New Retail Ventures Opening at The Marketplace

Just in time for the Holiday shopping season, two new retail shops are expected to open this week in The Marketplace.
The popular Big Planet stores in Mongoose Junction will have a presence at The Marketplace when a “pop-up” holiday outpost opens this week.

The new Big Planet will take over the former St. John Cabinets location on the second floor of the shopping complex and will offer deals galore, explained owner Pretlow Majette.

“We’re going to have basically a slice of everything that we have at Big Planet,” said Majette. “As a result of the whole economic downturn and everything, we have an excess of inventory basically from 2009. It’s all great stuff and we could keep it in Big Planet, but we decided to get new stuff.”

“So we’re bringing the slightly less new stuff here and selling it at a huge discount,” Majette said. “There is going to be tons of cool stuff and most of it is going to be 50 percent off.”

Majette has a two month lease for his Marketplace outpost, but expects the merchandise to move quickly.

“We’re definitely here for two months, but the products are going to go quickly,” he said.

Big Planet will feature surf boards, flip flops, shorts, dresses, bathing suits and more at deep discounts. The store should be open this week.

Stop by the shop on the second floor of The Marketplace between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. for great bargains.

This season has already been a busy one for Majette. In addition to opening his Marketplace outpost, the Big Planet owner also recently opened the sunglass store Shade in the old Nell location in Mongoose Junction.

Majette’s store Little Planet — located in Mongoose Junction outside Deli Grotto — will be changing up too. The children’s clothes will be moving back to Big Planet and Majette is opening a new venture in the former Little Planet location.

Made In St. John — which should be open by Christmas — will feature organic and recycled T-shirts, beach bags and thongs all printed with Majette’s screen printing equipment.

“Basically we have a screen printing shop in the basement of Mongoose that we’re using for everything,” said Majette. “The blanks are all made from organic and recycled materials and we use only water- and soy-based inks and cleaning products so it’s as eco-friendly as you can get screen printing.”

The other new venture at The Marketplace is 212 Boutique, which will open on the second floor of the shopping complex right next to St. John Hardware in the former Pond Bay Club sales office location.

“We’re delighted to have new retail stores on the second floor to add to our mix of fabulous shops,” said Barbara Tine, Marketplace manager.