. It was also announced that there will be grand opening festivities the entire weekend  of October 28th, the scheduled opening date. "The construction is on schedule", said Terry McEwen.

August 21, 2005
The Promenade Shops at Centerra scheduled to open October 28 now have traffic concerns especially at the high traffic times around the holidays. Shoppers are expected to flock to the new center from all over Northern Colorado. Highway 34 is expected to get the brunt of traffic from the west as Loveland shoppers come from the west and Ft Collins shoppers use I-25 and exit at 34 and also come in from the west. There will be a traffic light at the new intersection of 34 and Centerra Parkway complete with three left turn lanes from 34. Centerra Parkway will be six lanes. 36,000 vehicles a day already pass that intersection. When the stores open they are expecting 46,000 per day. Our estimate is much more than an increase of 10,000 cars a day increase when it first opens and much more than that at the Christmas rush, expect delays. Windsor and Ft Collins shoppers should try the back way east of the Bud Center.

The complete list of new merchants includes Aveda, Buckle, Chapungu Gallery, Children’s Place, Claire’s Boutique, Clarks Shoes, Coldstone Creamery, Francesca’s Collections, Perfumania, Portrait Innovations and Yankee Candle.  This brings the total tenant count to more than 40.

Poag & McEwen's senior vice president of leasing Ed Cronon stated the construction of the 700,000 square foot lifestyle center is on schedule for the October 28th grand opening.

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