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Free People to Bakery Square
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Free People, a clothing store -- not a declaration of independence -- will arrive in Pittsburgh this winter.
The trendy, albeit pricey, women's boutique will open its doors in January at Bakery Square, the burgeoning mixed-use development in Larimer.
It not only will be Free People's first store in Pittsburgh, but its first in Pennsylvania outside of the Philadelphia area.
Herky Pollock, a CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh executive vice president who brokered the deal, said the store was expected to open around the first of the year.
"As a division of Urban Outfitters, Free People has become the rage within the fashion industry and has attracted every specialty retailer's interest," he said. "It is quite a coup for Pittsburgh and Bakery Square."
The store offers an array of clothing -- including outerwear, tops, skirts, blue jeans and dresses -- and accessories geared toward younger women. On its website, it describes its prototypical customer as a "26-year-old girl, smart, creative, confident and comfortable in all aspects of her being, free and adventurous, sweet to tough to tomboy to romantic."
"They define fashion for young women all across the country, and with our burgeoning college student base, they most definitely will be a success in Pittsburgh," Mr. Pollock said.
Free People will join the already opened Anthropologie, a clothing, accessory and home store also owned by Urban Outfitters, at Bakery Square.
Others claiming a spot at the East End development include a Verizon customer service location, which opened this week; Learning Express, which is scheduled to open early next month; and Coffee Tree Roasters, which opened in June. Urban Active, a fitness center, also has opened.
A SpringHill Suites hotel opened in May.
Mr. Pollock said he expected to land several more retailers and restaurants for Bakery Square in the near future.
"Bakery Square has become a microcosm of Pittsburgh by transforming itself from a manufacturing facility to an upscale mixed-use development on the cutting edge of fashion and office tenants," he said.
Google moved its Pittsburgh headquarters from Carnegie Mellon University into the former Nabisco bakery at the end of summer. UPMC also is planning to open a technology development center at Bakery Square next month.
The University of Pittsburgh also has a presence there.
First Published October 20, 2010 12:00 am
