ORLANDO, FL – If you think a major regional shopping mall isn’t the first place you’d go for help on launching your new business, think again. On Tuesday, May 17, the National Entrepreneur Center at Orlando Fashion Square Mall (top left photo) on East Colonial Drive near downtown Orlando will celebrate its grand opening starting at 9 a.m.
John Crossman (middle right photo), president of Crossman & Company, the local leasing agent for Orlando Fashion Square, said the 20,000 square foot National Entrepreneur Center (formerly Disney Entrepreneur Center on Robinson St. downtown) opening at Orlando Fashion Square is one of the most creative ideas he has seen in a long time.
“The nation’s economy is built on small business entrepreneurs, and small business entrepreneurs aren’t usually located in downtown office skyscrapers, they’re in the neighborhoods in the community,” Crossman said. The opportunity to seek advice and assistance for an entrepreneurial idea at a regional mall is just brilliant, and my hat’s off to the National Entrepreneur Center for thinking outside of the box,” Crossman said.
Crossman said he is optimistic the opening of the National Entrepreneur Center will generate new traffic at Orlando Fashion Square, the Central Florida area’s first regional mall. “Retailing patterns are changing,” Crossman said.
“The economy is part of the reason, but there are others — the wave of baby boom retirements, the emergence of online retail sales, and a new generation of young people for whom the recession will mark a major milestone,” he said.
“People are thinking differently about their retail purchases and their retailing habits,” Crossman said. “Retail locations are changing to meet new demands, and the National Entrepreneur Center’s Orlando Fashion Square Mall location is an outstanding example of the trend,” he said.
Leasing agent for the mall, Whitaker Leonhardt (lower left photo) said “There are many more opportunities for community groups, business service tenants, and non-profit organizations to lease space at Orlando Fashion Square Mall. The National Entrepreneur Center sets the precedent for the mall to continue to add more community-minded tenants to the mall’s existing retail line up.
For more information, contact:
Jerry Ross, National Entrepreneur Center, 407-420-4848 Jerry@NationalEC.org
Whitaker Leonhardt, Crossman & Company 407-581-6238 wleonhardt@crossmanco.com
John Crossman, Crossman & Company 407-581-6218 jcrossman@crossmanco.com
Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142 or 461-3780 Lvershelco@aol.com
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