Business
BY RACHEL LELAND
Pearland Town Center creates chances for local businesses
Lack of resources is one of the biggest hurdles new business owners face when pursuing a brick- and-mortar location. A specialty program o ered at Pearland Town Center has lowered the barrier of entry for many local entrepreneurs, Senior Marketing Director Nicole Bowen said. The full story Pearland Town Center’s specialty leasing program allows small business owners to test the market through turn-key spaces in high-tra c areas of the mall. Through the program, the Center utilizes spaces that don’t currently have a long- term lease and rents them to business owners at a lower rate with a shorter lease, Bowen said. While leases typically range from three to ve years, specialty leases only range from a couple of months to two years. Pearland Town Center o cials were unable to provide rates business owners in the specialty program were o ered. Zooming in Jose Hernandez, owner of Spuds TCG, a Pokémon registered retailer, is one such business owner who found success with the program. Before opening at Pearland Town Center, Hernandez had a mall cart but primarily made sales online. He and his wife felt they didn’t have enough money to open a store, he said. When the couple reached out to the Pearland Town Center, they had low expectations they would be able to a ord a space. Quote of note “I told my wife it’s going to be really expensive,” Hernandez said. “We can’t a ord it.” Hernandez said he was o ered a surprisingly
Jose Hernandez, owner of Spuds TCG, a Pokémon registered retailer, is one of the business owners who operates out of the Pearland Town Center through the mall’s specialty leasing program, which o ers below-market rates.
RACHEL LELAND COMMUNITY IMPACT
low rate for the space, and while he was initially skeptical, after doing more research, he decided to sign a short-term lease through the specialty program. A year and two months later, Hernandez’s business has been so successful that he’s been able to sign a longer lease. “What makes Pearland Town Center so unique is that we do focus on our local retailers just as much as our national retailers,” Bowen said, adding the Center has over 40 locally owned businesses. The bottom line Currently, Pearland Town Center has about 10 specialty businesses, including locally owned Jen- niBelle Boutique, Paisley’s Closet, Razzle Dazzle Dancewear and Suit Warehouse.
Pearland Town Center The Pearland Town Center is home to 40 locally owned businesses and 10 businesses operating in the center’s short-term leasing specialty program.
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11555 Magnolia Pkwy., Suite 170 Pearland, TX 77584 713.852.6700 TexasBayCU.org
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