The owner of the London Road Shopping Centre in Sarnia says landing Tepperman's as an anchor tenant is a great step forward in the site's redevelopment.
Tepperman's announced Tuesday it's relocating to the southwest corner of the London Rd. site from Lambton Mall in 2018.
Rob Dawson of Lucror Property Investments says the home furnishings retailer hopes to break ground on a new, larger 38,000 sq ft store in the spring of 2017.
"We're really excited from a lot of different angles to have the Tepperman's family and that brand and that retail store," says Dawson. "What they're looking to do in Sarnia-Lambton is real exciting for our community, for the other tenants at our plaza that have been waiting for some form of redevelopment and announcement , and obviously for Tepperman's itself."
Dawson says they're also in talks with existing and new potential tenants for redevelopment of the west side of the former Zellers plaza, as well as improvements to the front and north part of the site.
He says it's part of their $10-million, five-year plan to transform the site into a modern, outdoor, stand-alone shopping centre.
Lambton Mall Property Manager Laura Beecroft says they're sad to see Tepperman's go, but are already planning for the future.
"We already have plans in the works to bring some new and exciting retail to Lambton Mall," says Beecroft. "Because it's such a large store, really the world's our oyster, at this point we don't know exactly what that's going to look like but it will be good for the mall whatever it is."
Tepperman's has been a tenant at Lambton Mall since 1993.