Manatee County
The Shapes Total Fitness gym at 8219 Cooper Creek Blvd., in University Park will close at the end of the month.
All Shapes memberships have been transferred to Crunch Gym, another chain of fitness facilities, at the 8440 Lockwood Ridge location.
Shapes is closing at the end of the month because of high rents in the Benderson Development-owned plaza near the Shoppes at University Town Center, employee confirmed. The closure and transfer to Crunch will only affect this specific Shapes location.
All Shapes members were given memberships that include unlimited classes and tanning at any Crunch gym nationwide, and a 1-hour complimentary training session with a Crunch personal trainer.
Crunch Gym has more than 100 locations worldwide, with franchisee owners in Florida and nearly a dozen other states.
Shapes Total Fitness is a women only fitness club with gym locations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Asics, a performance sporting goods store, will open an outlet store inside the Ellenton Premium Outlets on thursday.
The 2,669-square-foot store will carry athletic footwear, clothing and accessories for adults and children. In addition the story will carry Asics’ exclusive line of shoes and apparel under the Onitsuka Tiger name. Merchandise is for sale at discounts of up to 70 percent off.
To celebrate the grand opening, the Asics store is offering an additional 40 percent off lowest marked prices on clothing and buy one, get one 50 percent off deals on footwear.
This is the only Asics store in the region. The Japanese company has stores worldwide.
The Ellenton Premium Outlets in Manatee County has 130 outlet stores, including Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, Coach, J.Crew, Kate Spade New York, Kenneth Cole, Lacoste, Lucky Brand, Michael Kors, Movado, Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and more.
Photo provided by Ellention Premium Outlets
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Local real estate firm, Benderson Development, filed paperwork with Manatee County to add more retail place to its shopping center on Cooper Creek Boulevard earlier this month.
The company wants to add 6,600-square-feet of additional retail space and 1,766-square-feet of patio space near the Shoppes at University Town Center plaza at University Parkway and Cooper Creek Boulevard.
No tenant for the space has been announced.
The space is near the entrance to the shopping center, not far from the LA Fitness gym which opened last year. In June, HomeGoods announced it would open a store inside the Shoppes at UTC.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
E’s Best Barbecue sauce, made by a Palmetto-based company, is now available at The Fresh Market locations in the Tampa Bay area.
The locally owned barbecue sauce company has been producing authentic North Carolina styled smoky sauces for 25 years. E’s Best recently completed its 8th bottling of its original sauces at his Manatee County location. The company’s products are available in more than 50 different stores across five states.
“We are very excited that Fresh Market is stocking our sauces,” said Elmer Hilker, president, E’s Best. “The potential for growth is enormous and we look forward to a long and sustainable relationship. Our plan is to be in more Fresh Market stores.”
The finishing sauces will be available for taste testings during special demonstrations at The Fresh Market stores in the future.
E’s Best Barbecue sauces are now available at the following The Fresh Market locations:
- 25961 U.S. Highway 19, Clearwater
- 13147 North Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa
- 3722 Henderson Boulevard, Tampa
- 5251 University Parkway, Sarasota
- 6701 Manatee Ave West, Bradenton
Photo courtesy of E’s Best Barbecue
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
HomeGoods, a home furnishings chain, will open a new 20,000-square-foot store inside the Shoppes at University Town Center, a shopping plaza across from the new mall.
The home furnishings chain is taking over a space formerly occupied by Bealls Outlet, according to records with Manatee County building and development services. The space is currently being extended by 8,6000-square-feet to make the space a true 20,000 square feet in size before HomeGoods opens. The store is located in the same plaza as Nordstrom Rack, Total Wine & More and Marshalls, among several other retailers and restaurants.
HomeGoods operates two other locations in Southwest Florida – a store on Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota and another in Venice.
Bealls Outlet’s lease ended earlier this year and was not renewed.
HomeGoods is under parent company TJX Companies, which also operates Marshalls and TJ Maxx stores discount apparel stores. The chain has more than 400 stores nationwide.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Godiva, The Walking Company and Soma Intimates are three of several new tenants that have committed to opening new stores inside the Mall at University Town Center.
Soma, a women’s lingerie store; The Walking Company, a shoe and sandal retailer; Godiva, the longstanding chocolate company; will open new stores inside the mall being built at Interstate 75 and University Parkway. The national retailers join Boston Proper and Williams Sonoma, which filed building permits last week to build new stores inside the 880,000-square-foot mall.
Soma Intimates operates several stores in Southwest Florida already – a store on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, another on St. Armands Circle, a third inside Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall, and an outlet store inside the Ellenton Premium Outlets. The Walking Company has stores on St. Armands Circle and inside Southgate Mall, among other high end malls across the state.
