J.Jill to open store in Arbor Hills shopping center on Washtenaw Avenue
The newly-installed Arbor Hills sign along Platt Road welcomes shoppers to the 90,700-square-foot boutique shopping center.
Lizzy Alfs | AnnArbor.com
The Massachusetts-based chain finalized a deal Wednesday to occupy about 3,250 square feet in the development on Washtenaw Avenue, said North Shore Properties Group’s Max Reiswerg, one of the Arbor Hills developers.
Located between Huron Parkway and Platt Road across from the Huron Village shopping center, the 90,700-square-foot Arbor Hills will open to its first shoppers at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22.
Arbor Hills development on Washtenaw Avenue
The developers have 18 signed leases, including national, regional and local tenants
J.Jill is a women’s fashion retailer that was originally founded in 1959 as a single specialty store. Now with more than 200 locations, the retail stores sell women’s apparel, accessories and footwear. J.Jill is owned by private equity firms Golden Gate Capital and Arcapita and also operates catalog and online businesses. (View the J.Jill website)
There are six J.Jill locations in Michigan, including one in Green Oak Village Place just south of Brighton and one in Twelve Oaks mall in Novi.
A representative with J.Jill could not immediately be reached to comment for details on the Ann Arbor store.
Including J.Jill, there are 18 confirmed tenants in the Arbor Hills shopping center, which includes 15 retailers, two restaurants and one coffee shop/juice bar. J.Jill joins women’s fashion retailers Madewell, V2V, Hot Mama and Anthropologie at the center.
Eleven tenants plan to open to shoppers on Thursday, Aug. 22, while the remaining seven are finishing individual build-outs and will open in the next two months.
Reiswerg said there is one remaining retail space in the shopping center, and he’s negotiating a deal with a high-profile restaurant user for another space.
- Related story: With gallery: Arbor Hills shopping center plans to open this month on Washtenaw Avenue
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
A2comments
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
J. Jill is a company that is still having major financial problems. Talbot's bought them for $517 million in 2006. In 2009, Talbots sold to Golden Gate for $75 million. Yes, that's $442 million LESS in a matter of 3 years. Then, in 2011, Golden Gate sold a majority stake in the business to Arcapita Bank for an undisclosed amount. Arcapita Bank is based in Bahrain for those that are unfamiliar with it. In March of 2012, Arcapita filed for bankruptcy. The sale by Golden Gate could be seen as them bailing out and trying to get something back. FYI, Arcapita also owns Pods (moving and storage) and used to own Loehmann's, Church's Chicken, and Caribou Coffee. In some cases they were the majority owner, in some cases they may have owned all of it. Long time customers have noted a quality decrease in their clothing over the past few years. Hopefully they now have their act in gear and this new store will showcase that to Ann Arbor.
Eduard Copely
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 11:16 a.m.
Traffic should get real interesting when this place heats up.
KateT
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 3:58 a.m.
I drive by here nearly daily, and while I did notice the sign up and the traffic light working, there's been so much recent, major construction going on, I was thinking the stores would be open in a couple months or so. I'm shocked that the stores are opening tomorrow. Apparently in the interiors were farther along in the process than the exteriors.
Eduard Copely
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 11:17 a.m.
Commerce waits for no one, not even you.
Salinemom
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 1:12 a.m.
While I'm glad to see new businesses, by checking out each of the stores, WHO can afford to shop @ these places?! $506.00 for a pair of jean capris?? That's crazy
Eduard Copely
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 11:18 a.m.
If you have to ask how much, well, they're not interested in your kind.
johnnya2
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 2:21 a.m.
Many people can, just because YOU can not, does not mean others can not.
JRW
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 1:01 a.m.
We drove past on the Platt Rd side earlier today and it looked like a lot of this strip mall was unfinished. Not sure how the grand opening will work with construction still going on, but some stores look interesting and we will check them out.
J
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 12:25 p.m.
We drove by yesterday evening and, by the looks of it, had no idea it was supposed to open this week or even this month.
AA Neighbor
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.
What kind of security will be provided in this new shopping mecca?
JRW
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 12:59 a.m.
I wonder if the panhandlers that frequent the Arborland parking lot will migrate over to Arbor Hills. I've seen a few panhandlers also working the Whole Foods lot across the street, so I expect that they will check out "opportunities" in the new parking lot. Maybe there will be some security folks to chase they out, which would be nice.
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Aug 22, 2013 : 12:06 a.m.
BYO?
Woman in Ypsilanti
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 8:53 p.m.
I am very happy about this.
PhillyCheeseSteak
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 8:41 p.m.
Welcome and good luck!
Homeland Conspiracy
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 8:38 p.m.
Who?
halflight
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 7:05 p.m.
"Greek Oak"? That makes Brighton sound almost exotic. Alas, it's just "Green Oak".
Lizzy Alfs
Wed, Aug 21, 2013 : 7:08 p.m.
Haha..thank you for the laugh out loud moment of the day. Thanks for noticing the error. It has been corrected.