Westfield Southgate

Westfield Southgate
Location Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Address 3501 South Tamiami Trail
Opening date 1956
Developer King and Smith Development[1]
Management Westfield Group
No. of stores and services 47
No. of anchor tenants 3
Total retail floor area 421,778 square feet[2]
No. of floors 1

Westfield Southgate, formerly Southgate Plaza and South Gate Shopping Plaza, is a shopping mall in Sarasota, Florida that opened in 1956.

History

Southgate Plaza opened in 1956 as a strip mall. It was enclosed in 1988.[3] The original strip included two supermarkets: Publix and Winn Dixie, along with a W. T. Grant and Woolworth.[4] J. C. Penney was added as part of a 1961 expansion.[5]

W. T. Grant closed its store in 1976, which was then sold to Burdines.[6] A J. W. Robinson's department store replaced the former J. C. Penney in 1978, after J. C. Penney moved to Sarasota Square Mall (now Westfield Sarasota Square).[7][8] Robinson's became Maison Blanche in 1987[9] and Dillard's in 1992.[10] Three years after Robinson's opened, an enclosed wing was added.[11]

In 1994, Publix moved to a larger store across the street.[12] The Publix building became Saks Fifth Avenue in 1996.[13]

Following the opening of Saks, the mall was renovated to include more upscale stores such as Williams-Sonoma, Ann Taylor, and Banana Republic.[14]

Westfield Group bought the mall in 2002,[15] renaming it Westfield Southgate. Burdines became Macy's in 2003.

In 2012, Saks confirmed that it would move to Mall at University Town Center, a new mall being built in Sarasota by Taubman Centers.[16] Dillard's closed their doors at Southgate soon after, consolidating into their newer UTC location nearby.[17] In late 2014, Cobb Theatres announced it would take over the Saks space for a "Cinebistro" concept.[18]

References

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