Santa Fe’s outlet mall gets new owners

IT S BEEN CALLED ONE OF THE BEST- KEPT SECRETS IN SANTA FE BUT WHEN YOU OWN A BUSINESS — YOU DON T REALLY WANT IT TO BE A SECRET THAT S WHY THE NEW OWNERS OF THE SANTA FE OUTLET MALL HAVE A GRAND PLAN THEY HOPE WILL MAKE IT A TOURIST DESTINATION RAY SEVA TAKE A LOOK FROM OUR SANTA FE BUREAU SKIINGINDIAN MARKETAND A TRIP TO THE OUTLETT MALL THAT S WHAT THE NEW FLORIDA- BASED OWNERS OF THE SANTA FE PREMIUM OUTLETS MALL WANT VISITORS TO THINK WHEN VISITING THE CITY DIFFERENT THE OWNERS PLAN TO AGGRESSIVELY ADVERTISE TO TOURISTS–AND EVEN PEOPLE IN ALBUQUERQUE TO DRAW MORE CROWDS TO THE SOUTH-SIDE MALL WHICH TYPICALLY LOOKS LIKE A GHOST-TOWN It s always been empty And I think it s because of the mix you ve got here–it s NOT particularly upscale RIGHT NOW THERE ARE ONLY 25- TENANTS THAT MEANS 35-PERCENT OF THE MALL IS VACANT OWNERS SAY NIKE AND RALPH LAUREN WILL BE MOVING IN EARLY NEXT YEAR AND THEY HOPE NEW SHOPPERS WILL FOLLOW I think those are good stores I think it would help the area I think it would help the shopping experience MANY TOURISTS SAY THAT S A START BUT THEY HOPE MORE SANTA FE- STYLE STORES WILL FOLLOW We have similar malls so I think bringing in more unique boutique- type stores would really add to that IN SANTA FERS EWN-4 ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THE NEW OWNERSHIP GROUP PLANS IS CHANGING THE NAME–TO FASHION OUTLETS OF SANTA FE THE MALL WILL ALSO GET A FACE- LIFT WITH A RENOVATION SCHEDULED TO START EARLY NEXT YEAR