More openings surround mall debut

EAST COUNTY — The Mall at University Town Center is open.

So now what?

The commotion is far from over, with more shops rushing to open both inside the mall and across the street.

Benderson Development, co-owner of the mall with Taubman Centers and owner of the neighboring UTC shopping plazas along University Parkway, sees the momentum continuing.

Mark Chait, Benderson’s Southeast executive director of leasing, said the opening of the mall has created a wider breadth of businesses to come into the University Parkway corridor. Since July, stores such as Lane Bryant and Salon Lofts have opened in the neighboring Shoppes at UTC, while others, including Panera Bread and Nuovo Aveda Salon, will open by the end of the year at other UTC plazas.

“Retailers and restaurants like to congregate around the success of other businesses,” Chait said. “It’s been an extraordinary influence having the mall here.”

Benderson Development is nearly finished building a 16,000-square-foot space for DSW, a shoe retailer, in The District at UTC, located on the west side of Cattlemen Road across from the mall. The space, which will be delivered to DSW in January, will open for business in the first quarter.

Chait said Benderson is finalizing plans for three additional buildings — about 40,000 square feet in total — on the west side of Cattlemen road, near the soon-to-open Panera Bread location.

In Benderson’s other shopping plazas on the north side of University Parkway, spanning from just west of Honore Avenue to east of Cooper Creek Boulevard, several stores have opened since the summer, including America’s Best Eye Glasses, Malibu Fox Boutique, Joseph Banks and the Peruvian restaurant Maemi.

Businesses slated to open in the coming months include Chicken Kitchen, Nuovo Aveda Salon, Panera Bread, AT&T and Blaze Pizza. Twenty-five stores, including American Eagle Outfitters, Talbots and Williams-Sonoma, are slated to open within The Mall at UTC, as well.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

Mall stores to come ...

• 4D Gelateria
• American Eagle Outfitters
• Anthropologie
• Arhaus Furniture
• Banana Moon Swimwear
• Burger & Beer Joint
• Charlotte Russe
• Forever Nails & Spa
• Free People
• Fit2Run
• Footgear
• Forever Flawless
• Francesca’s Collections
• Great American Cookies
• Invicta
• Kiehl’s
• Lucky Brand Jeans
• Motherhood Maternity
• Naracamicie
• Natural Comfort Footwear
• Talbots
• Tricho Salon
• Vince Camuto
• Williams-Sonoma
• YO! Sushi