By Paul Wyche
Holiday shoppers are converging on Prime Outlets at Birch Run, but owners of the retail center have their own wish list.
Construction crews have labored on an $8 million renovation at the 170-store center for more than a year and still are hammering away.
They hope to finish by spring.
From a consumer's perspective, though, most of the work probably seems complete, which is a good thing as thousands of folks gear up for the home stretch of the holiday season.
"Traffic has been as well as can be expected," said Phil Whitsel, marketing manager at Prime, who joined the company a couple of weeks ago.
"A lot of people are probably waiting to get that first heating bill to see what they can expect this winter.
"We'll probably see a lot of last-minute shoppers."
Whitsel's assessment jibes with national retail watchers who are saying holiday shopping is experiencing a bit of a slowdown after Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that kicks off the season.
But besides the sales posters screaming at Prime shoppers from inside storefront windows, they will see new facade work, featuring brick overlay pillars and an overall freshened look.
A contemporary guest services center includes leather furniture, a fireplace, wide-screen high-definition television, family restrooms and a lounge area.
Prime officials designed the center with the idea of giving customers a place to rest and refuel -- and continue shopping.
In the spring, workers will finish up the renovation with light landscaping work, signage additions and construction of a children's play area.
Missing from the enhancements is a six-story central tower Prime executives said they would erect to sort of cap the outlet mall's resurgence.
Whitsel said that although they have approval from the Birch Run Village Council, owners of the shopping complex are pondering if the tower is necessary.
"We already have the big red and black sign out in front, so we're wondering if we really need it," he said.
"We haven't ruled it out yet, though."
When Lakewood, N.J.-based Lightstone Group bought Prime Retail Inc. of Baltimore for $640 million at the end of 2003, it promised to modernize Prime Outlets.
The company's plan came at a time when some retail analysts criticized the Birch Run center for showing its age and underperforming.
Lightstone owns and manages 16,000 apartments as well as more than 19.3 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space nationwide. The company is known as a turnaround expert.
Prime Outlets arrived in 1986 and is the third largest in the nation, but sales have declined in recent years. With the renovation, Lightstone wants to recapture the excitement the mall once generated among metro Detroit and Canadian residents, who make up about 80 percent of its traffic.
