Dec. 22—A new Michaels arts and craft supply store is scheduled to open in the Southside Mall in February.
The storefront was most recently an Office Max, which vacated the location about a year ago.
Luisa Montanti, Southside Mall general manager, said Friday, Dec. 22 that the estimated opening date is sometime in mid-February.
Montanti said that the mall management was in talks for “many years” to bring the craft supply store to the mall.
“Our community is very vocal about what they want to see,” she said. “We know there is a huge need for craft supplies, especially with the two colleges and all the hobbyists and local crafters. It’s definitely a niche that was missing.”
Montanti said that she believes the employees at Michaels will be local hires, including the store manager from Schenevus.
Michaels did not return a request for comment this week.
Montanti said the 16,800-square-foot space basically had to be gutted — interior walls were demolished, flooring replaced — to create the space for the new store’s specifications and prototype.
New walls, electricity, lights and plumbing all went into retrofitting the space.
The mall hired contractor Tom Howard Construction Inc. to build out the storefront.
Montanti said that the mall is still in negotiations with specialty discount store Five Below to bring a location to Oneonta.
In addition, there are three other businesses — a mix local and chain shops — that are looking to become tenants at the mall.
The mall stretches from Harbor Freight Tools to Dick’s Sporting Goods and includes the Panera Bread restaurant. The Sweet Frog frozen yogurt store recently closed after about 10 years.
The mall includes several local businesses, and during the past year the selection of stores has grown, Montanti said.
“People are continuing to support the area,” she said. “We have a lot of people from the outlaying areas and from New York City. Oneonta is continuing to see growth, not necessarily the mall, and we do appreciate local businesses.”
The mall recently introduced craft fairs featuring handmade products by local artisans. The fairs are planned to continue monthly every second Saturday.
On Dec. 9, about 45 vendors set up in the main thoroughfare of the mall.
Not only did the shoppers appreciate access to local vendors, the other mall stores were thankful for the boost to business as well, Montanti said.
“There was a great response from the stores,” she said, “that the fair brought so much traffic in.”
For more information on the mall stores and special events, visit www.facebook.com/southsidemall.
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