Pre-plan shopping trip with map of Mall at University Town Center

Thanks to the great work of Bradenton Herald designer Alex Barrett, shoppers can try to navigate their first trip to the Mall at University Town Center.

The map below was created with information based on store announcements, interviews and permit information from Sarasota County Building and Development Services. Not all stores shown below will open on the mall's first day, Oct. 16. At least one restaurant confirmed as much, Beer and Burger Joint, which aims to open by Black Friday.

Spaces are shown to be representative of the mall and could change by opening, especially the size of the vacant spaces as permits continue to be filed. Mall officials expect store openings to last through spring of 2015.

Map of Mall at University Town Center

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.

Updated job listings for Mall at University Town Center

With Labor Day weekend here and the Mall at University Town Center opening in just under 50 days, I'm sharing the jobs information again for the mall as the original post is now buried on this blog.

Here's some basic places to search before we reach the comprehensive list I've rounded up below:

CareerSource Suncoast is listing mall jobs at www.jobsutc.com/jobs/. Not all jobs are listed there because it's up to the store to choose to list their jobs on that site.

Some of the stores are posting on Craigslist, but you will have to search for the mall keyword a couple different ways to find all of them. Try "Mall at University Town Center" "University Town Center" "University Parkway" and "Sarasota mall."

Here is a list of all the openings we could find online with links of where to apply:

Mall at UTC staff: Customer Service Manager, Customer Service Rep

Universal Protection Service (Mall at UTC retail security), full-time supervisor and full- and part-time officers

Aldo, various positions, send cover letter and resume to careers@aldogroup.com

Apple, all positions.

American Eagle Outfitters, sales associate and store management. (Search for Sarasota)

Ann Taylor, various positions

Anthropologie, management and supervisors

Art of Shaving, various positions,

Aveda, store management, retail associates,

Auntie Annes, management and staff

Bebe, various positions. Submit resume at https://rn12.ultipro.com/BEB1000B/JobBoard/NewCandidateExt.aspx?Page=Resume

Bose, store manager 

Boston Proper, assistant manager

Brighton Collectibles, assistant manager 

BRIO Tuscan Grille, various positions. (Hiring center to be set up Aug. 25 at Keiser University, 6151 Lake Osprey Drive, Lakewood Ranch.)

Brooks Brothers, tailor, visual coordinator, supervisor

Brow Art 23, open applications

Burger and Beer Joint, general manager, assistant gms, kitchen manager and staff

Cache, various positions, email careers@cache.com

Calypso St. Barth, store manager and assistant manager

Camicissima Milano, various positions

The Capital Grille, various positions

Champs Sports, manager

Cheesecake Factory, all positions

Chico's, various positions

ColdStone Creamery, general manager

Crate & Barrel, all positions

Dillard's, sales associates

Edward Beiner, full-time and part-time sales associates. Can also contact Omar Ruiz, chief operating director at 786-443-9109.

Everything But Water, various positions, email cover letter and resume to hr@everythingbutwater.com

Express, store manager

FastFix, various positions full and part time

Forever21, co-manager

Ghost Armor, retail rep

Godiva, store manager and sales associates

Gymboree, management and store associates

H&M, department manager, department supervisor and visual merchandiser

iAccessorize, repair technician

Invicta, store manager and various positions, email sales@invictawatch.com

J. Crew, store director and associate store manager 

J. Jill, store manager

Jackie Z Style Co., various positions. Send resumes and cover letters to jackie@jackiezstyle.com

Janie and Jack, management and sales associates

Kona Grill, all positions

Le Macaron, retail reps

L'Occitane En Provence, part-time sales associate

Lilly Pulitzer, management

LOFT, co-manager and sales associates

Lovesac, store manager

Lululemon, educator and key leader

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, store manager

MAC, various positions, send resume to

Deborah Brown

Executive Director, Human Resources
M·A·C Cosmetics
130 Prince St, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10012

Macy's, various positions

Mandarin Express, download application

Mayors Jewelers, management and sales (Location listed as Miami)

Moleskine, full-time and part-time sales associates and store manager

PacSun, assistant store manager

Papyrus, sales supervisor

Peter Elliot Blue, sales manager and sales associate

Pottery Barn, various positions seasonal and permanent (can also fill out applications at Southgate Mall store)

Rise Pies, general manager and assistant manager (Update: Hiring fair Sept. 11-12)

Robert Graham, store manager

Seasons 52, all positions

Sephora, various positions (Enter 34243 in search)

Smoothie King, general manager

Solstice Sunglasses, store manager

Soma, various positions

Sophie's at Saks, line cook

Southeastern Guide Dogs, retail key holder

Starbucks, Macy's is hiring for a Starbucks inside its store. Barista positions for the kiosk at the center court of the mall can be found here. 

