The Village at Cumberland Park in Tyler, TX
Huge retail center draws shoppers from six to seven counties.
Much excitement is in store at The Village at Cumberland Park, which opened in early November 2015 in time for the busy 2015 holiday shopping season.
The Village is a 12-building, 700,000-square-foot outdoor shopping mall that features several national, regional and local retailers as well as restaurants, services and family-oriented entertainment. The entertainment includes an indoor playground and movie theater, while a Hampton Inn & Suites is also on the property.
The complex is conveniently located on heavily traveled South Broadway Avenue just north of Loop 49 in Tyler.
“Our city’s population is about 100,000 residents at night, but that number is around 200,000 during the day when people from surrounding areas arrive here to shop, eat, attend colleges or visit doctor’s offices,” says Victor Valle, economic development specialist with the Tyler Economic Development Council. “We expect that 200,000 number will be a small figure compared to the new numbers once The Village really catches on.”
Major retailers and restaurants already finding success at The Village include Abuelo’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Gordman’s, Jo-Ann, Maurices, Old Navy, Petco, Ross Dress for Less, Rotolo’s Pizzeria, Studio Movie Grill, T.J.Maxx, Verizon and Zoe’s Kitchen. Valle says during the 2015 holiday season, he saw several movies at Studio Movie Grill and shopped at Burlington Coat Factory.
“The Village is on the south side of Tyler where the city is really growing, but we’re also trying to make sure that growth occurs all around Tyler,” he says. “For example, the Germany-based grocery chain Aldi will open a store in 2016 at the intersection of Loop 323 and Texas 64 (on the west side). We are a very business-friendly city that is looking to smartly grow.”
Retail Hub for the Next 40 Years
Mark Whatley, a Tyler city councilman and real estate broker for Burns Commercial Properties in Tyler, says sales taxes from the retail sector drive much of the city’s overall budget.
“As a result, everything we do is paid for by cash, and the city doesn’t have any long-term general obligation debt,” Whatley says. “That keeps our property tax rates really low, which is a huge livability factor for people moving in.”
He adds that The Village is attracting shoppers from six to seven surrounding counties, from as far away as Texarkana two hours to the northeast, and Lufkin 80 miles to the southeast.
“I believe The Village at Cumberland Park will be the retail hub of Tyler for the next 40 years,” Whatley says. “They are attracting retailers that we don’t already have, and there is much more property around that development that can be constructed upon. The Village can potentially become two or three times larger than it already is over the next 10 years.”