Before all is said and done, Staples will have 25 locations inNorth Texas, many of which are or will be in its competitors'playing field. Long-term leases recently were inked for the450,000-sf, 30-acre Gateway Station, due to break ground in 30 daysin the suburb of Burleson, and the under-construction, 23,942-sfNorth Richland Hills Mall. Each Staples project totals 23,942sf.

The Gateway Station store will be an in-line shop that opens insummer 2002, says Jennifer Frank of Ft. Worth-based Woodmont Co.The North Richland Hills will be a free-standing store that alsoopens in summer 2002.

The Gateway Station and North Richland Hills openings are partof a Staples' strategy to launch multi-store openings as it did inearly 2000 with the rollout of six locations. The office supplyretailer also has stores under construction in North Dallas at the220,000-sf Pavilion at Coit and Campbell and Ft. Worth's Cityviewretail power center at the intersection of Bryant Irvin Road andInterstate 20. Six more store locations, says Frank, are undercontract in the DFW region. By summer 2002, 19 of the planned 25DFW locations could be up and running.