Stuart Weitzman, sales associate

Sunglass Hut, sales associate

Swarovski, store manager

TINA Stephens, store manager

Tommy Bahama, store manager (When performing new search, select retail division then location for UTC jobs to appear.)

Tumi, sales associates, store manager

Vera Bradley, various positions

Victoria Secret, various positions full and part time

The Walking Company, all positions; can also send resume and salary history to careers@thewalkingcompany.com, ATTN: Human Resources

Williams-Sonoma, various positions seasonal and permanent (can also fill out applications at Southgate mall location)

Yo! Sushi, head chef, sous chef, assistant general manager

Z Gallerie, e-mail inquires to careers@zgalleries.com ATTN: Human Resources

Zales Jewelers, jewelry consultant

Taubman's technology allows Mall at UTC to be a 'smart mall'

Macy's at the Mall at University Town Center

When Taubman Centers opens the Mall at University Town Center, technology will be at the forefront of the shopping and business experience.

The company's chief technology officer Michael Osment shared in a column for research company Realcomm Conference Group that the Mall at UTC will be one of the company's "smart malls."

Shoppers will have touchscreen directories in the mall that give GPS-like directions on how to get to a store from your current location in the mall, Osment wrote:

"The value of this approach has already been demonstrated as we prepare to open the new Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota, Fla. A big advantage is the ability to postpone technology decisions until late in the development cycle. This allowed time to make a firm decision for the digital directory approach until the technology matured; we will be able to incorporate state of the art touchscreen directories with built in way-finding for shoppers rather than settling for what was available when the development began almost three years ago. Think of this as being like your GPS: you put in your destination and it shows you the route from your location on a map. Having the Smart Mall infrastructure already in the plans made postponement of the technology decision possible without adding risk to the overall project."

The mall, which opens Oct. 16, will also provide free basic Internet for tenants, free WiFi for customers and Taubman officials previously announced that they were working on a way for customers to call ahead or maybe even use an app to have their valet car ready before customers head to the exit.

Osment also added that Taubman is testing more ways to use location-based technology along with low energy Bluetooth, or Bluetooth LE and Bluetooth Smart, to add to the shopping experience.

Computer manufacturer Dell wrote about what Bluetooth LE could mean for retail in a post earlier this year, saying that the technology could alert shoppers of a sale on umbrellas if it's raining outside, or pull up your order or request as soon as you approach the store. Companies like American Eagle Outfitters and Macy's -- both which will be in the new mall -- are rolling out Bluetooth Smart beacons in stores, Dell's Nick Clunn added.

Whether shoppers will use and trust the technology and security remains to be seen.

Vera Bradley now hiring for Mall at University Town Center store

Vera Bradley is now hiring for its Mall at University
Town Center store. PHOTO PROVIDED

Indiana-based handbag designer Vera Bradley is now hiring for its Mall at University Town Center store.

The company's website is advertising for a store manager, a part-time retail team leader and a part-time sales associates. Those interested can apply online through Vera Bradley.com.

The Herald previously reported in May that the store would be opening a retail store in the mall, as its pop-up outlet in the Ellenton Premium Outlets continues to extend its run there.

The store will be located on the first level of the mall beside Johnston & Murphy, near the center court. Several other stores started hiring as well. Furniture store Lovesac is also advertising for a store manager.

The two-level, 880,000-square-foot mall off of Cattlemen Road and University Parkway is expected to open Oct. 16.  

Wall Street Journal takes notice of Mall at University Town Center

The Mall at University Town Center
Courtesy of Manatee County Government Information Outreach

The Wall Street Journal is starting to take notice of the impending opening of the  Mall at University Town Center.

That national media outlets would swoop in to do big pieces on the mall's role in America and using the Mall at UTC for a prop for a story, was bound to happen, even though the local construction doesn't represent a national mall rebound trend.

