Southgate Mall's Williams-Sonoma sets closing date for UTC move

CHARLES SCHELLE/Bradenton Herald

Another store at the Westfield Southgate Mall in Sarasota has set its closing date in preparation for a move to the Mall at University Town Center.

Williams-Sonoma has a sign at its store front telling customers it will close Oct. 1 so it can open its new store inside of the Mall at UTC on Oct. 16. 

The cooking specialty store joins Saks Fifth Avenue, announcing a firm closing date at Southgate. Saks told the Bradenton Herald earlier this month that it will close at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 and transfer all remaining merchandise to the new store.

Expect more of these types of announcements as Tuesday will mark 30 days until the new mall opens. It would appear that Dillard's is a good candidate to make such an announcement. 

After Labor Day, the Bradenton Herald also reported how the Southgate Dillard's hasn't received a shipment of new inventory in months and many racks had sales of 65 percent off. Many of those racks remain well after Labor Day, but the biggest difference is that the racks and shelves are noticeably empty and thin. The store could either close or become a clearance center, but no official announcement has been made.

The Mall at UTC Dillard's will be the Little Rock, Ark., company's first new store opening in the U.S. since 2010.