Scott Goss

The News Journal

Marshalls/HomeGoods and the eyewear retailer Visionworks both opened new stores at the Christiana Fashion Center this month, touching off a series of new store openings in the coming weeks.

Women's clothier Talbots, feminine apparel store Lane Bryant, telecommunications giant AT&T and the bison-focused Ted's Montana Grill are all expected to open new locations next month – just days before the holiday shopping season's unofficial start on Black Friday.

Meanwhile, Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili's Grill and Bar says it plans to make its long-awaited return to the Christiana area after the winter thaw.

All eight of those chains have signed leases for the second phase of Delaware's newest shopping complex at Stanton Christiana Road and Del. 1, just south of the Christiana Mall. The 200,000-square-foot retail strip – south of Fashion Center Boulevard – also includes Destination XL, a big-and-tall men's clothing store that opened in early September.

Combined, those shops are expected to add more than 200 jobs to the area.

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While the new Ted's Montana Grill will mark the first Delaware location for that chain, all of the other tenants announced so far for Phase II have been brands familiar to Delaware shoppers.

That's a change from the initial tenants that signed on to the first phase of the shopping center, which opened last fall. That 200,000-square-foot strip houses Delaware newcomers The Container Store, Recreation Equipment Inc., Nordstrom Rack and Sacks Off 5th, along with a handful of other chains.

"We're very happy with where we are with our selection of tenants," said Jim Oeste, vice president of real estate for property owner Allied Retail Properties. "We get calls all the time, but want to make sure our mix continues to be right for the balance of the remaining space."

More than a dozen storefronts remain unsigned throughout the shopping center. Oeste said about 80 percent of that open space is under contract and awaiting signatures on final leases. Most of those unfilled stores are relatively small with the exception of a nearly 30,000-square-foot anchor space next door to the Marshalls/HomeGoods combo store that opened Oct. 10.

"There are absolutely going to be some big names to come," Oeste said.

One name that is not coming to the Christiana Fashion Center, however, is Dave & Busters. The adult arcade had been listed on an early site map that included possible future tenants.

"I wish I could say they were coming, but they passed on the market," Oeste said. "It was entirely their decision, not ours."

The Marshalls/HomeGoods that opened on Thursday is the second combo store for the two chains in Delaware. The first is located in Midway Shopping Center near Kirkwood Highway (Del. 2) and Limestone Road (Del. 7) in Milltown.

The Christiana Fashion Center also is the second Delaware location for Visionworks, a San Antonio-based chain of more than 700 stores that sell eyeglass frames and lenses, sunglasses and accessories. The company's first local store opened in 2012 at the Brandywine Town Center off U.S. 202, near the Pennsylvania state line.

But the new Visionworks in Christiana, a 2,550-square-foot store that opened Oct. 13, will not be the chain's last in the state. Company officials said a third location is slated to open at Kirkwood Plaza off Del. 2 in December. Anyone interested in applying for a job at Visionworks can find openings listed at visionemployment.com.

The next to open at the Christiana Fashion Center will be a 2,300-square-foot AT&T store slated to launch on Nov. 9. The new location will mark its grand opening by offering a free iPad to anyone who buys a new iPhone on the Next plan, along with discounts on Beats headphones and speakers. Owned by authorized AT&T retailer Spring Mobile, the new store will employ five workers and mark the 16th location in Delaware that sells phones, service plans and accessories, including one a few hundred yards away in the Christiana Mall.

Lane Bryant will follow two days later with the opening of a 5,200-square-foot store three doors down from AT&T. The plus-size clothing chain currently has a location in each of Delaware's three counties. The fourth will hire 10 to 15 employees, company officials said. Applicants are encouraged to visit www.lanebryant.com/careers.

Ted's Montana Grill will open Nov. 14 with a staff of 75. Co-founder and restaurateur George McKerrow, perhaps best known for starting the LongHorn Steakhouse chain, is expected to visit a few days earlier for a sneak preview.

Finally, Talbots will be moving into a 6,300-square-foot space next door to Lane Bryant on Nov. 22 – just two days before Thanksgiving. Talbot's currently operates stores in Dover and the Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach, but the new Christiana location will be something of a homecoming for the 70-year-old chain, which had a store in the Christiana Mall up until 2010.

"Delaware is a key market for Talbots," spokeswoman Meredith Paley said. "We received many requests from devoted customers and questions about when we were planning to return to the market."

The new store is expected to hire about 20 full- and part-time staffers. Applications are now being accepted at jobs.talbotsinc.com.

Talbot's will mark its opening with a 50-percent-off sale during Black Friday weekend, followed by a Dec. 10 celebration where one winner will receive gift cards for three friends to join the winner on a shopping spree at the new store, a meal at a local restaurant and a manicure at a local salon.

Previously announced tenants at the shopping center, including furniture store Raymour & Flanigan and burger zeitgeist Shake Shack, are slated to join the Christiana Fashion Center in December, although no firm opening dates have been announced.

Another chain making its way back to Christiana will be Chili's, which closed a restaurant near the intersection of Staton Christiana Road (Del. 7) and Churchmans Road in late 2015. A spokesman for the Dallas-based restaurant company known for its catchy baby back ribs jingle said that location suffered after an overpass was constructed several years ago.

"When our lease was up there, we decided to change locations," said Steve Hunter, the chain's vice president of operations. "The plan was always to stay in the area, but it took a while to find the right site."

Chili's is expected to hire 80 to 100 workers before its scheduled opening at a standalone location in the Christiana Fashion Center by mid-2017, he said.

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.