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Speculation is high that the Sarasota-Manatee market could be the next target for Nordstrom Rack, the off-price division of the popular department store chain.
Nordstrom officials decline to comment on the chatter. But three construction industry executives familiar with the project tell Coffee Talk the new location will be in The Shoppes at University Town Center, a Benderson Development plaza on University Parkway just west of Interstate 75. It's across the street from the future Mall at the University Town Center, a $315 million project currently under construction.
The conjecture is Nordstrom Rack will take over space that was previously a 19,000-square-foot Circuit City. Construction crews are currently renovating and adding 15,000 square feet to that building, says Mark Chait, Benderson's executive director for leasing. Like the Nordstrom officials, however, Chait declines to identify what tenant will take over the space. Chait, in an interview with the East County Observer, sister paper of the Business Observer, says the new space could be ready by June.
The unconfirmed reports, nonetheless, make sense for several reasons:
• Nordstrom has committed to the market at least once before. That was in 2008, when it signed a letter of intent to open a non off-price store at the Benderson-led mall project. That store, before the recession torpedoed the original mall project, was planned at 138,000 square feet.
• Nordstrom Rack is in heavy expansion mode nationwide. The Seattle-based chain plans at least 11 new stores in 2013, according to the firm's press statements and website. New store locations — many of which are 35,000 square feet, size of the renovated Benderson Circuit City — range from Jacksonville to Chicago to Boston.
Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson says the strategy, in fact, is to nearly double the Nordstrom Rack count nationwide, from 119 now to 230 in four years. Sales in the Rack side of the chain were up 20% in 2012 over 2011, says Johnson, which enhances the sense of urgency. Says Johnson: “We see great growth potential in the rack stores.”
• Nordstrom Rack has gone into deserted Circuit City locations nationwide more than 10 times, from New York City to Texas to Michigan. It also went that way in Tampa in October 2010, when it took over the former Circuit City in the Walter's Crossing shopping center at I-275 and Dale Mabry Highway.
Johnson acknowledged Circuit City locations are good fits for Nordstrom Rack, though he adds that the company has also gone into former Linens 'n Things stores. “We like to have our rack stores in exciting developments,” says Johnson, “where our customers regularly shop.”
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