Friendly Center
Encyclopedia
Friendly Center is a large, open-air shopping center located in northwestern Greensboro, North Carolina
, at the intersection of Wendover Avenue
and Friendly Avenue. The shopping center opened in August 1957. With its unusual sector design, Friendly Center is essentially an outdoor lifestyle center
. Its anchor tenants include Belk
, Macy's
, and Sears
. Other tenants include Barnes & Noble
, Old Navy
, The Grande Theatre
a 16-screen multiplex cinema operated by Consolidated Theatres
of Charlotte, and a number of national retailers such as Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret
. It also contains Harris Teeter
's flagship supermarket location encompassing 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2).
Since the renaming of Hecht's to Macy's and the addition of The Shops at Friendly Center, a new outdoor center with over 25 stores and restaurants, Friendly Center is set to remain a major shopping center in Greensboro and the Triad
area. The combined retail footprint of both Friendly Center and The Shops at Friendly Center is larger than the enlosed mall across town, Four Seasons Town Centre
. It features stores such as The Limited, Bath & Body Works
, Express, The GAP, Eddie Bauer
, Talbots
, Birkenstock
Feet First, Pier 1, and New York & Company
.
In early 2006, construction of The Shops at Friendly Center began after the Burlington Industries
building was demolished. With its official grand opening on October 19, 2006, The Shops at Friendly Center includes many retail shops that can not be found elsewhere in the Triad such as Brooks Brothers
, REI
, J. Crew, Coldwater Creek, White House Black Market
, Pendleton
, J. Jill, and Johnston & Murphy. Additionally, several high-end chain restaurants have located at the center, including P.F. Chang's, Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar, Bravo Cucina Italiana, and Mimi's Cafe. On November 8, 2006, a 72000 square feet (6,689 m²) Harris Teeter
supermarket opened, making it the chain's largest in North Carolina. The former Harris Teeter, located at Friendly Center, was demolished and a BB&T
office structure was erected in its place.
On April 3, 2007, Starmount Company announced that they put Friendly Center up for sale along with most of their other commercial real estate. On October 5, 2007 it was reported that CBL & Associates put a contract in to buy Friendly Center and all of Starmount Company's retail and office holdings. On January 4, 2008, The Triad Business Journal http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/ reported that CBL & Associates paid more than $200 million for Friendly Center and the Shops at Friendly Center.
Whole Foods Market
is set to join Friendly Center in 2010 as a part of a redevelopment of the Sears building, in which Sears will reduce its footprint. This will be the first Whole Foods Market in Greensboro and the second in the Piedmont Triad.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, at the intersection of Wendover Avenue
Wendover Avenue (Greensboro)
Wendover Avenue is a major road in Guilford County, North Carolina. The road's central segment is a curvy freeway, but most of the road is a boulevard with frequent traffic signals. It serves as a partial loop around downtown Greensboro and a popular connector to major routes like I-40, I-73, US...
and Friendly Avenue. The shopping center opened in August 1957. With its unusual sector design, Friendly Center is essentially an outdoor lifestyle center
Lifestyle center
Lifestyle center may refer to:* Lifestyle center * Lifestyle center...
. Its anchor tenants include Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
, Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, and Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
. Other tenants include Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
, Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...
, The Grande Theatre
Consolidated Theatres
Consolidated Theatres was a movie theater chain based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operated over 400 movie screens and 28 theaters in 6 states along the East Coast.It was part of "The Stone Group" and was founded by Herman Stone....
a 16-screen multiplex cinema operated by Consolidated Theatres
Consolidated Theatres
Consolidated Theatres was a movie theater chain based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operated over 400 movie screens and 28 theaters in 6 states along the East Coast.It was part of "The Stone Group" and was founded by Herman Stone....
of Charlotte, and a number of national retailers such as Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
. It also contains Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter is a chain of supermarkets based in Matthews, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. , the chain operates 207 stores in eight Southern states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.Harris Teeter is a...
's flagship supermarket location encompassing 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2).
Since the renaming of Hecht's to Macy's and the addition of The Shops at Friendly Center, a new outdoor center with over 25 stores and restaurants, Friendly Center is set to remain a major shopping center in Greensboro and the Triad
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...
area. The combined retail footprint of both Friendly Center and The Shops at Friendly Center is larger than the enlosed mall across town, Four Seasons Town Centre
Four Seasons Town Centre
Four Seasons Town Centre is a three-story shopping mall in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1974, it was the first enclosed shopping center in Greensboro. Currently it is anchored by Belk, Dillard's and J. C. Penney and it is the only indoor shopping mall within Greensboro's city limits;...
. It features stores such as The Limited, Bath & Body Works
Bath & Body Works
Bath & Body Works, LLC, is an American retail store under the Limited Brands umbrella. It was founded in 1990 in New Albany, Ohio and has since expanded across the United States and Canada. It specializes in lotions, bath items, personal care items, and home fragrances.The company launched both a...
