Located on Highway 12, the new Triangle Crossing shopping center will begin opening the doors of stores in the plaza this fall.
Five Below opened on Sept. 2.
Other stores such as Ulta Beauty, Marshalls, Sports Clips, Aspen Dental, Rack Room Shoes, Aldi and PetSmart will be opening later this year.
Sam Berry, senior development manager at Rise Properties, said his company has helped develop nationwide shopping centers similar to Triangle Crossing.
“Through those years and relationships made, we got pulled into this project through a mutual friend of ours, Mark Castleberry,” Berry said.
Berry worked within the development as a project manager.
“ … There was an existing 9000-foot manufacturing building on the property. We actually recycled that building through the state’s Brownfield Remediation Program,” Berry said.
Mark Castleberry, a property developer and owner of Castle Properties, said the land was originally purchased for the development in 2019.
While Five Below opened this month, Castleberry said the other larger retail stores in the center will begin to open in October. This includes Marshalls, Ulta Beauty, PetSmart, Rack Room Shoes and Aldi.
“There will be a few stores, which we refer to as ‘the shops.’ This will be, like, El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant, and I believe it will not open until November,” Castleberry said.
Castleberry said Triangle Crossing will provide significant employment opportunities. 
“That center will employ as many as maybe 200 people, and it’s estimated to generate about $35 million in total sales,” Castleberry said.
Kory Moorhead, a student at Heritage Academy, recently shopped at Five Below and said she was a fan of the store prior to its Starkville debut.
Moorhead said she was excited to see new stores opening but hoped this would not affect older stores in the community.
“I grew up coming to Starkville for (Mississippi) State games, and I’m glad that older stores are still here — like the army supply store. I bought my first ukulele there,” Moorhead said.
Being from Columbus, Moorhead said she applied to attend Mississippi State University in the fall because there was so much available in Starkville.
“We have pretty much everything here, but if I had to say, I think we could use a Target,” Moorhead said.
Sam McReynolds, a senior at Starkville High School, had similar feelings about the new plaza.
“I am excited because it’s not a super big city. Since it’s a college town, I feel like we should have more stores,” McReynolds said.
While she has yet to visit, McReynolds said she was most excited about the opening of Five Below. She also she she hoped to visit PetSmart soon.
“I’m super excited for PetSmart just so I can see the animals and be able to buy stuff for my animals,” McReynolds said.
She said she believed the new business additions would bring in more students to the university and the city.
Castleberry said his company, Castleberry Properties, had six other projects under contract or negotiation in Starkville.
“None are as big as that, but we’re very, very strong on Starkville. It’s our home,” Castleberry said.