Retail Update

“Look at your shopping centers.  Are they going down?  Or coming back?” With this simple query, Todd Mathes—the director of development for Benderson Development—prefaced his recent update on the retail market in Sarasota-Manatee before an audience of over 200 agents from Michael Saunders & Company. Everyone already knew the answer, of course. For not only has the region’s explosion of new, high-quality retail been the subject of countless updates in the news media, but is also being observed closely by some of the biggest names in international luxury retailing and commercial development. The Mall at University Town Center Nearly all of this interest has something to do with the imminent debut of the Mall at University Town Center, Benderson Development’s latest contribution to Sarasota’s growing reputation as the best place to live, work, play—and now shop—in the State of Florida.  The mall, whose grand opening is on the calendar for October 16, is the only enclosed mall being built in the United States this year.  Moreover, its stores are being populated by some of the most sought-after names in luxury retailing and fine dining.  Indeed, The Wall Street Journal noted that Taubman Centers Inc., co-developer of the new mall, is doing “something that is rarely seen these days in the retail world: opening a new regional mall.” While the media spotlight has largely been focused on the new mall for dramatically altering the region’s retail landscape, other areas of new retail development—especially along the U.S. 41 corridor from Casey and Siesta Keys to downtown Sarasota—are beginning to command their share of attention. Rebranding Shopping Centers Benderson is also behind the redevelopment and rebranding of several older shopping centers in South Sarasota.  One of them, Pelican Plaza will host added locations for Total Wine & More—its second Sarasota store—and for Sports Authority, its eighth location in the Sarasota-Manatee region.  Plans are also afoot for a new 250,000 square foot retail, hotel and lifestyle center at the intersection of Stickney Point Road and U.S. 41.  To be called Sarasota Promenade, the center will house a blend of shops, restaurants and lodging; and be situated just a stone’s throw from the tourist-packed beaches of Siesta Key. Such time-tested shopping destinations as the Westfield Southgate mall are also stepping up their game to compete effectively amid the swirl of new retail choices. Re-branded as Westfield Siesta Key the mall—as its new name implies—is undergoing an extensive renovation even as it refines its mix of restaurants and retail stores to more conveniently serve the upscale residents and tourists who reside on the nearby barrier islands or closer-in to downtown Sarasota. Long Term Investments in the Region The point here is not to list every new retail development currently on tap for the region; as such a list would exceed the limits of this column.  What it does intend to point out is that retailers—especially those behind some of the world’s best known luxury brands—do not enter new markets based on a whim, or even on an educated guess.  They only open where their own extensive, in-house research tells them that shoppers exist in sufficient and growing quantities to immediately support their investment; and keep it profitable over the long term. Lest anyone believe that this massive new boom in retail will be unsupportable once the novelty of these new shopping venues wears off, a recent study commissioned by the city of Sarasota found just the opposite.   Robert Gibbs, the retail consultant who conducted the local market analysis, reports that the resumption of economic and population growth in the Sarasota-Manatee market has created enough new retail demand to support the equivalent of another new regional mall, in addition to the Mall at University Town Center. Far from becoming over-retailed we have, in fact, been under-retailed; and are doing a splendid job of catching up.