Content area
Full Text
Borders Group Inc. has approved a site in Carmel for a new store and could be investigating a downtown Indianapolis location.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based juggernaut would like to open a 25,000-square-foot store in a retail center at 116th Street and Keystone Avenue, said Gary Linder. His firm, The Linder Co., is planning to develop the retail center across 116th Street from Merchants' Square, an existing Linder project.
Borders, which has three Indianapolis-area bookstores, has approved the site on its end but final agreements have not been reached with Linder, he said.
Merchants' Pointe, Linder's yet-to-be-built adjunct to Merchants' Square, would be constructed on the current grounds of the Woodland Country Club, which has sold 14 acres to Linder for the project.
It's only about three miles from Borders' existing store in the Keystone at the Crossing area. The distance is short, but it's a doable situation for a retailer like Borders, said Frank Swiss, a local retail real estate developer.
"There's enough density for Borders to feel that they won't cannibalize the store at 86th and Keystone or the one at 116th and Keystone," he said.
The north side is practically teeming with large chain bookstores, but downtown has...