Harbor Freight sets opening date at Westgate Mall in

A common retail chain is readying to open up its newest Lehigh Valley area in a part of the previous Weis Markets place at the Westgate procuring centre, previously recognized as the Westgate Shopping mall, in Bethlehem.

Harbor Freight Applications, a California-dependent chain carrying a vast array of instruments, components and other merchandise for the home, yard and car, will keep a comfortable opening of it new Bethlehem keep on Wednesday, according to Craig Hoffman, Harbor Freight’s director of company communications and written content. The store’s grand opening will be held 8 a.m. July 16.

“We normally have what we connect with a smooth opening prior to [the grand opening] — in this situation, Wednesday June 29th — when the retailer is open up for business enterprise, to give our associates time to familiarize them selves with the store so they can most effectively assist our clients,” Hoffman claimed.

Harbor Freight, launched by Eric Schmidt and his father in 1977, has more than 1,300 stores nationwide, like four regional areas in South Whitehall Township, Richland Township, Wilson and Stroudsburg.

The company has been wanting to open a Bethlehem location for a while, Hoffman stated, as inhabitants in the Bethlehem area at present have to journey about 8 miles to the Easton location store, 10 miles to the Allentown region retailer and 12 miles to the Quakertown spot retailer.

Harbor Freight waited until eventually it uncovered a area that met its wants and the demands of prospects: “good visibility, simple accessibility, enough parking and the proper square footage,” Hoffman additional.

“We’re enthusiastic about this new place for the reason that it will be much extra effortless for our consumer in the Bethlehem community,” Hoffman stated.

Clients will uncover a entire choice of “quality tools and equipment … at most affordable prices” in classes these kinds of as automotive, air and electrical power applications, storage, outdoor energy tools, turbines, welding materials, shop tools and hand resources, Hoffman reported.

“This particular location in the Westgate Mall (2305 Schoenersville Highway) will be 15,580 sq. toes which is smaller sized than the so-termed ‘big box’ shops in our category, and which we really feel is a aggressive benefit,” Hoffman explained. “Many of our consumers are skilled trades employees who want to cease in, discover what they have to have and then head out quickly to their work web-site or workshop. For other clients, this dimension will make it less complicated to search and uncover our great bargains.”

The new Harbor Freight shop, bringing 25-30 new work to the local community, will occupy a about 16,000-sq.-foot space that is becoming redeveloped with a new facade.

An extra 16,000 sq. ft of the former Weis place remains offered, in accordance to Matt Flath, vice president of asset administration for Onyx Equities, a New Jersey-based true estate expenditure and property providers company that owns and manages Westgate.

Harbor Freight’s arrival at Westgate is more welcome information for the Schoenersville Road purchasing middle, which opened in 1973 with dozens of retailers but has been beleaguered by quite a few vacancies in current a long time.

A favourable improvement came in Could 2021, when Weis relocated from a extended-standing, 32,000-sq.-foot room at the heart of the sophisticated to a recently reworked, 63,000-square-foot retailer — inside of a 108,000 sq.-foot-developing that was beforehand home to The Bon-Ton office retail store — at the north close of the intricate.

Westgate’s revitalization is established to go on with the the latest announcement that three swift-support cafe chains, a lender and a retailer will occupy recently built buildings pursuing the razing of a substantial portion of the Bethlehem shopping center’s inside.

Onyx Equities’ third period of redevelopment designs, which were being approved by the Bethlehem Planning Fee on March 10, include the demolition of close to 50,000 sq. feet of the current searching center’s inside to make it possible for for the development of about 8,000 square toes of new constructing house.

Two new constructions will include things like a freestanding bank with a travel-via, next to the relocated Weis Markets grocery keep, and an adjacent strip shopping mall that will property Jersey Mike’s Subs, QDOBA Mexican Eats and Starbucks eateries, the latter of which will attribute a push-through. The strip shopping mall also will characteristic a still-to-be-introduced retailer.

The redevelopment of component of the mall’s infill section will open up the web site and permit for a connection concerning the front and back of the middle, some thing that “it under no circumstances experienced,” Ryan Whitmore, qualified engineer with Landcore Engineering Consultants, stated at the March 10 assembly.

It also will let for the creation of 55 parking areas.

“With the reduction in GLA, gross leasable spot, and the building of the new parking, it seriously swings that parking ratio into a surplus,” Whitmore extra.

Tiffany Wells, targeted visitors superintendent for the metropolis, expressed problem in excess of traffic again-ups that could crop up from Starbucks’ drive-via, and fee members, like Chairperson Robert Melosky, prompt the possibility of removing at least a dozen parking areas and amending site visitors designs to assistance reduce congestion.

Nonetheless, Flath pointed out that quick-company restaurants have a considerably increased turnover of shoppers, who like to get their food stuff and go, and parking is “sensitive in that location.”

“If you cut down 12 spaces, you are conversing about perhaps a catastrophic reduction correct in entrance of all individuals places to eat,” Flath said.

Other upcoming changes at Westgate consist of 10,000 square feet of house at the south stop of the purchasing centre — which formerly housed Rite Help — being leased to Oak Avenue Health primary treatment health-related facility (no tentative opening day has been introduced) an global brief-services hamburger chain, which has signed a lease to establish a no cost-standing, 4,500-square-foot retail pad at the northern corner of the center, in front of Weis and a money institution, which has signed a lease to create a no cost-standing, 3,500-sq.-foot creating on the previous Dempsey’s restaurant pad.

The latter two jobs are pending internet site approach acceptance by the city, and Onyx hopes to commence improvement on them near the stop of the year, Flath reported.

Built in 1973 at Schoenersville and Catasauqua roads, Westgate proceeds to residence more than a dozen tenants, which include Westgate Jewelers, Vacation Hair, Subway, Hawk Music, Amateur Athlete, Westgate Pizza, Grand China Buffet & Grill, Johnny’s Bagels & Deli, GNC, Sky Zone Trampoline Park, Wonderful Wine & Great Spirits, Tantastic, Outlooks for Hair, Nation Rose Florist, The Barber Shop, Panda Cleaners and New Audio Hearing Centre.