By Michelle Knightknight@theacorn.comEighteen more retailers, including two local businesses, have signed on as tenants of the Simi Valley Town Center, mall officials announced this week.

That brings to 68 the number of retailers who have leased space in the 600,000-square-foot mall, the first regional shopping center to open in Ventura County in more than 25 years. Located just north of the 118 Freeway between First Street and Erringer Road, it’s slated to open Oct. 27.

Simi Luggage and Apple Cottage, a specialty store for babies and new moms, are two locally based businesses among the mall’s latest additions.

Bonnie Kessner, who owns the Apple Cottage store in the shopping center at Sycamore Drive and Cochran Street, will open a second store in the mall.

“I just see it as a great opportunity to expand,” Kessner said. “I think (the mall) will attract people from the San Fernando Valley, Porter Ranch, Thousand Oaks, from all over.”

Since it’s difficult to get a good look at the hilltop construction site to see how construction is progressing, mall General Manager Greg Lenners led the press and city officials on a tour last week.

Proud of a design featuring elements of an outdoor garden, Lenners pointed out a plot of dirt near the entrance to Macy’s where a koi pond is planned and another spot where there will be an outdoor fireplace. Two grand oak trees that were salvaged from the site will be relocated to what will be the shopping corridor. The buildings were constructed around these behemoths, Lenners said, and there will be seating around each one so shoppers can relax and drink in the atmosphere.

“What we wanted to accomplish (is that) when you’re here, you’re in a whole new world,” he said.

Lenners has 10 years of expertise in the retail industry and six years of retail management experience with Forest City, one of the mall’s owners. His last job was general manager of the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale.

“That’s every general manager’s dream, if you have an opportunity to open a new mall,” he said. “You get to see everything from the ground up.”

Lenners said, however, he knows of nothing that compares to this quarter-mile-long, high-end mixture of retail and restaurants, because it incorporates elements other malls don’t. The layout is one such example: the east wing will have shops catering to the 20-something crowd while older, higher-end consumers may find what they’re looking for in the west wing.

The overall architecture of the mall is designed to look as if it’s a Mediterranean village that was built over time, he said.

The concept of design integration extends to the project’s 500unit luxury apartment community, called Jefferson at Simi Valley. The clustered buildings sweep from one side of the mall to the other. Construction crews broke ground on the apartments last week. in the dirt behind the mall and explained that the future buildings will be on a level higher than the mall so that residents’ view of the mountains won’t be obstructed.

The community, scheduled to open in April, will include a fitness center, theater room and two pools and spas.

Following are the 18 new retailers planning to open a store in the Simi Valley Town Center mall:

•Aldo Shoes

•Apple Cottage

•Athena & Co.

•Aveda, beauty products

•Chico’s

•Dakota’s, a restaurant

•Eddie Bauer

•Francesca’s Collection,

jewelry, home and fashion ac

cessories

•Gold N’ Heart Jewelers

•J. Jill, women’s apparel

•J. Stephens, men’s and

women’s shoes

•Paint A Dream, pottery

painting studio

•Panda Express

•Pink Heart Accessories

•Qdoba Mexican Grill

•Simi Luggage

•White House/Black Mar

ket, clothing and accessories

•Zumiez, skateboards,

snowboards and clothing

A complete list of tenants

can be found by visiting the

website www.simivalleytc.com.

New tenants