Huntsville shoppers are still relishing the news of Tanger’s $193.5m acquisition of the Bridge Street Town Centre.

Late last week, Tanger officially announced the acquisition of the 825,000‑square-foot open-air shopping center, one of the fastest growing markets currently in the nation.

With over 80 retail locations, restaurants, and entertainment venues, the news was a definite shock to many Huntsville residents, especially heading into the busy Holiday shopping season.

According to Tanger, the company met with City of Huntsville leadership to assure them that the essence of Bridge Street would remain the same and that the acquisition made sense in terms of a business opportunity.

“We continue to leverage the strength of our retail operating, leasing and marketing platforms to create value, both in the outlet channel and through selective investments in other complementary open-air retail destinations,” said Stephen Yalof, President and CEO of Tanger.

Yalof explained that the acquisition made sense from a business standpoint because the open-air concept and the aesthetic format fell in line with Tanger’s current goals, leaving little necessity to change one of Huntsville’s most famous shopping experiences.

“The addition of Bridge Street Town Centre is a natural extension of our capabilities and consistent with our long-term strategy of investing in dominant open-air retail centers in markets which benefit from outsized residential and tourism growth.”

City of Huntsville Mayor also affirmed Tanger executives did in fact meet with Huntsville leadership and promised to maintain the overall experience that Huntsville shoppers have received since Bridge Street’s first retail options opened back in November 01, 2007.

“We asked to meet with them to see what their intentions were,’’ Battle said in a media statement. “They dropped the word Outlet from their name to just Tanger because they said, ‘We’re not just primarily an outlet anymore, we’re also lifestyles and we’re going to continue with the lifestyle-type facility.’’

Currently, Bridge Street is at 93 percent occupancy that includes tenants such as Lululemon, Sephora, Lovesac, Dry Goods, Victoria’s Secret, Athleta, Anthropologie, Altar’d State, and Ulta, as well as several larger format retailers including Barnes & Noble, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Old Navy, H&M, and Belk.

The center offers over two dozen restaurants, from national favorites like Cheesecake Factory, Texas de Brazil, and Bravo! Italian Kitchen to regional and local offerings.

Bridge Street is also home to the Westin Hotel, which became the first in Alabama when it opened in 2008.

For more information, please visit www.bridgestreethuntsville.com.