Warwick has been widely recognized as Rhode Island's shopping mecca. Recently, Rhode Island Mall owners Winstanley Enterprises and Surrey Equities LLC announced their plans to breathe new life into their property by turning it into an outlet mall. This beautiful, 160,000 s/f structure will house 40-60 stores, and it will offer residents, visitors and tourists alike a unique, indoor outlet shopping experience.
The Rhode Island Outlet Mall's developers confirmed what we know to be true when they said, "Warwick has become one of the strongest and most sought after retail submarkets in the northeast."
I am proud that Warwick will be home to our state's first outlet mall, adding to the growing number of firsts for our city's retail and restaurant offerings. It will also mean that Rhode Islanders will no longer have to travel to Clinton, Conn., or Wrentham, Mass., to shop at outlets.
This project will help fuel our economy by creating construction jobs and an estimated 400 to 600 retail jobs, based on an average of 10 employees per store.
Additionally, the Outlets at Rhode Island Mall will give our city yet another amenity to promote, and this, in turn, will help our collective efforts to attract more visitors and conventions to Warwick, bolstering our steadily growing tourism industry.
Without question, the outlets will be a perfect complement to the retail stores located along the Route 2 corridor and the Warwick Mall, which continues to expand and will soon be home to our state's first Jared jewelers.
I remember the days when Rhode Island Mall bustled with activity. I look forward to breaking ground on the outlet mall, enabling us to come one step closer to bringing this exciting project to its fruition.
This is yet another example of how Warwick is truly the city on the move.
Scott Avedisian is the mayor of Warwick and the chairman of the RIPTA board of directors.