Tag Archives: Justine Griffin

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Marketplace shifts and the rise of a new, high-end competitor put a company’s powers of reinvention to a Sarasota test

In Southwest Florida, at least, Westfield Group is likely in the fight of its life.

The company isn’t just facing the challenges of a growing demographic for whom the traditional mall is not the center of the retail universe. Its Southgate and Sarasota Square complexes must soon confront the Mall at University Town Center, a $315 million project on University Parkway that promises to shift luxury retail gravity to a new hub.

Already, the project by Manatee County’s Benderson Development Co. and Michigan-based Taubman Centers Inc. has claimed several of Southgate’s tenants. Indeed, the Mall at University Town Center’s key anchor, Saks Fifth Avenue, will close its 40,000-square-foot store in Southgate when the new mall opens in October.

Others jumping ship include Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Gap, Express and Gymboree.

But Westfield, a 55-year-old Australian company whose roots stretch back to the suburbs of Sydney, has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to changing times, fierce competitors and new geographies.

The global shopping center manager — it now has more than 100 malls scattered around the globe — has developed a knack for remaking its properties, whether by redeveloping existing centers to fit a different mold, or adding unlikely tenants like Costco or Target to fill vacancies and draw new customers.

“Westfield has been very innovative in the past, and brought new life into old formats,” said Jeff Green, an analyst with Phoenix-based Jeff Green Partners who closely traffics the retail trade in Southwest Florida.

It will need that inventiveness to preserve regional shopping destinations that have served Sarasota County for decades.

Read more here.

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Business inspired by daughter’s short life

jim russ

Photo by Dan Wagner

 

By Justine Griffin for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA — Shopping was a favorite pastime for Amber Lanelle Russ, Jim Russ’s daughter, and an activity the pair loved to do together.

They would cruise through the aisles of Walmart and Dollar General stores in Sarasota, Amber happy to just be with her father, who pushed her wheelchair for hours, even though they would rarely come home with lots of merchandise.

Amber Russ was in need of that chair all of her life. Though she could not talk or see very much because of conditions that included epilepsy, cortical blindness and scoliosis, she always smiled when she was out shopping in the community with her father.

“If you’ve ever shopped with a child in a wheelchair, you know you need bags that can hang easily from the back of the chair,” Russ said. “We always used the reusable grocery bags and, eventually, we started personalizing them.”

That began when Amber came home from Oak Park School in Sarasota with a new drawing or painting she had done in class. Russ would staple his daughter’s artwork to the tote bags as a way to brighten them up. One day, he stapled a picture of Amber’s beagle, Snoopy, to a bag.

“It seemed to brighten her day,” Russ said.

Amber passed away in 2011, just a month shy of her 21st birthday. Despite his grief, something told Russ to continue to make the bags he had used with his daughter.

“About four months after she died, I could feel her talking to me, saying, ‘Daddy, work on those bags,’ ” Russ said. “So for some odd reason, I did.”

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Total Wine & More to open Sarasota store

 

total wine

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune.

Total Wine & More will open its second store in Southwest Florida on U.S. 41 in the recently renovated Pelican Plaza.

The wine, liquor and beer retailer — known for its affordable prices and expansive selection of alcoholic beverages — will open a 20,000-square-foot store next to Sports Authority, which the Herald-Tribune reported in February would arrive at Pelican Plaza.

Total Wine operates another store in the Shoppes at University Town Center (next to Nordstrom Rack,) that has been very successful.

The new Total Wine will compete with Costco Wholesale, next door inside Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall.

Read more here.

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Drivers, don’t fret — Gas prices should ease further

blaserPhoto by Mike Lang, Herald-Tribune staff

Story by Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune.

John Blaser cringes every time he pulls into a gas station.

As the owner of a Sarasota-based landscaping company, he is on the road a lot, moving from one job to the next.

But lately, he has been feeling the pinch at the pump, as gas prices peaked last week at an average of $3.78 per gallon.

“I just don’t want to see it at $4.10 a gallon by the end of summer,” said Blaser, who owns Native Son Landscaping, which services Sarasota and Manatee counties. “The gas market is volatile. I know prices will fluctuate and eventually go down again, but I doubt it will go down that much.”

Drivers, rest assured: Prices will likely drop some and stabilize for the summer, analysts say, as oil refineries switch from a winter blend to a summer blend of gas. The Sarasota-Venice-Bradenton market felt some relief this week — prices hovered in the $3.73 range — but retail prices are still 30 cents more than they were a year ago, AAA data shows.

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Former administrator sues Sarasota airport authority

Story by Justine Griffin & Gabrielle Russon for the Herald-Tribune.

Former Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport administrator Michael Walley is suing the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority and the airport’s chief executive, claiming they interfered with his business relationships, concealed the capabilities of a computer program on shared electronic devices, caused him emotional distress and defamed him.

Walley — who worked as the airport’s director of development and community relations for 10 years and reported to CEO Frederick “Rick” Piccolo — left his position in January 2013.

In a lawsuit filed in Sarasota County circuit court earlier this month, Walley details allegations that he says ultimately led to his resignation.

The former airport executive is suing for defamation after Piccolo told the Herald-Tribune Walley left his post because he made a “grave mistake.” At the time, Piccolo would not elaborate for the April 15, 2013, story.

As the director of development — earning $113,119 per year — Walley spent a decade and nearly $1 million to help land foreign flights and bring new air carriers to airport, which aside from a few seasonal Canadian flights, is international in name only.

Read more here.