Yahoo!

I'm thrilled about this. Now if we could get a Nordies, PaperSource, Crate & Barrel and H&M I'd be the happiest Omahan around.

Published Tuesday April 29, 2008
Anthropologie is coming to Regency
BY JOHN KEENANWORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Alicia Reisinger loves the pants.

And the cafe au lait bowls.

And the textiles. And the fabrics.

And she's pleased to hear she won't have to travel to Chicago or Kansas City to visit Anthropologie, which announced Tuesday that it would open a store in Omaha's Regency Court shopping center in October.

"Yay!" said Reisinger, who moved to Lincoln from Chicago about 18 months ago.

Reisinger is one of many area fans of the popular retailer, which features women's clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, jewelry and home décor items.

"I really enjoy the eclectic nature of the clothing," she said. "It's kind of a business casual with a little bit of creativity spiced up in it."

Fans such as Reisinger helped lure Anthropologie to Omaha, which is a smaller market for the chain, said Lorraine Adney of the McDevitt Co. The company oversees site selection and leasing for Anthropologie.

In four or five trips to Omaha, almost every woman she spoke to told her they went out of the area, usually to Kansas City or Chicago, to shop at Anthropologie.

"We certainly know that we have Omaha shoppers based on Anthropologie's Internet and catalog sales," she said.

The new store is a coup for Regency Court, which adds it to a lineup that includes fashion stores White House/Black Market, Ann Taylor Loft, Tilly, Parsow's, Pura Vida Blue and the recently opened Solstice Sunglass Boutique, not to mention jeweler Borsheims.

"We have been working on this deal for two years," said John Lund, chief executive officer of the Lund Co., owner of Regency Court along with partner RED Development LLC.

The 10,500-square-foot store will be at the southwest corner of the center, with a very visible exterior storefront, Lund said.

The lineup of stores already at the shopping center played into the chain's decision to come to Omaha, Lund said.

"Retailers look to go to centers that have others that are successful," he said.

Anthropologie's fall opening will increase foot traffic and awareness of Regency Court, Lund said.

"And we'll be going into the fall season, which everyone knows is the season of sales for retailers," he said. "They're coming in at a phenomenal time."

It will also save Reisinger some long-distance shopping. She's been to Anthropologie, either in Chicago or in her native Kansas City, about six times since moving to Lincoln, and she'd just been to the Chicago store about three weeks ago to look for summer clothes and work pants.She said it was the store's mixture of the whimsical and the sophisticated that appealed to her.

"Anthropologie is one of the most requested retailers in the market because of its unique sense of style," Lund said in a press release.

Anthropologie was founded in 1992. The nearest current outlets include Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., and the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver.

"Regency Court is so well located in the very heart of Omaha, and the intimate size of the center was very attractive to Anthropologie," said Adney.

"Regency has a unique super-regional draw with Borsheims as its anchor," she said. "We know that Omaha shoppers are sophisticated and they seek out Anthropologie in other cities, so we are delighted to finally bring the Anthropologie shopping experience home to them.

"Maybe not as delighted as Reisinger.

"This is great news," she said. "I'll live on this for a while today."