SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — A Tanger outlet mall is officially coming to Southaven, but not everyone is excited about the announcement.
Tanger has already broken ground on the mall, which will be located off I-69 on Church Road.
The center “will be a first-class destination for shoppers seeking their favorite designer and name brands, offering merchandise that is on trend and in season direct from the manufacturer at outlet prices.”
The new mall will be just a stone’s throw from June Sanders’s front door. When she first heard the news, Sanders said she was excited.
“I was kind of excited. I heard it was going to be like the one in Sandestin, and we visit it like every year,” she said.
The mall is expected to open before the 2015 holiday season, but after hearing it will feature about 70 stores with room to grow, Sanders said she was worried about traffic.
“I have to take Airways every morning to go to work and just to see how the traffic is, which way to route myself to go to work…it’s kind of scary,” she said.
Although she has only lived in this subdivision for seven years, Sanders is already considering moving because of the development.
“I’m a little scared and excited at the same time, but I’d like to live on the other side of the traffic,” she said.
She’s also not happy about the name of the new outlet. Although it’s physical address will be in Southaven, it will be called Tanger Outlets Memphis.
“We’re not Memphis! We’re definitely Southaven, Mississippi,” she said. “I don’t like that at all.”
Developers said at one point, the Pinch District in Memphis was considered as a location for the outlet mall, but the timing never worked out.