GRETNA -- One day, the empty storefronts of the original Nebraska Crossing outlet mall were there. The next, they were gone.
And a new Nebraska Crossing Outlets rose from the rubble at the Gretna exit along Interstate 80. The retail phoenix is sleek, with a modern style, and includes many name-brand stores not previously available in the market.
“We have some of those brands now, and we are trying to bring new ones here,” said Rod Yates of OTB Destination LLC, who helped develop the project.
Demolition of the worn 1991 mall began on March 15 of last year, and by April 15, “vertical building” had begun on the reincarnation. The target date to be open was Nov. 15, in time for the $112 million, 350,000-square-foot mall to become a destination for holiday shoppers, Yates said.
Yates visited the site almost daily, although he's sure the Peter Kiewit construction crews knew how important it was to hit the deadline. “I was pretty sure it would happen,” he said in a recent phone interview.
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After a robust initial holiday shopping season and the usual retail lull of January, Yates continues to be optimistic about the mall’s future. He summed the first 60 days up in one word, “Amazing.”
He estimates retail sales are 300 to 400 percent above the goals that were established.
Yates credits the use of social media -- from Facebook to Twitter -- to first entice and then track customers who visited any of the 60-plus merchants during the first two months. The mall uses social media to conduct contests, share news of sales and coupons and provide updates on new stores, he said. “We want to personalize the experience.”
Thus far, the majority of shoppers have come from the Omaha and Lincoln areas, according to Jenni Mitten, the mall's marketing director. The average shopper spends $350 at the center, she said.
The mall's wider "target zone” includes shoppers from Sioux Falls, S.D., to Kansas City and North Platte to Iowa City. “It is about a two-and-one-half hour drive from all directions,” Yates said.
Mitten said they hope to see about 5 million shoppers in 2014.
The previous outlet mall was limited by the number of possible tenants, Yates said. At the time it was built there were only 40 to 50 retailers interested in outlet space. Today, there are nearly 400, he said.
In addition, the original mall's straight-line layout wasn’t very consumer friendly, he said. The new mall has an “oval race track” design, which is easier to navigate.
Expansion is already in the plans, Yates said. He is hoping for 15 to 20 new tenants in a 100,000-square-foot expansion to the north. Yates is projecting that will be finished in 2015.
