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St. Johns Town Center open

BosTech

By BosTech
in Jacksonville

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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Like I said from the beginning, a lifestyle center is nothing but an updated version of a regular shopping mall. It looks nicer, but the overall concept is the same....chain stores surrounded by a sea of parking. It wouldn't have made much business sense, for the developer, to put an urban center, complete with parking garages, in the middle of suburbia.

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Fruit Cove Hamlet

Fruit Cove

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i went to the town center today after a soccer game and as much as i hate to say it, its amazing. it has baiscally every store you can think of and some actual nice restaurants, i was shocked. and it isnt completely open yet, a lot of construction is still happenig and the main walk-through shopping area is closed. i heard a rumor it was supposed to be open the 18th, this could be common knowledge so if it is sorry for wasting your time.

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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All signs point to Nordstrom and Macy's at Town Center

I'm taking a chance today to predict that Nordstrom Inc. and Macy's will be the first upper-tier department stores to announce plans for the second phase of St. Johns Town Center, which opens its first phase of about 110 stores and restaurants this morning.

While Neiman Marcus could be the third, there are new developments that might affect that.

On one hand, Neiman might be encouraged to join Nordstrom and Macy's if those retailers are successful, but on the other, Neiman announced this week it was considering a possible sale of the company. There's also the question whether Jacksonville has enough high-income consumers and visitors, although we're told that the area makes a respectable showing.

St. Johns Town Center should soon announce the construction start on its second phase, and I predict Nordstrom and Macy's could announce plans this summer. The center is at Butler Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff road.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Willey at Seattle-based Nordstrom said in December that the company was considering a store at the St. Johns Town Center, but she said Nordstrom does not confirm a site until it signs a letter of intent. Construction then takes about two years.

Spokeswoman Deniz Anders said this week that Willey is no longer with the company but that "nothing has changed" since December regarding the comments. "As you know, we don't typically discuss possible new store locations until we have some sort of signed letter of intent, but I can tell you that we don't have any current plans to open in Jacksonville at St. Johns."

We've heard that Nordstrom employees at stores in Florida and Georgia are telling visiting Jacksonville shoppers that Nordstrom announced internally that it would open in Jacksonville.

As for Macy's, it is owned by Federated Stores Inc., which also owns Miami-based Burdines Inc. and is buying May Department Stores Co. Federated has been changing the names of its stores to Macy's.

Burdines has long confirmed interest in Jacksonville. In December, former senior marketing vice president Carey Watson said Burdines-Macy's wanted "a major presence" in Jacksonville and that the area "can support more than one store."

"Jacksonville is the single biggest opportunity for us in Florida," he said.

His successor, Lisa Kauffman, said recently that the Federated-May merger hasn't changed the corporate position.

There are more Macy's signals, such as its image ads on cable television shows aired in Jacksonville. Readers in Jacksonville also report they are receiving direct mail and e-mail from Macy's.

St. Johns Town Center developers said they were talking to Macy's, Nordstrom and Dallas-based Neiman Marcus. However, Neiman Marcus Group Inc. confirmed Wednesday that it was exploring "various strategic alternatives" that could include a possible sale of the company, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

A Neiman spokeswoman said last week that she had "no knowledge at this point" of interest in Jacksonville.

Birmingham-based Saks Inc. also has been mentioned by St. Johns developers, although Saks spokeswoman Julia Bentley said recently she had no comments about a store in Jacksonville. Saks has been reassessing its locations.

karen.mathisjacksonville.com, (904) 359-4305

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor..._18251318.shtml.

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Viper Burg

Viper

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I have a feeling they will all come, pending mergers and legalities. the Jacksonville market has too much potential and disposable income for them to keep passing it up. Ponte Vedre is pretty close to the Town Center and the average new home sold for a over a million dollars the past several years.

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