A popular retail chain is readying to open its newest Lehigh Valley location in a portion of the former Weis Markets space at the Westgate shopping center, formerly known as the Westgate Mall, in Bethlehem.

Harbor Freight Tools, a California-based chain carrying a wide array of tools, hardware and other items for the home, garden and car, will hold a soft opening of it new Bethlehem store on Wednesday, according to Craig Hoffman, Harbor Freight’s director of corporate communications and content. The store’s grand opening will be held 8 a.m. July 16.

Harbor Freight Tools, a California-based chain carrying a wide array of tools, hardware and other items for the home, garden and car, will hold a soft opening of it new Bethlehem store on Wednesday at the Westgate shopping center on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. (Ryan Kneller/The Morning Call)

“We always have what we call a soft opening prior to [the grand opening] — in this case, Wednesday June 29th — when the store is open for business, to give our associates time to familiarize themselves with the store so they can most effectively help our customers,” Hoffman said.

Harbor Freight, founded by Eric Schmidt and his father in 1977, has more than 1,300 stores nationwide, including four regional locations in South Whitehall Township, Richland Township, Wilson and Stroudsburg.

The company has been looking to open a Bethlehem location for a while, Hoffman said, as residents in the Bethlehem area currently have to travel about eight miles to the Easton area store, 10 miles to the Allentown area store and 12 miles to the Quakertown area store.

Harbor Freight waited until it found a location that met its needs and the needs of customers: “good visibility, easy access, ample parking and the right square footage,” Hoffman added.

“We’re excited about this new location because it will be much more convenient for our customer in the Bethlehem community,” Hoffman said.

Customers will find a full selection of “quality tools and accessories ... at lowest prices” in categories such as automotive, air and power tools, storage, outdoor power equipment, generators, welding supplies, shop equipment and hand tools, Hoffman said.

Harbor Freight Tools, a California-based chain carrying a wide array of tools, hardware and other items for the home, garden and car, will hold a soft opening of it new Bethlehem store on Wednesday at the Westgate shopping center on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. (Ryan Kneller/The Morning Call)

“This particular location in the Westgate Mall (2305 Schoenersville Road) will be 15,580 square feet which is smaller than the so-called ‘big box’ stores in our category, and which we feel is a competitive advantage,” Hoffman said. “Many of our customers are professional trades workers who want to stop in, find what they need and then head out quickly to their job site or workshop. For other customers, this size makes it easier to browse and find our great deals.”

The new Harbor Freight store, bringing 25-30 new jobs to the community, will occupy a roughly 16,000-square-foot space that is being redeveloped with a new facade.

An additional 16,000 square feet of the former Weis space remains available, according to Matt Flath, vice president of asset management for Onyx Equities, a New Jersey-based real estate investment and property services firm that owns and manages Westgate.

Harbor Freight’s arrival at Westgate is more welcome news for the Schoenersville Road shopping center, which opened in 1973 with dozens of retailers but has been beleaguered by several vacancies in recent years.

A positive development came in May 2021, when Weis relocated from a long-standing, 32,000-square-foot space at the center of the complex to a newly remodeled, 63,000-square-foot store — within a 108,000 square-foot-building that was previously home to The Bon-Ton department store — at the north end of the complex.

Westgate’s revitalization is set to continue with the recent announcement that three quick-service restaurant chains, a bank and a retailer will occupy newly constructed buildings following the razing of a large portion of the Bethlehem shopping center’s interior.

Customers leave the new Weis Markets in May 2021 at the Westgate shopping center in Bethlehem. (Rick Kintzel/Morning Call)

Onyx Equities’ third phase of redevelopment plans, which were approved by the Bethlehem Planning Commission on March 10, include the demolition of approximately 50,000 square feet of the current shopping center’s interior to allow for the construction of about 8,000 square feet of new building space.

Two new structures will include a freestanding bank with a drive-thru, next to the relocated Weis Markets grocery store, and an adjacent strip mall that will house Jersey Mike’s Subs, QDOBA Mexican Eats and Starbucks eateries, the latter of which will feature a drive-thru. The strip mall also will feature a yet-to-be-announced retailer.

The redevelopment of part of the mall’s infill section will open the site and allow for a connection between the front and back of the center, something that “it never had,” Ryan Whitmore, professional engineer with Landcore Engineering Consultants, said at the March 10 meeting.

It also will allow for the creation of 55 parking spaces.

“With the reduction in GLA, gross leasable area, and the construction of the new parking, it really swings that parking ratio into a surplus,” Whitmore added.

Tiffany Wells, traffic superintendent for the city, expressed concern over traffic back-ups that could arise from Starbucks’ drive-thru, and commission members, including Chairperson Robert Melosky, suggested the possibility of removing at least a dozen parking spaces and amending traffic patterns to help prevent congestion.

However, Flath noted that quick-service restaurants have a much higher turnover of customers, who like to grab their food and go, and parking is “sensitive in that area.”

The Westgate shopping center, which is being redeveloped on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem, is seen on Thursday. (Ryan Kneller/The Morning Call)

“If you reduce 12 spaces, you’re talking about possibly a catastrophic reduction right in front of all those restaurants,” Flath said.

Other upcoming changes at Westgate include 10,000 square feet of space at the south end of the shopping center — which previously housed Rite Aid — being leased to Oak Street Health primary care medical facility (no tentative opening date has been announced); an international quick-service hamburger chain, which has signed a lease to build a free-standing, 4,500-square-foot retail pad at the northern corner of the center, in front of Weis; and a financial institution, which has signed a lease to develop a free-standing, 3,500-square-foot building on the former Dempsey’s restaurant pad.

The latter two projects are pending site plan approval by the city, and Onyx hopes to commence development on them near the end of the year, Flath said.

Built in 1973 at Schoenersville and Catasauqua roads, Westgate continues to house more than a dozen tenants, including Westgate Jewelers, Holiday Hair, Subway, Hawk Music, Amateur Athlete, Westgate Pizza, Grand China Buffet & Grill, Johnny’s Bagels & Deli, GNC, Sky Zone Trampoline Park, Fine Wine & Good Spirits, Tantastic, Outlooks for Hair, Country Rose Florist, The Barber Shop, Panda Cleaners and New Sound Hearing Center.