Shedding light on which firms will occupy at least part of Longview Towne Crossing retail center were a series of recent city of Longview building permit filings.
Lifeway Christian Book Store, Lane Bryant, Catherine's Plus Size Clothing Store and Famous Footwear are lined up to join Target and Kohl's. Another retailer, maurices, which had earlier announced plans to put a women's clothing store in the center, also has received a building permit.
Mark Qualls, manager for Lifeway Christian Book Store, said the retail outlet will move from its longtime home in Brookwood Center on McCann Road this spring. The new locationwill provide more efficient use of the sales floor, he said.
Nancy Pardue, manager at Catherine's, now at 103 W. Loop 281, said the targeted opening date in Longview Towne Crossing is March 27. The location will represent one of the chain's new store concepts and provide more space.
Lane Bryant is another chain of more than 750 stores featuring plus-size women's wear. It's set to occupy about 6,000 square feet in the development.
Famous Footwear will fill about 6,400 square feet. The shoe store chain has more than 800 locations, the nearest one in Tyler.
Financially expanding
The area's newest banking branch is scheduled to open Monday in Hallsville with Community Bank's latest expansion.
Located at 700 W. Main St., or U.S. 80, the 3,000-square-foot facility will be staffed by five people initially, according to Steve Reese, president. The drive-through lines will open 7:30 a.m. Monday and the lobby at 9 a.m., he said.
Reese said the interior design will complement schools colors for the Hallsville Independent School District. Lobby hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Drive-through lanes will be open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Construction started last summer, and a grand opening event is planned in a few weeks, Reese said.
Outdoor living
Veranda's Edge, a new outdoor furniture and accessory store, has opened at 1014 NW Loop 281 — directly across from Havertys, according to J.C. Hope, manager of the independently owned site.
The new showroom features outdoor furniture groupings, garden accessories, outdoor art, decorative pots and outdoor lighting, he said. While the showroom is open, Hope said it will be a few weeks until the outdoor display area, complete with a gazebo, will be open.
Veranda's Edge is planning a grand opening in late March, he said.
Presidential work
Longview's Audio-Visual Presentations was selected by the Hillary Clinton for President advance team to provide the sound reinforcement at Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center for the speech by former President Bill Clinton.
Skip Jenkins, operations manager, for Audio-Visual Presentations, said that providing the sound equipment was not a problem even though his team did not know until about 4:30 p.m. the day before the former president's arrival where the event was going to be held.
With Clinton due to arrive at 12:15 p.m. the next day, Jenkins said he and his team scurried to obtain security clearance from the Secret Service and have the equipment at Maude Cobb by 7 a.m.. The setup included audio for six camera crews and one satellite truck.
Jenkins credits a smooth operation under a tight time frame to a very cooperative staff at Maude Cobb.
Mike Elswick is the business editor of the Longview News-Journal. He can be reached at (903) 237-7737, or at melswick@longview-news.com.
