<p><strong>A new Texas mall that&#39;s counting on Mexican shoppers to cross the border</strong></p> <p><em>Paul O&#39;Donnell, Business Editor</em></p> <p>CNBC traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to tell the story of a new shopping mall that&#39;s banking on Mexican consumers to support it.</p> <p>The $120 million Outlet Shoppes at Laredo, developed by Horizon Group Properties and CBL &amp; Associates Properties, opened in March on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande with about 60 stores and restaurants.</p> <p>According to CNBC, the mall recently took in $4 million in sales in a two-week period &mdash; with about 40 percent of those being cash transactions. CNBC indicated that&#39;s a sign of Mexican consumer demand.</p> <p>Gary Skoien, CEO of Horizon Group Properties, told the business news cable network that the outlet center&#39;s opening came at a &quot;challenging&quot; time.</p> <p>&quot;It wasn&#39;t just the new administration,&quot; he told CNBC, in reference to President Donald Trump&#39;s tough talk about&nbsp;Mexico trade and immigration&nbsp;and his push to&nbsp;build a border wall. &quot;The peso has been weak for a couple of years now, which has hurt border shopping.&quot;</p> <p>Skoien said the developers chose Laredo because of Mexican consumers&#39; affinity for brand names that aren&#39;t as readily available in their country.</p> <p>The report also quoted Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz on the importance of Mexican shoppers to his city&#39;s economy. The city invested about $20 million to build out the infrastructure around the mall,&nbsp;according to the&nbsp;<em>Laredo Morning Times</em>.</p> <p>&quot;Our local economy is easily 40 percent or more dependent on the Mexican shopper,&quot; Saenz told CNBC.</p>