By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Two retailers, better known for gracing suburban shopping malls than Manhattan streets, are opening in the next two weeks on the Upper West Side.
TJ Maxx and Michaels will join the existing Whole Foods on 97th Street and Columbus Avenue as part of the Columbus Square development.
The arrival of the box stores represents the first time big retail has infiltrated this northern part of the Upper West Side, an area renowned for its historical buildings and smaller specialty shops.
The mall is set to grow. Borders, Modell's Sporting Goods and Crumbs Bake Shop are also scheduled to open as part of the $500 million development by the Chetrit Group and Stellar Management.
Along with Michaels, opening Oct. 19 and TJ Maxx, opening Oct. 29, the development includes five towers of apartments. There is also space for banks, drug stores and community groups including Soloman Schechter School of Manhattan, Mandell School and the William F. Ryan Community Health Center.
While some on the Upper West Side have resented the changing face of their neighborhood, others welcome the cheaper prices that often come with big stores.
"It's a nice mix," said Upper West Sider Ellen Dubin. "It's great to have retail up here on Columbus."
Dubin's two sons can't wait for the Modell's to open. The new location will be close to her home on 96th Street. Now the nearest location is a trek to 125th Street in Harlem.
Not all of the proposed stores impress Dubin — she couldn't care less about the Duane Reade and the Chase Bank. "We have enough drug stores and banks in the neighborhood," she said.
Preschool teacher Lauren Sherry says she can't wait to use TJ Maxx and Michaels for budget-friendly, last minute supplies and toys for her students.
"I work in a class where there's 26 kids and that can get quite expensive," she said. "It's nice there's a store that's going to be discounting."
But while Dubin says she's looking forward to the discounts – she's not so enamored by the crowds that they'll invariably bring in.
"The stores will add more people to the neighborhood and that's not a great thing," she said. "But you have to take the cons with the pros."
