South Commons Opens at The Bellevue Collection

First-to-Market Stores to Open; Contest to Excite Customers Launches

After a year of planning and remodeling, the former JCPenney space at Bellevue Square opens this month with its first wave of celebrated stores. Known as the South Common, this large retail space will soon be home to its first new stores, UNIQLO (Nov. 6), ZARA (Nov. 11) and House of Hoops, a new retail concept from Foot Locker (mid-Nov).

“We could not be happier with the collection of stores coming to the South Common and throughout The Collection in time for the holiday season,” says Jennifer Leavitt, vice president of marketing for The Bellevue Collection. Retailers and restaurants opening in other locations within The Bellevue Collection include Vince Camuto, VIVO53, FROST and Panda Express. These stores are added to recent openings of Allen Edmonds, Robert Graham, Fuego, Crabtree and Evelyn, and Soft Surroundings.  In addition, several temporary stores are open for the season such as Go! Games & Toys, Harry and David, Brookstone and Macy’s Holiday Lane.

To celebrate the opening, The Collection created a unique “Social Spot” with a charging table, places to recharge yourself while shopping, and a freestanding display featuring social media content from the company’s See Yourself at The Collection Campaign (#MyCollectionStory). The contest-style campaign, which kicks off this week, takes advantage of the unique opportunity of the open common space to build community through “Instagram style” sharing of moments through imagery, according to Leavitt.

“We reached out to several influencers in the social media community with varying backgrounds in fashion and lifestyle and asked them to show us in photos and text, how they each ‘see themselves at The Collection,’” says Leavitt. “We asked them several lifestyle questions and they responded with distinctive and thoughtful imagery to bring their statements to life.” The Collection hopes this imagery will inspire the public to show their Collection story on Instagram and Twitter using #MyCollectionStory.

corridor. MyCollectionStory submissions from the public will also be featured on digital display in the space.

To enter the contest, customers use #MyCollectionStory to show how they see themselves at The Collection.  The contest runs Nov. 1, 2015 – Jan. 1, 2016 with winners drawn every week for a $100 prize with a grand prize winner announced at the end of the contest to win $500.

About The Bellevue Collection

Located in the heart of Bellevue, Washington, The Bellevue Collection, owned by Kemper Development Company and its Affiliates, includes Bellevue Square, a super-regional upscale shopping center, Bellevue Place, a mixed-use property featuring the Hyatt Regency Bellevue and small boutiques and Lincoln Square anchored by the Lincoln Square Cinemas, restaurants, home furnishings and The Westin Bellevue hotel. With a distinctive collection of 250 of the finest shops, 30 destination restaurants, a 16-screen premier cinema, 1,100 luxury hotel rooms and 10,000 free retail parking spaces, all in one location. The Bellevue Collection is a shopping, dining and nightlife and entertainment experience unlike any other in the region. It is located on Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 10th Streets in downtown Bellevue, just across Lake Washington from Seattle.