, Express, The GAP, Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is a holding company that operates the Eddie Bauer clothing store chain, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States. EBH was formed after Eddie Bauer's former parent company, Spiegel, Inc., went bankrupt in 2003...
, Talbots
Talbots
Talbots is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of women’s classic clothing, shoes and accessories. Established in 1947, the company sells items such as the blazer, trench, white shirt, ballet flats and pearls....
, Birkenstock
Birkenstock
Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschoß, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet...
Feet First, Pier 1, and New York & Company
New York & Company
New York & Company, Inc. is a nationwide specialty retailer of women's fashion and accessories.Lerner Shops was founded in 1918 by Samuel A. Lerner and Harold M Lane in NYC. Also born to Samuel in 1918 was Alan Jay Lerner. New York & Company, Inc., its current name under new ownership, is an...
.
In early 2006, construction of The Shops at Friendly Center began after the Burlington Industries
Burlington Industries
Burlington Industries is a diversified U. S. fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexico, and India and a global manufacturing and product development network based in Hong Kong. The company entered Chapter 11...
building was demolished. With its official grand opening on October 19, 2006, The Shops at Friendly Center includes many retail shops that can not be found elsewhere in the Triad such as Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers is the oldest men's clothier chain in the United States. Founded in 1818 as a family business, the privately owned company is now owned by Retail Brand Alliance, also features clothing for women, and is headquartered on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.-History:On April 7,...
, REI
Rei
-People:*Rei, the Biblical term for those who retained their allegiance to King David when Adonijah rebelled, as mentioned in 1 Kings 1:8*Rei Hiroe*Rei Igarashi*Rei Kawakubo*Rei Kikukawa*Rei Mikamoto*Rei Munakata*Rei Okamoto*Rei Omishi...
, J. Crew, Coldwater Creek, White House Black Market
White House Black Market
White House | Black Market is an American fashion store targeting women 25 years of age and older. White House | Black Market is known for its sleek lines, and its focus on white, black, and other variants of the two colors...
, Pendleton
Pendleton Woolen Mills
Pendleton Woolen Mills is an American apparel manufacturing company located in Portland, Oregon, United States.-Company origins:The company’s roots began in 1863 when Thomas L. Kay made a transcontinental trek to the west coast and began working in the woolen mills in Oregon. He went on to opened...
, J. Jill, and Johnston & Murphy. Additionally, several high-end chain restaurants have located at the center, including P.F. Chang's, Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar, Bravo Cucina Italiana, and Mimi's Cafe. On November 8, 2006, a 72000 square feet (6,689 m²) Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter
Harris Teeter is a chain of supermarkets based in Matthews, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. , the chain operates 207 stores in eight Southern states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.Harris Teeter is a...
supermarket opened, making it the chain's largest in North Carolina. The former Harris Teeter, located at Friendly Center, was demolished and a BB&T
BB&T
BB&T Corporation is an American bank with assets of $157 billion , offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international...
office structure was erected in its place.
On April 3, 2007, Starmount Company announced that they put Friendly Center up for sale along with most of their other commercial real estate. On October 5, 2007 it was reported that CBL & Associates put a contract in to buy Friendly Center and all of Starmount Company's retail and office holdings. On January 4, 2008, The Triad Business Journal http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/ reported that CBL & Associates paid more than $200 million for Friendly Center and the Shops at Friendly Center.
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...
is set to join Friendly Center in 2010 as a part of a redevelopment of the Sears building, in which Sears will reduce its footprint. This will be the first Whole Foods Market in Greensboro and the second in the Piedmont Triad.
Anchors
- Harris TeeterHarris TeeterHarris Teeter is a chain of supermarkets based in Matthews, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. , the chain operates 207 stores in eight Southern states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.Harris Teeter is a...
(72,000 sq ft., largest store in the chain) - BelkBelkBelk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
(139,880 sq ft.) - Macy'sMacy'sMacy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
(149,152 sq ft., formerly Hecht'sHecht'sHecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores located mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States....
, originally Thalhimer'sThalhimer'sThalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee....
) - Sears (164,892 sq ft., 17194 sq ft (1,597.4 m²). TBA, 182086 sq ft (16,916.3 m²). total)
- The Regal Grande TheatreConsolidated TheatresConsolidated Theatres was a movie theater chain based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operated over 400 movie screens and 28 theaters in 6 states along the East Coast.It was part of "The Stone Group" and was founded by Herman Stone....
(60,806 sq ft., 16 screens) - REIRei-People:*Rei, the Biblical term for those who retained their allegiance to King David when Adonijah rebelled, as mentioned in 1 Kings 1:8*Rei Hiroe*Rei Igarashi*Rei Kawakubo*Rei Kikukawa*Rei Mikamoto*Rei Munakata*Rei Okamoto*Rei Omishi...