OPENING FOR BUSINESS
Fine wine retailer, nation’s biggest beauty chain to open stores in new Lake Woodlands Drive retail center
A retailer that boasts of running the nation’s largest independent chain of fine wine stores and another company that is the biggest specialty beauty retailer in the United States will be opening up stores in The Woodlands in a new retail center set to open up for business next year.
For the last few weeks, work crews and equipment have been clearing a stretch of land on the corner of Lake Woodlands Drive and Grogan’s Mill Road for the new center that will be home to a Total Wine & More store and an Ulta Beauty Inc. store, according to Rip Reynolds, vice president of leasing for The Howard Hughes Corp., the developer of the project.
Although people driving by on busy Lake Woodlands Drive can barely see through the perimeter of trees surrounding the work that is underway, when what will be called Lake Woodlands Crossing is opened in September of 2018 the center will also be the home of a handful of other new businesses, including what’s described as a restaurant offering a “moderate casual dining experience.”
Developers are not disclosing the name of the establishment, but they
do say a Gelato ice cream store, a Stretch Therapy facility, a nail salon, a juice bar and electronic repair company are also among the companies in lease negotiations.
TOTAL WINE AND MORE TO ANCHOR NEW CENTER
Total Wine & More will anchor the new retail center, occupying about 25,000 square feet of the 62,000 square foot development. Ulta Beauty will take up the adjoining space of 10,000 square feet.
The Total Wine & More store will be one of several locations the Marylandbased chain operates in the Houston region. A four-time national retailer of the year award winner, the company says on its web site it offers a “vast selection of products and low everyday prices.”
Since opening its first store in 1991, Total Wine & More has expanded to about 170 stores nationwide, with a handful in the Houston area. Officials with the company did not return requests for additional details about the store coming to The Woodlands.
And what will be the wine chain’s new neighbor, Ulta Beauty, has also been opening up new stores at a hectic pace. The company says on its web site that having expanded to nearly 1,000 stores, it’s now the largest beauty retailer in the U.S.
There is also another Ulta Beauty store in the The Woodlands at Pinecroft Center on Lake Woodlands Drive, but a person answering the phone at the current store could not say if they were moving to the new retail development or if it would be a separate store. Likewise, Ulta Beauty spokeswoman Lauren Gardner declined to offer more details about the new store, writing in an email she had no additional information.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CEO: NEW STORES TO BRING ‘TOP QUALITY’
The opening of the upscale wine, spirits and beer business and the high-end beauty store, along with the other retailers, will be bring what the CEO of The Woodlands Economic Development Partnership, Gil Staley, describes as “top quality to an already strong market.”
“It’s a well-suited site in the sake of it being close to Market Street and the mall,” Staley said. “It will add to the area very well.”
Indeed, Howard Hughes Corp. boasts in a handout on the project that the new center offers a “rare opportunity” in The Woodlands Town Center, while also being in a highprofile, busy location.
Besides being on Lake Woodlands Drive, the new retail center is across the street from an H-E-B store on Market Street and is a short drive to I-45.
“We are excited to bring new retailers to the heart of The Woodlands,” Reynolds said. “This project will complete the dynamic retail corridor from Grogan’s Mill Road to I-45.”