Shoppers in Columbus will now have yet another mall to choose from when they go shopping. In February 2013, Easton announced plans to build a new development, Easton Gateway, which will house many “big box” retailers such as Whole Foods, Costco, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Since then, the 54-acre site has been turned into a construction zone, with trees cuts down and land flattened. This development is located just off the 270 and Morse Road area, near the existing Easton Town Center complex.
Costco store has already opened, with a gas station, and currently accounts for 153,000 of the 583,000 square feet of retail space planned for this new development. Filling 230,000 square feet of big box stores includes Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field and Stream, REI, and Saks Off Fifth.
Field and Stream is an outdoors shop and sells equipment for hunting, fishing, camping, and all sorts of outdoors activities. It sells products from highly reputable brands and is more or less like Cabela’s, which has a location at Polaris, another of Columbus’s big shopping malls. It is also worth noting that Field and Stream is a subsidiary of Dick’s Sporting Goods parent company, and the two stores will be located directly next to one another at Easton Gateway. Here is a link to their website: http://www.fieldandstreamshop.com/#!/
Also a new name in this mix is Saks Off Fifth, a factory outlet version of Saks Fifth Avenue, which sells clearance merchandise from Saks as well as additional merchandise from Saks’ well-liked collection of brands at discounted prices: http://www.saksoff5th.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-SaksOff5th-Site/default/Default-Start?site_refer=360i+OF+G&kw_refer=saks+off+fifth
REI, like Field and Stream, sells a lot of outdoor activities equipment, as well as outdoor clothes. This includes ski gear, cycling jerseys, climbing shoes, and many other items. You can see more of their merchandise at: http://www.rei.com
Specialty retail stores, which will total 150,000 square feet will also be a part of this new complex. While no details have been released regarding which retailers plan to open in this sector, they are bound to be good choices.
With all this excitement and expected foot traffic planned to make its way to Easton Gateway, Steiner and Associates, L Brands, and The Georgetown Company, the project’s developers, have planned for 2,640 parking spaces to be added.
The opening of Easton Gateway only adds to Columbus’s reputation as a major hub of retail in the United States. Columbus is the home base of many of the nation’s largest retailers such as DSW, Express, L Brands, Abercrombie and Fitch, Big Lots, and Tween Brands. Columbus has also been ranked by Forbes as the 4th best shopping city in America, and it is the 8th largest city in the country in terms of retail square footage per capita.
Written by Oliver Kornberg’16
