Category Archives: Blog roll

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The downtown question mark

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA – Some local business owners and chain stores are flocking to University Parkway and Interstate 75 to be a part of the buzz surrounding the new Mall at University Town Center.

Others want to avoid it completely.

The only certainty is that Southwest Florida’s retail scene is undergoing a potentially seismic shift.

How downtown Sarasota, poised before the Great Recession to be the shopping and dining epicenter of the county, fares once the dust settles is still anybody’s guess.

Sarasota-Bradenton is the only place in the country getting a new, enclosed mall this year.

The mall arrives as the region’s existing players are being forced by a host of forces to think outside the box to remain relevant.

Westfield Group’s Southgate mall property, for instance, is becoming an outdoor complex called “Westfield Siesta Key.”

Sarasota Square mall is being renovated to fit a new 21,000-square-foot H&M apparel store and is courting other future tenants.

More retail seems to just keep coming.

“Shopping patterns are going to change, though we don’t know exactly how just yet,” said Jeff Green, a Phoenix-based retail analyst who is familiar with Southwest Florida’s offerings.

“Unfortunately, though, it is clear that downtown is one of the areas that will be hit the hardest.”

Read more here.

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Sarasota’s name recognition grows with top 10 lists

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

SARASOTA COUNTY – In August, Sarasota was named both the “sexiest small city in America” and the “top place to retire” in the United States.

Something of a paradox?

Maybe.

But Virginia Haley doesn’t care.

“Now that we’ve cracked the top 10 lists, I think it subtly validates our destination — even the gimmicky ones,” said Haley, president of Visit Sarasota, the county’s tourism agency. “I don’t think anyone is going to look at one of these lists and book a vacation, but over time, they’ll remember our destination because they’re hearing about it over and over again.”

Meanwhile, the online ranking accolades — though often strange when combined — have continued to pile up in Southwest Florida. Sarasota, its hotels, beaches and other venues have seen a steady rise in top rankings year after year. Though some may hold more weight than others, each has a positive impact.

The serious “listing” began in 2011, when Siesta Beach was named the No. 1 beach destination in the nation by Florida International University scientist Dr. Stephen Leatherman, aka “Dr. Beach.”

That coveted title, which still adorns signs on Siesta Key roadways, promotional pamphlets and tourism and hotel websites, put Sarasota County on the tourism map, so to speak.

Read more here.

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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.