Robbie Whelan from the WSJ on the mall madness and where Taubman plays into all of this:

That was a common event from the 1980s through the early 2000s when mall construction boomed. But new mall development has slowed to a trickle in recent years, falling from more than 25 million square feet of gross leasable space added in 2001 to less than four million each year starting in 2010, according to Green Street Advisors. Only eight new malls have been built in the U.S. since 2008, Green Street says.

Taubman, a real-estate investment trust based in Michigan, has been an exception to the rule. The company currently has three domestic projects under way in Sarasota, Hawaii and Puerto Rico — with a combined cost of $905 million to the company — as well as two malls planned for China and one for South Korea, with a combined cost of $560 million.

Taubman is building because it believes its projects are located in markets that are underserved by retail, and because of the mall owner's track record of attracting high-quality tenants. Sarasota, for example, will "fill the void between Tampa and Naples" for upscale, destination retail, the company said. The mall's retail space was 90% committed months before the opening, Taubman said.

I visited the topic of malls in the national spotlight in a column in March when CBS "Sunday Morning" talked about how no new indoor malls have been built since 2006, but they overlooked both the Mall at UTC and Taubman's Salt Lake City Creek Center that opened in 2012, which was partially indoors. Basically, outlets kept repeating a line about mall construction from a 2009 WSJ article and never bothered to check to see if it was still true years later that no new malls opened or were under construction since 2006.

As Whelan notes above, Green Street Advisors say eight new malls have been built since 2008, but I can't verify the specificity of that item. That probably includes outdoor malls/outlets as well. The International Council of Shopping Centers provided data on indoor mall openings to me in March citing only one in Arkansas and Salt Lake City as indoor malls that opened since 2006.

The WSJ story also revisits Taubman's deal of it selling off seven malls.

Layout of Mall at University Town Center gives sneak peek (updated)

(Updated)

After more than 80 percent of the tenants were revealed through building permits -- and an impending Taubman announcement on the remaining -- it's time to show what the mall layout will look like.

Below is a PDF I obtained from Sarasota County and have used as a reference for a while now of where stores will be located. Zoom in to see each unit number.

The largest tenant space left is Unit 266 on the second floor, taking up 13,127 square feet. You'll also notice that stores like H&M and Crate & Barrel are listed on both levels--yes, they are two-level stores.

[Find out how to apply to Mall at UTC jobs here]

Notice, also, the Apple store in Unit 162. You'll see accessory units with letters A-L. This is a combination of class roooms, break rooms, stock and repair areas used by Apple employees for the store.

The mall won't have a food court per se, as several fast food tenants are built in-line with seating inside, but a nice grouping of fast food businesses are being clustered in the main court on the first floor. A few others have strategically placed themselves beside department stores.

Below these images are numbers corresponding to the stores. Smoothie King is the only announced store that doesn't have a readily available assigned space. Again, more stores are coming if you don't see your favorite store listed below. Also, the mall will not be 100 percent full when it opens Oct. 16.

(The image has zoom tools below.)

Plan your strategy for the grand opening now.

Layout of Mall at University Town Center

FIRST LEVEL

101—Cheesecake Factory

102—Smoothie King
K102—Starbucks (underneath escalator)

103—Seasons 52

104—Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs
105—Capital Grille

106—Organic Nail Bar
107—BRIO Tuscan Grille

109—Auntie Anne’s

110—Macy’s

115—Yankee Candle

118— H&M
119—Diventi Bella Fragrances & Cosmetics

120—Saks Fifth Avenue

121—Express

124—Teavana

125/126—Yo Sushi

127—The Walking Company

129—Godiva
130—Sunglass Hut

131—Brighton

132—Swarovski

133—Vera Bradley

134—Johnston & Murphy
138—Tesla

139—Moleskine
141—Peter Elliot Blue
141A—Foot Gear Outdoor

142—Natural Comfort Footwear
143—The Art of Shaving

144—Cache
145—Lovesac
146—Janie & Jack

147—Soma

148—Everything But Water

149—Papyrus

149A—Lenscrafters

150—Rise Pies

150A—Mandarin Express

150B—Sweet Doctors
154/155—Arhaus Furniture

156—Z Gallerie
158—Crate & Barrel

160—See Eyewear

162—Apple Store

164—Tommy Bahama

166—Victoria’s Secret
169—Pandora
170—Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

