Five Below, Petco begin construction in Lower Nazareth Township strip mall

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Shovels have gone into the ground in anticipation of two new retailers occupying Lower Nazareth Commons by next summer.

Five Below and Petco will move into the Lower Nazareth Township strip mall that houses a Target department store and the Sports Authority.

Construction on both stores on Dryland Way near Route 248 is expected to end in late March or early April.

Five Below spokeswoman Elizabeth Romaine said a grand opening is expected next summer. PetCo spokeswoman Lisa Epstein declined comment, citing the company’s policy is not to comment on new stores more than three months prior of their opening date.

Township Planning and Zoning Administrator Lori Seese said the Jacksonville, Fla.-based developer, Regency Centers, had revised its plans with a smaller footprint and received the supervisors approval in July. John Fitzpatrick, Regency’s construction manager, said in initial plans the building was slated to be 25,000 square feet. Now it's under 21,000 square feet.


Seese said the revised plan includes a parcel for a restaurant and a building next to the AT&T, which is housed in small strip mall nearby close to Route 248. The names of the tenants haven’t been released for the restaurant or the building next to AT&T, Seese said.

Seese said tenant fit-out plans are under review with the township’s third-party inspection agency.

The supervisors approved plans in April 2010 for an "extraordinarily large" Lowe's Home Improvement store on the site. Lowe's then pulled out of the project a few months later, Seese said. Lowe's spokeswoman Stacey C. Lentz confirmed in an e-mail that the store had pulled out of the project, but didn’t provide a reason.


Seese said the land Lowe's wanted to acquire remains vacant.

"There aren't any active plans for this land before the township at this time," Seese said.

Romaine said the Five Below will become the fourth location to open in the Lehigh Valley area. A store in Whitehall opened in 2005, one in Allentown opened in 2010 and a Greenwich Township one opened in May. The company in 2002 launched with a concept to offer items under $5 for mostly teenagers and pre-teenagers.

Romaine said the store is a place for children to be able to spend their allowances on a trendy items for their bedrooms, on notebooks for school or on sports items.

“It’s a really fun store for that age group,” Romaine said.

She said the store plans to hire about 35 people. Stores are typically open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday with reduced hours on Sunday.