Shoppers celebrate grand opening of The Avenue
From The Daily News Journal
By TIM ADKINS
Laura Williams-Marcum planned to shop until she dropped Wednesday at The Avenue Murfreesboro.
The Murfreesboro woman was one of the first shoppers in line at Belk, one of the 30-plus retailers to open Wednesday at the new open-air retail center on Medical Center Parkway.
"This is fabulous. It's one of the best things that has happened in Murfreesboro," Williams-Marcum said. "It will draw a lot of people to the area, and there's a lot of fresh new stores."
The Avenue, which has been more than two years in the making, is seen by many as a key piece in the creation of a new commercial center in Rutherford County, one that local officials hope will one day rival the economic magnets in Nashville, Franklin and Brentwood.
"We are delighted to be here," said Joel Murphy, president of the retail division of Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc., which developed the center along with Charlotte, N.C.-based Faison Enterprises Inc.
The 810,000-square-foot project is Cousins' eighth and largest Avenue development. Previous projects have been built in Atlanta, Memphis and central Florida.
The Murfreesboro development will eventually be home to about 110 stores and restaurants. Anchor stores include Belk, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods.
The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce hosted Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, which featured plenty of fanfare, including the Blackman High School drum line and cheerleaders from Blackman High, Blackman Middle School and MTSU.
"They say a photo is worth a thousand words. This sight is worth 10,000 words," said Andy Womack, chairman of the chamber. "This exceeds all our expectations."
Officials are projecting a retail bonanza from The Avenue. In the current fiscal year alone, they expect tax revenues to rise $3.75 million over the previous year's — a jump of about 15 percent fueled in large part by The Avenue project.
"There are 380 cities in the state, and this will create more sales tax than 320 cities," said Womack, a former state senator.
Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg said city officials are excited with the final results at The Avenue.
"The Avenue and the things that are going to happen will be good for the city, Rutherford County and the region as a whole," he said.
Many shoppers, including Jennifer Boyd of Murfreesboro, have been looking forward to the new center. Boyd and a friend spent the morning checking out the new stores, including Gymboree and Osh Kosh B'Gosh, which both sell children's clothing.
"I'm so excited. I can shop for her and me and if my husband comes along, there's stores for him like Dick's Sporting Goods," said Boyd while holding her six-month-old daughter, Mylie.
In the past, Boyd said she's had to travel to Nashville, Franklin and Lebanon to find many of the stores that are now open at The Avenue.
The same goes for Audrey Avant of Murfreesboro and Peggy Jones of Smyrna.
"It's nice to have a place like this here and not have to go far to shop," Jones said.
"Today is our looking day. We're going to make our list of what we want," Avant added. "We're probably going to come back as often as we can."
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