171—Kay Jewelers
172—Cellairis

173—Kona Grill

174—Burger and Beer Joint

176—Zales

178—Solstice

179—L'Occitane en Provence
181—Bath and Body Works

182—Gap

187—American Eagle Outfitters

188—Journey’s
189—Aldo

190—Icing

191—Things Remembered

192—Camicissima Milano

193—Pac Sun

197—Champs
198—GNC

199—T-Mobile

SECOND LEVEL

200—Dillard’s

208—FootLocker

210—Charlotte Russe
213—H&M
214—Oakley

215—Forever 21

218—Loft

219—Edward Beiner
220—Banana Moon

221—MAC 

222—Aveda

223—Anthropologie

225—Michael Kors

228—Brooks Brothers

229—Stuart Weitzman

231—White House | Black Market
236—Bose

237—kate spade

239—Calypso St. Barth

240—Mayors Jewelers

242—Boston Proper

244—Lilly Pulitzer

245—TINA Stephens
248—Jackie Z. Style Co
250—Oil & Vinegar
250A—OndadeMar
251—Francesca's Collections

253—Williams-Sonoma

256—Pottery Barn

257—Crate & Barrel

261—Omega

263—Chico’s

267—Talbots
269—Tumi

271—J. Crew

273—BCBG
274—Robert Graham

275—Lululemon Athletica
276—Kiehl's

279—Sephora

281—Ann Taylor

283—Banana Republic

286—J.Jill
287—Soap Stories

290—Clarks Shoes
291—J.S. Trunk & Co. (Samsonite concept store)
294—Invicta
295—Claire's

296—Gymboree
298—Great American Cookies

299—ColdStone Creamery
299A—Brow Art 23

Taubman banking big on Mall at UTC after selling 7 malls

Taubman Centers, the operator of the Mall at University Town Center, is betting on some big business for its Sarasota County mall to help offset income lost after it unloaded seven malls to Starwood Capital Group.

Taubman, based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., announced Wednesday a $1.4 billion deal to sell seven malls to Starwood, targeted for a fourth quarter 2014 closing.

The malls are:

• MacArthur Center (Norfolk, Va.) 
• Stony Point Fashion Park (Richmond, Va.) 
• Northlake Mall (Charlotte, N.C.) 
• The Mall at Wellington Green (Wellington, Fla.) 
• The Shops at Willow Bend (Plano, Tex.) 
• The Mall at Partridge Creek (Clinton Township, Mich.) 
• Fairlane Town Center (Dearborn, Mich.) 

In an investors relations presentation, Taubman showed that the company figures that the three properties coming online in the next two years -- Mall at University Town Center in University Park, Mall of San Juan and International Market Place in Waikiki -- will "nearly replace" the net operating income loss from all seven of the sold malls.

Taubman/Starwood Capital Group Transaction Presentation from TaubmanCenters

Taubman's presentation went on to show that after the sale, all of its properties will be in areas with larger tenant sales per square foot, higher rents, better educated, wealthier and in more densely populated areas.

One of the largest demographic jumps Taubman will see with its new portfoliois a 17.4 percent increase in average households earning $200,000 and up within a 30-minute drive. That increase goes from 51,440 before the sale and 60,386 after the sale.

That should be no surprise to close watchers of this mall which is attracting high-end tenants and fashion anchors like Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue,  Apple and boutiques Michael Kors, Omega and Calypso St. Barth.

Taubman reported that its portfolio will be stronger for having 80 percent of its department stores as high-demand fashion anchors as opposed to 67 percent before. Taubman includes Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue in that category, representing 35 of its 44 department stores at its properties. Dillard's, which is coming to the Mall at UTC, would not fall into that category.

The Mall at UTC, which is a 50-50 partnership with Benderson Development Co., is expected to open Oct. 16.

Mall at UTC developer making news in Vegas

LAS VEGAS--The developer of the Mall at University Town Center received accolades Sunday for its unique mall in Salt Lake City.

The International Council of Shopping Centers announced that City Creek Center received the ICSC VIVA (Vision, Innovation, Value, Achievement) Best-of-the-Best Award winner in the Sustainable Design/Development category for 2014. The developer of the mall, Taubman Centers of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is also developing the Mall at UTC in University Park, expected to open Oct. 16.

