The Pointe at North Fayette, the township's dominant shopping complex, is feeling the effects of the economy and competition from newer developments, as stores close or move to neighboring Robinson, shoppers and municipal leaders said.
But loyalty to remaining stores and rentals of large, empty spaces are stabilizing the township's retail mecca, they added.
"At one point in time, The Pointe at North Fayette was the hot spot. Now, Settlers Ridge is," North Fayette Manager Robert Grimm said.
Several retail strips and freestanding buildings on or near Summit Park Drive compose The Pointe, which opened in the 1990s and drew large crowds.
And while The Pointe still draws consumers, the buzz is on the other side of the Parkway West, in Robinson, where three years ago, Settlers Ridge opened. The 600,000-square-foot complex includes a 16-screen Cinemark movie theater, Giant Eagle Market District and a collection of specialty retailers.
Besides its mix of shopping, dining and entertainment, Settlers Ridge's walkable, open-air space is so attractive it drives consumer traffic all week long, said Tom Wilder, principal with The Wilder Cos., a Boston-based firm that manages Phase I of the development.
Retailers that moved from The Pointe to Settlers Ridge include bookstore Barnes & Noble, cosmetics emporium ULTA, Shoe Carnival and crafts store Michaels.
Other retailers, hurt by the recession, closed their storefronts at The Pointe, which totals about 1 million square feet in strips owned by four real estate companies. Parent companies of big-box retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, own their buildings, said Brian Temple, North Fayette Community Development director.
In one of The Pointe's strips, Designer Furniture Outlet, Prizant's flooring and Woodcraft closed, leaving only Bocktown Beer & Grill.
Some closings occurred because of corporate decisions to shutter groups of stores in a region or nationwide, Grimm said.
For example, Crafton-based Roomful Express went out of business in 2010, closing 13 furniture stores, including one at The Pointe. Its place will be taken in early 2013 by Latitude 40, a family entertainment center with games and dining, Grimm said.
Another vacancy at The Pointe, created when electronics retailer Circuit City's parent company filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores in 2009, has been filled by appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg. Furthermore, some high-volume stores that have left have been replaced by lower-volume stores, such as discounter Gallo's Clothing taking the 22,000-square-foot space vacated by Barnes & Noble last year, officials said.
While retail traffic may not be what it once was, North Fayette's big-box stores, such as Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Home Depot, remain big draws, Grimm said.
Some shoppers in North Fayette say new isn't always better.
On Sunday, Coraopolis resident Jennifer Langston, 42, her son, 9, and daughter, 13, ventured into Old Navy, beside the vacant Shoe Carnival storefront.
Langston said the new developments in Robinson waste resources. "I ... don't want to go over there because I'm boycotting, if you will," she said.
Robinson resident Deekota Yadav, 34, headed to a Chipotle restaurant at The Pointe, wondered what would take the place of Scoglio, an Italian restaurant that closed about a year ago. Gourmet hamburger restaurant Burgatory, which has locations in O'Hara and Uptown in the Consol Energy Center, plans to take over the space.
"We don't go to Settlers Ridge. There's no parking. It's a nightmare," she said.
But Aaron Bibro, Robinson's manager, said the newer developments are helping older retail sites in the township. Shoppers drawn to one store might be inclined to visit a retailer in another development, such as the 11-year-old Mall at Robinson, he said.
"Parking is always at capacity at every one of those developments. And it seems like even with Settlers Ridge open, they're doing phenomenally well," Bibro said.
