Tag Archives: shopping

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Grocery wars: How many supermarket chains can Florida handle?

sprouts

The grocery store market in Florida seems as crowded as the line for a Publix sub at lunch time.

The giants like Publix and Walmart are still battling it out for the every day shopper, while the organic enthusiasts have Fresh Market and Whole Foods. Cult favorite Trader Joe’s made a big splash when it first entered Florida in 2012 and has been expanding ever since.

Then there’s the speciality players like wholesale clubs (Sam’s, Costco and BJ’s,) and bare bones discounters (Aldi, Save-a-lot). Even Winn Dixie is still with us.

Nevertheless, new upstarts think there’s room for them, and their arrival will give shoppers even more variety. So don’t be surprised to see Sprouts Farmers Market, Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare coming to Tampa Bay soon.

“There are so many brands trying to compete,” said Chuck Taylor senior vice president at Madison Marquette and the Florida director of the International Council of Shopping Centers. “It’s definitely a war, and it’s just starting.”

Read more here. 

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Bealls is going after millennials with new Bunulu store

bunulu

Bealls Inc. wants shoppers to think of its stores as more than just a place where grandma likes to shop.

So, the Bradenton-based retailer launched a new store concept this year, called Bunulu, which will sell activewear like yoga pants and bathing suits to moms and millennials. The first Bunulu store opened near Fort Myers last week. More are coming — stores will open in Jacksonville and Palm Beach by the end of the year. Another is expected to open later at Tampa’s International Plaza.

“Bunulu is for that outdoor, youth-minded person. We sell apparel and footwear but also accessories like Costa sunglasses, Garmins, GoPros and Yeti coolers,” said Lorna Nagler, president of Bealls Department Stores.

Bealls is the latest retailer to jump into the “athletic-leisure” game — an up-and-coming apparel trend made famous by retailers like Lululemon, known for charging $100 for yoga pants. But this new line of activewear isn’t just for the gym or the yoga studio. Women are wearing yoga pants and tank tops casually to drop their kids off at school, to go to Starbucks and the grocery store.

Read more here. 

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The shopping mall is dying? Not in Florida

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

american dream

When it opened in Sarasota County in October, the Mall at University Town Center was unique not just in Florida but nationally: the only enclosed mall to debut in the United States during 2014.

But with the economy rebounding strongly from the Great Recession — and even in the face of rapidly growing competition from the Internet challenging traditional malls — at least some players are thinking there are still opportunities to be had in that retail arena.

Some are thinking big in Florida — very big.

Triple Five, the international developer behind the Mall of America, has unveiled what it hopes will become a $4 billion mega center and amusement park in Miami.

The aptly named “American Dream” would be a 200-acre shopping center with attached carnival rides that would blend two of the state’s strongest economic sectors: retail and tourism along the Florida Turnpike and Interstate 75 near Miami Lakes.

The mall — purportedly to feature sea lions, submarines and a ski slope — would be larger than the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, which is 4.2 million square feet with 520 stores and 50 restaurants.

American Dream could continue the Sunshine State’s run of proposing and building enclosed shopping centers at a time when malls and retailers are shuttering their stores in them faster than ever across the country.

Read more here.

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Nordstrom could save Southgate Mall, but opening is unlikely

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA – It’s a rumor that began as an offhand comment from one retail developer to another.

But it took on a life of its own from there.

The possibility of Nordstrom, the Seattle-based, high-end department store chain, coming to Sarasota County was too good to keep quiet for too long.

But it’s not exactly the story one would expect.

Nordstrom, along with its luxury competitor, Neiman Marcus, were slated to anchor the Mall at University Town Center when plans for the $315 million mall were still in its infancy six years ago. But both brands abandoned those notions during the Great Recession as their interest in expanding into the Sarasota market fizzled out.

Southwest Florida residents would continue to drive to Tampa’s International Plaza to the north, or Naples’ Waterside Shops to the south for Nordstrom’s one-of-a-kind customer experience, as they’ve always done.

But now, people are talking about Nordstrom opening a department store in Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall. Nordstrom would reportedly take over the 97,000-square-foot anchor shell left vacant by Dillard’s, which departed Southgate late last year after opening a new two-story store in the Mall at University Town Center.

Read more 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.