New outlet mall in Woodstock breaks ground

May 3, 2012

Posted: May 02, 2012 4:27 PM EDT Updated: May 02, 2012 5:10 PM EDT
By Sonia Moghe

WOODSTOCK, GA (CBS ATLANTA) –

A new outlet mall will be coming to Woodstock in August of 2013, making it the closest outlet mall to Atlanta.

The Woodstock site was chosen because of a newly constructed exit off of I-575 at Ridgewalk Parkway, which is undeveloped.

Gary Skoien, with Horizon Group Properties, said the location could attract about 4 million shoppers a year.

“It’s going to be closer to the population base, it won’t be as difficult a drive for a lot of people in the market to come visit here,” Skoien said. “It’ll certainly be closer for tourists who are coming to visit Atlanta.”

The mall will be called The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta, and it’ll initially be 370,000 square feet.

Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques said he believes the outlets will bring in about 2,000 jobs.

“It’s going to be a plus for the entire area – it’s going to raise property values for the entire area, I just know it,” Henriques said.

But with four other outlet malls already in the Metro Atlanta area, is adding a fifth too much?

“We do worry about it but Atlanta’s a large enough market to handle it without causing any problems,” Skoien said.

Stores that have already committed to joining include:

Brooks Brothers, Carters, Cole Haan, Converse, Guess, J. Crew, Le Creuset, Levis, Michael Kors, Naartjie Kids, Nike, Puma, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th, Talbots, Under Armour, White House | Black Market, Vans.