Borders Books to open store in Watertown

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Apr 05, 2002 by Kropf, Annemarie

WATERTOWN - In an effort to grab an overlooked market, the Borders Group, Inc. is expanding to Watertown. The new Borders Books & Music will be located in Salmon Run Mall.

"We're very excited about this," says David Rayner, northeast regional real-estate director. "The Watertown market is underserved. It's the last large shopping area north of Syracuse before Canada. We're filling a need."

Borders recently signed a lease for the 16,835-square-foot location. Rayner declined to discuss the cost of the transaction. The store will replace a Lerner's womens clothing store that went out of business.

The company looked at a number of factors, including the actual site, demographics, and traffic flow, before deciding to locate in the mall, says Emily Swan, public-relations specialist at Borders, Inc.

Swan doesn't know how many people will be employed at the new location. "The answer varies widely by location," she says, adding that the general manager of each store determines the number. The general manager is usually determined two to three months before a store opening, she adds.

Construction is expected to begin within the next 30 days, and Swan says the store should open next fall. The Pyramid Companies is the developer for the project, and also the owner of the mall, says Mark Congel, partner at Pyramid.

The new location will be the second Borders store in Central New York. Carousel Center in Syracuse has the only other Borders Books & Music in the region.