Nordstrom confirmed for St. Johns Town Center

[Wacca Pilatka]

Very nice.  I think the garage will come once the land gets more scarce. 

So in 2025 if the town center lasts that long?

If it lasts that long? I don't get it...

In the year 2025, if the Town Center is still alive, if man can survive, we may find............

[Captain Zissou]

Very nice.  I think the garage will come once the land gets more scarce. 

So in 2025 if the town center lasts that long?

If it lasts that long? I don't get it...

Town Center will be about 22 years old then.  That's post middle age for shopping malls.  That will be a very crucial point in time that determines whether town center turns into Regency or something special due to smart growth planning. 

I am more excited about the 'other specialty retailers' proposed in this wing.

[MelMel]

How exciting!

[blizz01]

From the Business Journal:

Site plan reveals more details for planned Nordstrom

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/2012/09/site-plan-reveals-more-details-for.html

The new anchor will be surrounded by about 35,000 square feet of smaller shops and the site plan names New Balance, Disney, Rosenblum's, Free People, Sperry, G by Guess and Arhaus as potential small-shop tenants.

[Captain Zissou]

Interesting new tenants.  Disney, New Balance, and Sperry don't seem to fit with the high end nature of that end of the strip.  I have no idea about the others.  I hope this is a new store for Rosenblums and they that they are keeping their other two locations open.

[copperfiend]

Town Center will be about 22 years old then.  That's post middle age for shopping malls.  That will be a very crucial point in time that determines whether town center turns into Regency or something special due to smart growth planning. 

I am more excited about the 'other specialty retailers' proposed in this wing.

They'll be fine. The Avenues has been around 22 years, right? And they are adding national tenants.

[blizz01]

If I had to guess, they have those retailers locked up; but I could see some unit swapping before this next phase is completed.  I noticed an unnamed "Coffee Shop" as well.  Maybe it's time for Caribou - or, better yet, BOLD BEAN!

[ben says]

Interesting new tenants.  Disney, New Balance, and Sperry don't seem to fit with the high end nature of that end of the strip.  I have no idea about the others.  I hope this is a new store for Rosenblums and they that they are keeping their other two locations open.

I have good information that suggests if Rosenblums moves to the Town Center, they'll be closing their San Jose Blvd store. That's unfortunate, in my opinion--I like the San Jose store. I get the feeling (because I've asked) that many won't make the trek to Rosenblums if they move to SJTC. Just not convenient.

[Ocklawaha]

Finally a place that could REALLY use a covered, all weather, fixed, captive, transit system... and we're all talking parking lots, grassy fields and garages. Way to go Town Center/Jacksonville, someone call me when it starts raining common sense.

The above photos (both Los Angeles area malls) prove that mall developers think (rightly so) that Jacksonville shoppers are so desperate and/or unsophisticated so as to not need or desire more amenities in their shopping experiences. In spite of Los Angles having a FAR more congenial climate for walking the mile, the malls are in a gloves off competition to the top. To our south Orlando, Miami, and of course Boca Raton, Miami, Palm Beach and Coral Springs, all have properties and tenants that blow us back to the dark ages. Darn shame there isn't a button we could push to bring things into a tighter focus.

[spuwho]

Finally a place that could REALLY use a covered, all weather, fixed, captive, transit system... and we're all talking parking lots, grassy fields and garages. Way to go Town Center/Jacksonville, someone call me when it starts raining common sense.

The above photos (both Los Angeles area malls) prove that mall developers think (rightly so) that Jacksonville shoppers are so desperate and/or unsophisticated so as to not need or desire more amenities in their shopping experiences. In spite of Los Angles having a FAR more congenial climate for walking the mile, the malls are in a gloves off competition to the top. To our south Orlando, Miami, and of course Boca Raton, Miami, Palm Beach and Coral Springs, all have properties and tenants that blow us back to the dark ages. Darn shame there isn't a button we could push to bring things into a tighter focus.

I agree with Ock. SJTC didn't have the density originally to support anything trolley wise, but now that they are adding another anchor (and room for another) perhaps a people mover should at least be considered. (not a bus driven clone)

The problem is they want to keep that tenant space price competitive. If the tenants don't want to cover a people mover in their lease agreements under their CAM allocation, then someone has to pay for it. No one is going to park at Pollo Tropical and pay $3 for a ride over to Dick's. They would rather drive around the lot for 15 minutes to avoid the cost.

Christmas traffic will be problematic, but if they add another anchor in the SE quadrant it will get pretty close to gridlock during the holiday season. They need to look at the big picture and find a way to make it easier for shoppers to find parking in a more distributed way.

I have seen 3 near accidents coming and going out of the new Daily's on Gate in just 15 minutes. That was on Labor Day, imagine what Christmas will bring.

[JUGrad]

If I had to guess, they have those retailers locked up; but I could see some unit swapping before this next phase is completed.  I noticed an unnamed "Coffee Shop" as well.  Maybe it's time for Caribou - or, better yet, BOLD BEAN!

I wouldn't count on it.  While I would LOVE Bold Bean (my personal favorite) or Caribou to join, it will most likely be "eBar" which is Nordstrom's own cafe/coffee shop that they operate with their stores.  They're usually located adjacent to the mall entrances to their stores. 

I did see that their eBar's feature local ingredients and that their menus vary by region... so at least local flavors will be represented..... hopefully...

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/nordstrom-restaurants

[JeffreyS]

I like eBar and Nordstrom's cafe. I will bet you are correct.

[reednavy]

I like eBar and Nordstrom's cafe. I will bet you are correct.

Most likely since they did that with their most recent store opening in the country here in Nashville.

[simms3]

Congrats to Jacksonville.  I still won't be able to do any decent shopping when I come home as I am a loyal Bloomie's cardholder, but it's nice to know that the city can now officially support one decent department store.  Just for the record on the chain of command of the largest department stores to put things in perspective (all opinion of course):

1) Saks Fifth Ave/Neiman Marcus/Barney's New York
2) Bloomingdale's/Nordstrom/Barney's Co-op
3) Lord & Taylor/Macy's flagships
4) Dillards/Macy's/Von Maur
5) Belk/Macy's
6) JC Penney/Sears
7) Kohls

ebar is not a bad coffee shop at all and will be a good addition for the mall.

[fsujax]

I have always thought of Neiman Marcus as being a "you have arrived" in the retail world.