Recognition for the project was given to: City Creek Reserve, Development Company; The Taubman Center, Owner; Callison, Design Architect; and Hobbs & Black Associates, Inc, Production/ Executive Architect.

The winners were announced during the VIVA Best-of-the-Best Awards ceremony during RECon, ICSC’s global retail real estate convention in Las Vegas. The VIVA Best-of-the-Best Awards honor and recognize the most outstanding examples of shopping center design and development, sustainability, marketing, and community service worldwide.

The two-story mall, which opened in 2012, features a retractable roof plus 500 condos/apartments and four levels of underground parking in a downtown setting and was developed in partnership with the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints.

“City Creek is an outstanding example of visionary architectural achievement in sustainability and innovative design,” said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO, ICSC. “As the industry continues its positive momentum, we will begin to see further developments in the U.S., and City Creek has set the bar for what that development will look like,” said Kercheval.

The City Creek marked the first indoor mall (kind of) to open in the U.S. since 2006 and Taubman will open the first truly indoor mall this year with Mall at UTC since 2006 as well when the Mall at Turtle Creek opened in Arkansas.

It will be worth watching to see if Taubman's Mall at UTC could win the company another award next year. The Mall at UTC's ceiling is essentially a spine featuring louvered glass and blue/purple lights that will shine into the sky while a glass elevator and open feel will give the University Park mall a cosmopolitan feel.

City Creek is a LEED certified center with streetscapes, public areas and green space, which the Mall at UTC is striving to do with its design.

Crate & Barrel will stack store inside Mall at UTC

This Crate & Barrel in Annapolis, Md., is built into a Westfield
mall, but the Sarasota location will be entirely inside the Mall
at University Town Center on two levels. Photo Provided

When Crate & Barrel opens inside the Mall at University Town Center, its presence will be noticeable but not as much as some of the chain's other mall locations.

The upscale furniture store's building plans shows that the store will consume two levels of the mall. Plans also call for an elevator, escalator and stairs within the 25,800-square-foot store. Total construction cost is listed as $1.3 million, according to the application.

While the mall's mini-anchor will take out a sizable chunk of the mall, the design will  be on the smaller end of the Chicago retailer's full-line stores.

The Mall at UTC location will not have its own exterior entrance and will be fully contained within the mall, according to documents filed with Sarasota County. Having the store self-contained shaves the space down about 3,000 to 10,000 square feet off a full-line store.

The Tampa location at International Plaza features 35,000 square feet on two levels with a separate entrance when opened in 2009 while another two-level Crate & Barrel with its own entrance at Westfield Annapolis in Maryland is about 28,000 square feet. These types of Crate & Barrel stores are considered the "home store" version, offering a full line of furniture and accessories.

The mall's mock-up plans showed that the only retailers with their own entrances would the be the six  main restaurants plus the department stores--Dillard's, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Still, the Crate & Barrel represents a few surprises in the design the mall is incorporating. After subtracting the department stores, the mall has 460,000 square feet of space to lease. As leasing is confirmed and added, the square footage totals are confirmed and allows mall management to shift spaces and locations, which is one reason why you're not hearing an exact number of stores coming to the mall, mall general manager Octavio Ortiz said during previous presentations. That number ought to be well nailed down by now because the mall is more than 90-percent leased.

This game of leasing Tetris will be in turbo mode 90 to 120 days out from opening when most smaller stores are ready to build. So come mid June, it'll be a race to Oct. 16.

He also said during a Manatee Association of Realtors meeting on March that "some" of the stores will be on two levels, hinting that Crate & Barrel might not be the only one to take up both floors, aside from the department stores.

It doesn't sound like there would be a food court, per se, but permits for fast-food joints are popping up for the mall including Mandarin Express and Cold Stone Creamery. Smoothie King representatives said early on they would commit to the mall and an area below an escalator shows a space perfect for a Starbucks kiosk.

The biggest flexibility Taubman and Benderson have is for expansion. A fourth anchor store, which likely could be Nordstrom, could be built adjacent to Saks Fifth Avenue, said the mall's general manager, Octavio Ortiz, during a luncheon in March.

Still, I don't think there's room for a water park as one reader suggested.