Canada's largest power centre is in the midst of adding a new fashion-forward component, with 12 so-called "lifestyle" retailers opening their doors in the development's fourth fashion complex.

This newest section, at 80,000 sq. ft., is just part of a total of 170,000 sq. ft. of lifestyle-oriented stores being added to South Edmonton Common's retail roster.

Ardene, Benix, Chatters, Esprit, Fairweather, Guess, International Clothiers, La Vie En Rose, Liz Claiborne, Motherhood Maternity, Ricki's and Riveted now join a cross-section of stores at South Edmonton Common, which centres around big-box tenants such as Best Buy, Home Depot, Ikea, Wal-Mart and The Brick.

Designed to be more pedestrian friendly, the power centre's latest component still provides customers with ample parking in front of each outlet. However, in this segment the two strips of storefronts look inward toward each other. The goal is to make it easier for shoppers to go from one section to another without the need to get into their cars.

The new buildings - located in south Edmonton just off Gateway Boulevard and Calgary Trail at 23rd Avenue - also sport a slightly more upscale architectural look, as opposed to the traditional plain boxes found in most power centres.

"It will be another focal point within South Edmonton Common, and with its very unique building design and layout, it will be even more of a pedestrian corridor," says Tony Rota, director of marketing for Cameron Corp., South Edmonton Common's owner and developer.

"It's almost a mall within a mall," agrees Paul Messinger, director of the University of Alberta's Canadian Institute of Retailing and Services. "South Edmonton Common is a big power centre and basically within it they're putting a smaller mall where you'll be able to walk between the stores rather than to go a single store and stay there."

Meanwhile, an additional 90,000 sq. ft. of retail space will be developed south of the Cineplex movie house, with leasing currently under way. Cameron Corp., and its joint venture partner Grosvenor International, are also in the process of filling in another 50,000 sq. ft. of medium-box retail.

In total, about 1.5 million sq. ft. of its 2.3 million sq. ft.

of retail space will soon be occupied.

"We've received expressions of interest from a number of national and international retailers currently not in Alberta, so we are excited about the potential of these retailers making their entrance into the market via South Edmonton Common," says Rota. "I believe it speaks to the significant influence the development has on our retail landscape."

During South Edmonton Common's initial stages, fashion was not one of the strong contenders for leasing opportunities, says Roy Rolheiser, a senior partner and director of Avison Young's retail division.

"Once they started to speak to prospective tenants, they found the other (existing) tenants were a traffic generator," says Rolheiser. "My understanding is the fashion tenants located in South Edmonton Common are doing extremely well. That's the feedback we get from (them)."

Lifestyles-oriented retailers are also drawn to power centres because of the critical retail mass the centres create and the ability to lease larger spaces at lower rents, notes Rolheiser.

"Box retail has evolved into being a dominant retail format in Canada, and for that matter, North America," adds Rolheiser's colleague Darren Snider, who specializes in Avison Young's retail leasing and site selection division.

Messinger says having a cluster of automobile-accessible big-box and specialty retailers is evidence of the growth of Edmonton as a city.

"Edmonton is growing and south Edmonton is also developing. This centre is catering to the (numerous) new communities south of the city."

At the same time, South Edmonton Common realizes it has a captive audience - and that makes it a natural to beef up its restaurant choices, notes Messinger.

Three new eateries are on the way. The Keg and Montana's are opening new Edmonton branches in South Edmonton Common, while Milestones, an entry into the casual upscale dining segment, is getting ready to unveil its first restaurant in the city.

On the fast-food side, Tim Horton's has added a second outlet at the power centre with a Tim Hortons/Wendy's combo store now up and running.

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)