New owner of Stamford Town Center to open furniture showroom Safavieh Express
STAMFORD — Stamford Town Center’s new owner, the home-furnishings store Safavieh, announced it will open a concept store at the mall, an arrival that will help to fill one of the many vacancies at the downtown shopping center.
Safavieh Express is launching in a space on the mall’s fifth floor that has stood empty since Pottery Barn departed last year. It will offer the “best of Safavieh and Safavieh Couture products, including a large assortment of rugs, furniture, lighting, accessories and more,” the company said in an announcement Thursday.
“We have deep roots in the Connecticut community. We are excited to continue our growth in the heart of Stamford at Stamford Town Center,” Michael Yaraghi, CEO of Safavieh’s retail division, said in a statement. “We created this store for the young community that has migrated to downtown Stamford and moving to its new luxury buildings.”
The company committed to opening a store in the Town Center immediately after it acquired the mall for about $20 million in October. Safavieh Express will complement the company’s neighboring Stamford store, an approximately 100,000-square-foot location at 230 Atlantic St., and an establishment in Norwalk.
As part of the Express concept, everything in the store can be shipped to any location in the mainland U.S. within three to seven days, the company said. In addition, design staff will be in the showroom to provide complimentary interior-design services.
Other upcoming openings in the mall include J. Luppino Fitness & Co., which is scheduled to open in January in a space that was vacated in February when an Apple store closed. It will mark the first brick-and-mortar location for owner and CEO Jhonnatan Luppino, who cited the mall’s downtown location and proximity to many office and apartment buildings. Services will include smallgroup classes and one-onone personal training, he said.
“With the grand opening targeted for January, it will be the perfect time for those with fitness-related New Year’s resolutions,” Luppino said. “We will follow all COVID guidelines and protocols and make sure to provide a safe environment for our clients. The smaller, personable setting is perfect for those that are not comfortable going back to bigger gyms just yet.”
Despite the upcoming arrivals, swathes of the mall remain vacant. In addition to Apple’s exit, other closings in the past year include Brooks Brothers, GNC, Justice, H&M, Papyrus and Uniqlo, as well as the Cheesecake Factory in the restaurant plaza.
Safavieh officials, however, remain optimistic about the mall’s long-term prospects.
Their acquisition covers about 520,000 square feet of the Stamford Town Center, which houses about 100 retail tenants, including anchor stores Macy’s, Saks Off 5th and Barnes & Noble Booksellers, as well as the restaurant plaza. Macy’s owns its approximately 240,000square-foot store at the mall.