Across Military Cutoff Road from the continually expanding Mayfaire Community Center, multiple tenants of The Forum shopping center are expanding their services and new ones are setting up shop.
The newest addition to The Forum will be a 1,800-square-foot Fleet Feet, a locally owned specialty active footwear and apparel franchise set to open in mid November.
Michelle Fogle, owner of the Wilmington Fleet Feet, said Nov. 20 is the expected soft opening date with a grand opening celebration coming after the holiday season.
Fogle was a longtime Fleet Feet shopper while living in locations like Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, Texas, and said Wilmington quickly won her over when deciding where to open her own franchise location.
“I have lived in several cities in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and visited multiple places across the country, but it literally took one 40-hour trip to Wilmington to fall in love with this area,” Fogle said. “I think it has a lot to offer the residents here. … It seems to be a very active community.”
While Fogle will be competing with the recently opened Dick’s Sporting Goods in Mayfaire Community Center, she said Fleet Feet offers a more intimate, community-based approach to athletic shoe and apparel sales.
“We always like to say we are more than just a shoe store,” she said. “One of the things that made Fleet Feet so appealing to me is it is much more about being intertwined with the community and helping to foster and grow the health and wellness of the community.”
Andrew Fallis, property manager for The Forum’s managing company, Swain and Associates, said Fleet Feet is just one of the changes coming to the shopping center. Fleet Feet will move into the space between The Olive Café and Wine Bar and Pembroke’s Restaurant, which became available when The Olive Café and Wine Bar and Taste the Olive consolidated into one space.
Another restaurateur changing his presence in The Forum is James Bain of Epic Food Company. Fallis said Epic Food Company just completed a refinement of its outdoor dining space and will expand into the 1,200-square-foot space next door that housed Jewel Recycle, which moved into the Home Again space.
Like Epic Food Company, Star Sosa’s Spectrum Art and Jewelry also expanded, allowing the Spectrum Art gallery to inhabit its own space near the original Spectrum Art and Jewelry storefront.
That space was the home of Torri/Bell, which moved out of The Forum along with Isabella Grape and Tara Grinna Swimwear.
The space vacated by Isabella Grape will not remain empty for long, however, as Fallis said two finalists have been identified to fill the space. In addition, another group Fallis said Wilmington residents would be familiar with has interest in one of the other few vacant spaces in The Forum.
With the loss of some of The Forum’s long-term tenants, Fallis said there is a chance for new faces to move in.
“We are having a time where a lot of people are coming to the end of their leases and a lot of them have been here a long time,” Fallis said. “We have an opportunity here for some new stores to enter The Forum that we haven’t had the space available for.”
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