Tag Archives: business journalism

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Foundation raises funds for Nathan Benderson Park

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

A new foundation headed by community and political leaders has raised $3.5 million for Nathan Benderson Park and hopes to raise at least $11 million in private donations for the emerging international rowing venue over the next 12 months.

The Nathan Benderson Park Foundation, headed by Randy Benderson of the Manatee County-based real estate firm, aims to be the fundraising arm that will draw the private financial support needed to complete the rowing facility’s major structures. The nonprofit organization, which is separate from the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates — another nonprofit that is responsible for the park operations — will continue to raise donations to help build towers at the start and finish lines, a boathouse and several other buildings at the park.

“When the Sarasota Scullers Rowing Club came to us with an idea for the rowing park, we never thought this would become what it is now — one of the top facilities in the world,” Benderson said. “While the foundation is only a month old, we’ve been talking about fundraising efforts and working hard to get to this point.”

The foundation hopes to raise $5 million to $6 million by the start of 2015, said Mike Bennett, a former state senator and the Manatee County elections supervisor who was named to the foundation’s inaugural board.

Read more here.

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What’s In Store video series debuts

My retail blog and column brand, What’s In Store, expanded to include a weekly video series this week.

Every week I’ll take readers on a tour of a new store or give them retail news that is unique to the coverage we do in print and on the blog.

“Check back every week for a round up of the top retail news through a new video series with retail reporter, Justine Griffin.

Interested in being apart of the What’s in Store video series? Pitch your story ideas to Justine directly by emailing her here.”

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Florida Mall Series: The state of the state’s shopping malls

My column which appeared in the Herald-Tribune on Tuesday, Aug. 19, to promote my mall series coming that weekend.

Coming soon: A report on the state of the state’s retail

Earlier this summer, I hit the road to check out some of Florida’s coolest shopping centers.

… You can read about the malls in a two-part retail series for the Herald-Tribune, which begins Sunday. The Herald-Tribune is committed to covering retail news as it happens, and will soon debut a new way for readers to catch up on all the shopping news in Southwest Florida. So stay tuned.

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Part One: Southwest Florida malls evolving with clients in mind

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune. Published: Aug. 24, A1

Editor’s Note: Retail reporter Justine Griffin toured shopping malls across the state this summer. This story is the first installment of a two-part series looking at malls and how they’ve changed over the years.

The shopping scene in Southwest Florida is about to change as we know it, as retailers and mall operators brace for the entrance of a behemoth new player.

Opening in 53 days, the $315 million Mall at University Town Center — packed with tenants like Apple, Crate & Barrel and Saks Fifth Avenue — will become the most upscale retail center between Tampa and Naples and the only new traditional mall opening in the country.

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Part Two: Shopping Malls evolve to stay relevant

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune. Published Aug. 25.

Editor’s Note: Retail reporter Justine Griffin toured shopping malls across the state this summer. This is the second of two stories looking at shopping malls and how they have changed over the years.

South Florida is the state’s shopping mecca.

International travelers flock to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach to buy from the dozen shopping centers that dot the tri-county area.

These shopping malls, which range from upscale to outlet, are some of the busiest and most cutting edge in the country.

Sawgrass Mills is a massive outlet mall in Broward County with more than 2,383,906 square feet of space. And there’s Aventura Mall, situated between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, which offers one of the most upscale experiences in the nation.

But South Florida is not immune to the struggles that the retail industry has faced since the Great Recession.

Sales dipped and once successful brand names, like department store Lord & Taylor, shuttered amid the downturn. But the market has rebounded in recent years, and several new properties have opened.

Southwest Florida isn’t all that different.

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DeSoto Square Mall going up for sale again

BRADENTON – After just a year and a half of ownership, DeSoto Square Mall’s owner is taking a shot at selling the dilapidated retail center at auction.

The 680,271-square-foot mall in Bradenton, anchored by Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Sears, is listed on websites like auction. com with a starting bid of $9 million for the entire 73.5-acre parcel.

In February, Hudson’s Furniture took over the former Dillard’s two-story, 110,000-square-foot space.

The auction advertisement from Great Neck, New York-based Mason Asset Management claims that DeSoto Square Mall is 30 miles south of downtown Tampa and “services a dense and mature trade area in excess of 500,000 residents who possess above average income levels.”

The auction is scheduled to begin in about a month.

“The word ‘auction’ denotes a certain amount of desperation,” said Barry Seidel, the president of American Property Group of Sarasota Inc. “It means they weren’t able to sell the center in a traditional method, so this is the alternative.”

Read more here.

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Additional Desoto Square Mall coverage:

Desoto Square’s future in flux, Aug. 1, 2014

The future of DeSoto Square Mall was up in the air, a day after an online auction closed and Macy’s, the property’s premier tenant, announced an exit plan.

Highest bid for Desoto Square Mall: $33.75 million, July 31, 2014

An auction to sell off Bradenton’s DeSoto Square Mall closed Thursday with the highest bid at $33.75 million — on the same day the retail center’s premier anchor, Macy’s, announced it would be vacating for good.

$10 million bid for Desoto Square Mall, July 30, 2014

DeSoto Square Mall may have attracted a potential buyer two days into its three-day online auction. The Bradenton mall had a current bid of $10 million at the end of the second day of the auction period, which began on Tuesday.

Hudson Furniture moving into Desoto Square, Feb. 15, 2014

A Florida-based furniture chain will take over the former Dillard’s department store anchor space at DeSoto Square Mall in April.

Hudson’s Furniture, an Ormond Beach-based furniture-and-home-furnishings retailer with stores in the Tampa Bay, Orlando and Ormond Beach markets, will open a two-story, 110,000-square-foot store in DeSoto Square Mall.

Desoto Square changes little after sale, Nov. 12, 2013

It’s been nearly a year since Simon Property Group sold the ailing DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton.

And in a year’s time, new owners Mason Asset Management hasn’t done a whole lot to update the mall and its perception in the community, despite a successful track record of taking older properties similar to DeSoto Square and giving them a facelift.

 

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Jim Romenesko feature: Mall story front page print design

My story about a new mall in development in Sarasota was featured on Jim Romenesko because of its unique design in print.

herald

The Herald-Tribune ran the story horizontally with a panoramic shot of the mall down the rail.

Here’s a link to the story: Four months early, University Town Center looks ready for shoppers