Will the last person leaving the World Golf Village please turn out the lights?
QuoteThe PGA Tour Stop shop at the World Golf Village is closing its doors permanently at the end of November.
Officials with W.C. Bradley, which owns the store, have told their employees and officially announced that the store will close as the lease ends Nov. 30. The store opened in 1998 and is essentially a 31,000-square-foot golf shop that features "an unforgettable shopping and sporting experience," according to its website.
But W.C. Bradley officials say the company is focusing on global market expansion through third-party retailers and a specialty shop is not part of the company's core vision
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-10-09/story/pga-tour-stop-shop-world-golf-village-closing-nov-30
(http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-10-09/story/pga-tour-stop-shop-world-golf-village-closing-nov-30)
Every time I have been there ( World Golf Village) it has been dead. I go to the Imax and to the Murray Brothers Restaurants few times a year. Definitely not what they thought it would turn out to be.
I believe that when they designed it, they tried too hard for an exclusive, ritzy feel and it just comes off as subpar. Most people I've been there with nickname it "Disney Golf" ... Everything feels fake. The residences are nice, but with Sawgrass and Amelia Island that niche market was already filled IMO. Then, they tried appealing to the "common golfer" but you can golf anywhere and everywhere. Why go to the pro shop when Dicks Sporting Goods has same merchandise and services at less expense?
I'd be interested to see what becomes of the space as there is a lot of homes in that area and it is still growing.
Its an OK development. My only gripe is that it takes 30 years to get to. The concept of that long bendy entry road that takes you by all of the neighborhoods (surely for the purpose of enticing visitors to buy a residence) is a pain in the ass. IMO, there needs to be a direct access off of WGV Blvd, or at least an access closer to the main road.
Also, in their defense, the commercial district across the street hasn't attracted the critical mass of workers and residents necessary to sustain the development. Things are coming along, just much more slowly than anticipated.
Somehow the store DID last ~15+ years. We used to love going to WGV every weekend when they did free fireworks in the summers. That seems like a prime spot if they could just land the right tenant. Maybe Bass Pro Shops Junior in the interim......