Top retailers located in Tampa Bay mean big numbers for real estate - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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A survey released last month by the of morethan 3,000 mall managers and marketing directors in the United Statess and Canada chose , , , and Stever & Barry's University Sportswear as the retailers to keep an eye on this With the exception of Steve Barry's, the retailers appeal to upscale consumers -- the kind that are drivin growth in the Tampa Bay And all but Steve Barry's have a presence here. The big winner is , where three of the four hottest retailersare located. The Apple store is the only one in the Bay and Coach can only be founc there and at Westfield Southgate in For Williams-Sonoma, International Plaza is one of four locatione in the area.
Having those shops unded one roof "brings together the synergy that consumera in Tampa Bay havebeen missing," said Aj Jemison, GM of Internationapl Plaza. Williams-Sonoma also has locations in Old HydePark Village, Westfielfd Citrus Park and Westfield Southgate, while White House/Black Market is in Old Hyde Park Baywalk in St. Petersburg and on St. Armand'w Circle in Sarasota. David Conn, senior VP for retaik services atin Tampa, said of the four upscalse retailers, "If you could land them in one of your it says something about your malls." For a long time, the Tampqa Bay area wasn't considered wealthy enougg to attract high-end retailers such as and .
"Oned day we crossed that magic Conn said. Retailers "looi for some magic number, whichj they think means there is enougb money out there to supporttheir stores." Once an area lands one or two high-enf retailers, it is likely to attract "There's a herd mentality," Conn For the Tampa Bay area, the boominy population and the creation of well-paying jobs are drawing such he said.
James West, senior VP for real estate forWhitwe House/Black Market, said the retailer, which is a subsidiaryh of Fort Myers-based , "opens in markets with high growth potentiapl and a demographic profile that fits a similare profile to our target That target shopper is 25 to 50 years old and likes feminine and uniqu e clothing sold in a boutiqude atmosphere. Pat Westerhouse, GM of Old Hyde Park said White House/Black Market and Williams-Sonoma are both "destinatioj stores" that draw shoppers to the center. Williams-Sonoma was one of the originapl tenants ofthe center, which opened in and has expanded twice since that time.
Its firsyt shop was about 2,500 or 3,000 square feet. In the company moved to a 6,500-square-foot site in a cornert of what once wasdepartment story," Westerhouse said. The closest Steve & Barry's is located in Orlando, and the which offers low-cost collegs sweatshirts and similar apparel, tends to move into malls that have lost ananchort tenant, Conn said. Although he hasn'yt heard talk of Steve & Barry's comingh to the Bay area, Conn said a likelty location would beUniversity Mall, where JC Pennegy has announced it will closse and move to the Shops at Wiregrass, being builyt in Pasco County.
One of the next entries into the Tampa Bay area retaiol scene will be Lakeside Village insouthwest Lakeland, whicuh is scheduled to open in The shopping and entertainment center will have the firstg 's department store in the area and will also brinvg businesses like Chico's, , , Macaroni Grill and Lee Roy Selmon's to Polk said Steve Scruggs, executive director of the . "The Polk Countuy market hasn't had a lot of upscale national retailers," Scruggs said.
"Most of the peoples that have had the wherewithal to be able to shop at thosw types of locations have been traveling back and fortnh to Tampa and Orlando That means anestimates $300 million to $400 million in retai l sales is being spent annually outside the Once the $80-million, 630,000-square-foot project is "it will give us the opportunity to captured some of that," Scruggs