A LEADER IN RETAIL REAL ESTATE FEASIBILITY
Justine Griffin / Herald Tribune – With three retail centers in the works, including the only enclosed mall to open in the United States this year, retail is booming in Southwest Florida.
The question is, can Sarasota-Bradenton support the number of projects and dozens of new brands looking to enter the market?
Robert Gibbs, retail consultant with Gibbs Planning Group, thinks so — and more.
Justine Griffin / Herald Tribune – Bass Pro Shops’ entry into the Sarasota-Bradenton market came with a surprise: The megastore outdoor retailer bypassed the site of the much balleyhooed Mall at University Town Center for a rural development just one highway exit south at Fruitville Road.
Bass Pro Shops will open an 80,000-square-foot Outpost store and anchor a new 260,000-square-foot retail center called the Fruitville Commons off Interstate 75.
Justine Griffin / Herald Tribune – Southwest Florida, already flush with new arrivals, is poised to welcome even more new grocery brands as companies out West continue to expand into the Southeast.
Retail analysts buzzed about Sprouts Farmers Market last month at the International Council of Shopping Centers RECON convention in Las Vegas.
The boutique-like grocery chain concept out of Arizona competes with Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, and is now one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country with more than 170 stores in nine states.
Justine Griffin / Herald Tribune – Real estate developers and retail chain executives are cautiously optimistic that 2014 is the year for chain stores to expand into new markets and for overall industry growth.
With retail sales up in April more than 4.1 percent compared with a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers trade group, analysts are hopeful that more new business is on the horizon.
