Williams Sonoma joining Whole Foods, other tenants coming to revamped South Huntington shopping center

High-end kitchenware chain Williams Sonoma will be among several retailers opening new stores next year in the Huntington Shopping Center, which is undergoing a $75 million redevelopment and has a Whole Foods Market on the way.

Williams Sonoma will occupy 5,317 square feet of newly constructed space next to The Container Store, which also will open next year on the South Huntington property.

The three Williams Sonoma stores currently on Long Island — in the Roosevelt Field shopping mall in Garden City, the Bridgehampton Commons shopping center in the Hamptons and Tanger Outlets Riverhead — are among the retailer's 158 locations nationwide.

The chain is owned by Williams-Sonoma Inc., a San Francisco-based company that owns several other chains, including home goods stores Pottery Barn and West Elm.  The company has more than 500 stores nationwide.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. did not respond to inquiries about when the South Huntington store will open and how many people it will employ.

Built in 1962 on a 21-acre site at 350 Walt Whitman Rd., the Huntington Shopping Center is undergoing a redevelopment that is expected to be completed in 2024 and result in mostly new tenants being there by the end of next year, according to Federal Realty Investment Trust, the center's Rockville, Maryland-based owner.

“The decision to redevelop Huntington Shopping Center has proven successful in attracting premier national brands to expand into this market,” Chris Fleming, vice president of asset management at Federal Realty, said in a statement Monday. “By introducing big names such as Williams Sonoma and J.Crew to our tenant mix, we hope to continue to appeal to high-caliber tenants for our remaining small shop opportunities to round out the center’s offerings."

The redevelopment has reduced the shopping center’s retail space by 25%, but two new out-parcels have been added to create a more upscale property, which totals about 210,000 square feet, Federal Realty said.

Only six of the current tenants were in the shopping center before the revamp began in the second quarter of 2022: arts and crafts store Michaels and optical center Visionworks, which relocated in the shopping center, as well as Verizon, clothing store Tillys, cosmetics store Ulta and PetSmart.

Recently opened tenants are outdoor-goods store REI, eateries Burger Village and Just Salad, and furniture store Lovesac.

BFT Fitness will open its 2,649-square-foot studio in the shopping center Dec. 4, said franchisee David Wolk, a Dix Hills resident.

Among the tenants arriving next year will be Whole Foods, which will be the largest tenant on the property when the 43,609-square-foot supermarket opens.  The Container Store will open its second Long Island location in the spring in a 15,676-square-foot space.

A Paris Baguette franchisee will open a 2,776-square-foot cafe in a new building in the shopping center in April, according to a spokeswoman for the Moonachie, New Jersey-based chain.

Also, clothing retailer J.Crew has signed a lease for a 7,766-square-foot unit in a newly constructed space in the development, according to Federal Realty. The store will be a J.Crew Factory, which is a discounter, but the retailer won't say when the store will open.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.