Those of us old enough to remember the Old Farah Building know what became of one of El Paso ‘s largest employers once they closed their doors. The building stood for years as an eyesore off the interstate. It stood there until El Paso millionaire Paul Foster and other developers bought the building in hopes of developing a new state of the art shopping experience for El Pasoans. With a few stores opening in the next few days, El Paso are anticipating its first new shopping mall since 2007. The Fountains of Farah sits on 55 acres and El Pasoans will get their first look when two stores will open this coming week.
Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods is scheduled to open its first store Wednesday. They will celebrate the new opening with Former Cowboys Star Tony Dorsett signing autographs on Saturday. This will be the first store that Dick’s Sporting Goods will open here in El Paso.The other tenant scheduled to open will be Stein Mart , a discount department store. They are scheduled to open their doors on Thursday.
These two stores are among the 37 stores that are scheduled to open within the next few months. Nineteen of the new tenants are new to the El Paso market. However, many people in the area were hoping the Fountains at Farah would attract a host of new stores to the market. However, familiar faces are occupying some of the biggest spaces in the 600,000 square foot shopping center. The developers have assured the public that there will be high-end stores but many of them that have been approached have refused to bring their brands to the El Paso area. However according to the developers, many of the brands don’t seem to understand that when you factor in Juarez there is 2.5 million of potential buying power in the area.
By the time November rolls around, according to the developers, 75% of the space should be occupied with the other 25% occupied within the next 6 months. The developers promised that high end stores will be the tenants of the remaining space, however that still remains to be seen.
Whatever stores come to the new Fountains of Farah, one thing is sure, El Pasoans will flock to the new shopping center for a chance to see the new stores and the many extras the developers have promised. This will certainly bring a boost to the economy with new jobs and provide the once blight area new, exciting life.
Published on 2013-09-17 12:53:06
