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BURLINGTON — Forget about Greensboro. So long, Durham.

On Wednesday, Terri and Dorie Staley sampled a new scene — big-name shopping in Burlington.

The mother-daughter duo hit Alamance Crossing a half-hour before its grand opening and cruised the center's first phase for shopping opportunities.


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"We wanted to walk and see what they had going on," said Terri Staley, who lives in Whitsett and often shops, with 21-year-old Dorie, at Friendly Center and at Kohl's on Bridford Parkway in Greensboro.

"They didn't have anything in Burlington before," she said.

Enter an 840,000-square-foot outdoor shopping center, with stores including Chico's, Icing, Eddie Bauer, Le Creuset and Barnes & Noble, and shoppers like the Staleys have a reason to spend their time — and their cash — closer to home.

At least, that's what city officials are banking on.

"The economic impact for our community will be tremendous," Burlington Mayor Stephen Ross said at a morning ribbon-cutting, adding that the retail center represents more than 1,500 jobs and a capital investment of more than $100 million by developer CBL & Associates Properties.

Tennessee-based CBL, which owns and manages retail properties including malls in High Point and Winston-Salem, believes its Burlington project will compete with Friendly and The Streets at Southpoint in Durham. Annual retail sales at Alamance Crossing could surpass $200 million, CBL said.

The first portion of Alamance Crossing comprises 660,000-square-feet of retail and eateries at University Drive and Interstates 40 and 85. Space is 90 percent spoken for, said Mark Mancuso, CBL's senior vice president for development.

Belk will open there in October, and a 16-screen movie theater will debut next summer. Another 200,000-square-feet of national retail will open on the 142-acre site by 2009, in a phase called Alamance West.

Contact Michelle Jarboe at 373-7075 or mjarboe@news-record.com