Womens fashion boutique to be first retailer in HarborCenter

A womens fashion and accessory boutique will be the first of four small retailers that will occupy a one-floor mini-mall inside the Buffalo Sabres HarborCenter when the retail space along the lower Main Street side of the building opens in late spring.

Red Siren, owned by veteran human resources executive and businesswoman Sharon Randaccio, will offer a range of specialty gifts, jewelry, leather products and clothing, geared to appeal to a mix of local shoppers, hockey moms and tourists. Randaccio has been planning the new business for more than a year, developing relationships with more than 50 manufacturers.

Buffalo women especially are going to find treasures here they are used to buying out of town, said Randaccio, also founder, president and CEO of Performance Partners. We are patching in to the energy surging in downtown Buffalo. We believe in the city and its resurgence and were thrilled to be part of it.

Meanwhile, construction work continues on the 12-story Marriott Buffalo HarborCenter hotel that soars above the northwest corner of the building, with the exterior glazing about 80 percent complete. The hotel, which originally was targeted for completion and opening by May, is now expected to be ready by late summer, in time for the new season of hockey-related activities.

Im not going to deny that, while it wasnt me putting the hard hat on every day, working through the coldest winter in years and the coldest February ever, Im not going to deny that doesnt take a toll, said HarborCenter President and CEO John R. Koelmel. Its never as efficient when its that cold and that problematic. But kudos to those doing the work. It isnt impeding the overall work and overall timeline.

Randaccios new store will occupy about 1,200 square feet of the 5,000-square-foot mini-mall on the west side of HarborCenter, next to the hockey and entertainment complexs main entrance and the separate portico entrance for the hotel now under construction on top of the ice rinks. Thats also right across from the Metro Rail special events station and Canalside.

Three other retail spaces of about 800 to 900 square feet each are still available for lease, and HarborCenter officials are working with various prospective tenants to finalize details over the next few weeks, even as they continue to receive inquiries from other parties, Koelmel said. Construction build-out would then begin, with a goal of completion in June.

We continue to negotiate with others, and were really excited and pleased with what we think the outcomes will be, Koelmel said. Its a rare week where we dont have one to two other potential or interested parties contacting us about retail. Its ongoing and we continue to welcome the interest.

Like a traditional mall, all four spaces will open into a common lobby, and the stores will likely be open during prime time hours for HarborCenter, starting at noon. The retail area will have two entrances, one from Main Street and one from the stairwell to the buildings five-level parking ramp at the southwest corner of HarborCenter. The first hour of parking in the ramp will be free, to accommodate shoppers.

Once the street is opened and once vehicular traffic is back up and around our building, there wont be on-street parking, Koelmel said. So as with everything else, we want to make access as easy as possible, in spite of not having on-street parking.

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Womens fashion boutique to be first retailer in HarborCenter