This is the first Godiva location in Southwest Florida, although the sweets chain has other existing stores in the Tampa Bay market.
Soma and The Walking Company aren’t the first St. Armands retailers to show interest in expanding into the new mall. Boston Proper and others, have already committed to the new mall.
Coldstone Creamery, a national chain of ice cream shops with franchise locations, will also open up shop inside the new mall.
To see a slideshow of mall tenants, click here.
This slew of retailers join several other national brands – like Gymboree, Express, American Eagle Outfitters and Foot Locker, that have committed to opening an additional store in Southwest Florida market. Taubman Centers expects to open in October with 100 in-line tenants, including several that are new to the market, like Omega watch boutique, Apple, Anthropologie and Edward Beiner.
The $315 million mall project being developed by Manatee County-based Benderson Development and Taubman Centers, is the only enclosed mall scheduled to open this year in the U.S.
Photo by Dan Wagner, Herald-Tribune staff
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
A men’s salon will join a slew of national tenants at the Mall at University Town Center when it opens in October.
The Art of Shaving, a men’s shaving boutique, will open a 714-square-foot storefront inside the new mall, which is under construction at University Parkway and Interstate 75. The Art of Shaving experience offers spa-like services for men, like a $55 “Royal Shave” which lasts 45 minutes. A traditional 30-minute shave is $35.
The Art of Shaving opened their first location in New York City, after the founders met in Miami. The chain now boasts a variety of locations in Florida and more across the country. Most storefronts are in high-end malls, like International Mall, Aventura Mall and the Boca Town Center. The location at the Mall at University Town Center will be the chain’s 10th store in Florida.
To see a slideshow of mall tenants, click here.
The men-only salon concept has been growing in recent years. Just Gents in downtown Sarasota offer “malexclusive” services inside the salon on North Orange Avenue.
Photo by Chip Litherland, Herald-Tribune staff
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Wawa, the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain, is scheduled to open its third store in Manatee County as the company continues to expand into Southwest Florida.
The chain has submitted a site plan to Manatee County that shows the chain will open a convenience store and gas station at 5310 14th St. W., at the intersection of State Road 70 and U.S. 41. The site currently houses a mobile home park, which will be demolished so a 6,119-square-foot Wawa can be built.
Wawa has two other Bradenton locations in the works. One gas station will open at 701 First Street E., with 20 gas pumps and just under 6,000- square-feet of building space. The Wawa is taking over the former space of a shopping guide site, which has been vacant for at least three years.
Last June, the Bradenton City Council approved plans for Wawa to build on the site of a former Eckerd Drugs store at 4455 State Road 64.
There are no plans for a Wawa in Sarasota County yet.
Wawa has been aggressively expanding throughout Florida, with plans to open a dozen stores in the Orlando and Tampa markets, beginning in 2012.
Wawa is known for its cheap gas and restaurant-quality sandwich bar, fresh salads, breakfast bowls, signature coffees and smoothies, among other items not commonly seen at major convenience stores. The stores still carry traditional convenience store goods too, such as drinks, snacks and cigarettes.
The chain has a cult-like following similar to the super fans behind Trader Joe’s and Costco Wholesale, which opened their first stores in Southwest Florida in 2012.
Photo by Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Manatee County’s first Longhorn Steakhouse will open Monday, Feb. 17, in Bradenton.
The casual dining chain demolished the former site of Los Cabos Mexican Restuarant at 4502 14th St. W., last year and built a new 6,445-square-foot, 240-seat Longhorn Steakhouse in its place. The restaurant will employ 120 people.
The chain is known for its seasoned steaks and American West theme. The chain operates 445 restaurants in 38 states.
The restaurant will host a ribbon cutting on Monday at 10 a.m. to celebrate the grand opening.
In 2011, Manatee County attempted to lure the chain to the Bradenton area by offering road impact fee incentives and set funds aside to reward job creation. The restaurant was supposed to open at the intersection of 14th Street West and Cortez Road, but never came to fruition.
The chain has two Sarasota locations, on South Tamiami Trail and on Fruitville Road, and a half dozen other restaurants in the Tampa Bay area.
Photo courtesy of Longhorn Steakhouse
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
A brand new 45,000-square-foot Publix is set to open on Oct. 17 at State Road 70 and Lockwood Ridge Road in Bradenton.
The Benderson Development-owned plaza at4505 53rd Ave. E in east Manatee County was built from the ground up this year. Publix, the anchor in the plaza, will host a grand opening ceremony beginning with a ribbon cutting at 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17.
The first customers inside the store at 8 a.m. will receive a free reusable Publix bag.
Other national chain tenants coming to the plaza include Subway and Hair Cuttery.
Image courtesy of Benderson Development.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.