Grand Opening and Anchor Store Arrivals
In 1976, Sarasota was booming, and Arlen Realty saw an opportunity. They planned a new mall at the bustling intersection of US 41 and Beneva Road, promising locals a fresh place to shop.
Anchors would be well-known chains: JCPenney, Maas Brothers, and the stylish J. Byrons.
JCPenney planned a strategic move from the nearby Southgate Shopping Plaza, betting on this new enclosed mall concept.
People buzzed about the opening, circling September 28, 1977, on their calendars.
That Wednesday morning, crowds flooded into Maas Brothers, eager to grab opening-day deals.
Maas Brothers positioned itself right across from J. Byron’s, a clever move that encouraged traffic flow through the heart of the mall.
JCPenney opened simultaneously, anchoring the mall’s south end. Morrison’s Cafeteria, Camelot Music, and Kinney Shoes joined as early tenants, giving shoppers plenty of reasons to linger.
Two years later, Sears recognized the mall’s potential and built a large store on the reserved north end.
When Sears opened on October 24, 1979, Sarasota Square Mall had officially established itself as a retail powerhouse.
By 1983, AMC added another theater outside the mall—Sarasota Square 6 East—doubling the screens available.
Locals could now catch the latest hits without leaving the shopping center’s grounds.
But malls never stand still. J. Byrons closed shop in 1985, prompting management to transform the space into the Trellis Garden Food Court, which opened in March 1986.
Dining at Trellis Garden quickly became a favorite routine for families and teenagers alike.
A major expansion eastward began that same year, culminating with the arrival of upscale anchor Parisian on November 1, 1989—the second-ever Parisian store outside Alabama.
By the decade’s end, Sarasota Square had firmly secured its place in Sarasota‘s commercial landscape.
Renovations, Rebranding, and Retail Shifts
By the early 1990s, retail trends were shifting, and Sarasota Square Mall adapted accordingly.
Maas Brothers merged into Burdines, rebranding the Sarasota Square location on October 20, 1991.
Shoppers adjusted quickly—Burdines brought a new vibe, but familiar faces and popular brands eased the transition.
Over a decade later, the name changed again, this time to Macy’s in March 2005, fully integrating the Sarasota store into Macy’s national branding strategy.
Meanwhile, Parisian faced uncertainty. In 1995, rumors surfaced that Dillard’s might purchase Parisian’s space or build its own store next to JCPenney.
By January 1996, Parisian quietly closed. Dillard’s swiftly remodeled and reopened on March 2, 1996, keeping customers interested with fresh merchandise and new promotions.
In 2003, Westfield Group, an Australian mall giant, purchased Sarasota Square Mall from Coyote Group.
They promptly renamed it “Westfield Shoppingtown Sarasota Square,” mouthful locals shortened simply to “Westfield.”
Westfield poured money into the mall, smoothing out tired floors, brightening faded walls, and stripping away dated decor.
By late 2006, the old AMC theaters had gone dark, making room for something bigger—a gleaming, 12-screen cinema.
On December 20, the scent of fresh paint mixed with buttery popcorn as shoppers crowded into the updated food court, eager to see what the buzz was all about.
However, retail remained turbulent. Dillard’s announced closures statewide, including Sarasota Square Mall, which shut down on December 5, 2009.
Anchor Store Closures and Financial Troubles
Dillard’s closure left the mall with a large vacancy, unsettling tenants who counted on the anchor’s draw.
By August 17, 2012, Costco had replaced Dillard’s spot, and shoppers had returned briefly, but the excitement had faded quickly.
Costco thrived, but inside the mall, storefronts gradually emptied.
In early 2017, more troubling news arrived. Macy’s announced Sarasota Square among the 68 stores set to close nationwide, pulling out completely by March 26.
Sears soon followed, permanently shutting its doors on September 18, 2017. The mall’s anchor spaces became hollow reminders of better days, hurting smaller shops reliant on steady foot traffic.
The mall officially dropped the Westfield branding in July 2019, reverting to its original, simpler name: Sarasota Square Mall.
Yet even these strategic shifts couldn’t halt broader challenges that lay ahead.
Things got worse. In August 2020, U.S. Bank initiated foreclosure on the mall’s mortgage, citing unpaid loans by owners Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
The news wasn’t a total shock—traffic had slowed dramatically. What once was lively had become mostly quiet hallways and empty food court tables.
Store after store pulled down metal shutters, and signs announcing “final clearance” or “everything must go” filled the windows.
By the time Torburn Partners stepped in to acquire the struggling property in 2021, Sarasota Square Mall was hardly recognizable.
Small retailers, left isolated without major anchor tenants, gave up. Empty corridors were common, broken only by scattered mall walkers and store clerks counting down their days.
COVID-19 transformed the mall briefly into a vaccination site in early 2021, injecting a temporary purpose.
But soon, even that disappeared, leaving Sarasota Square Mall waiting for its next chapter.
Demolition Begins, and New Developments Emerge
In May 2023, Torburn Partners unveiled their vision for what would rise from the mall’s rubble: 1,200 apartments woven around 690,000 square feet of brand-new storefronts.
The plans promised bustling boutiques, casual restaurants, and corner stores—each connected by airy, open walkways instead of the dim corridors shoppers once knew.
Sarasota residents were cautiously curious; some mourned the loss of familiar shops, and others welcomed new apartments and shopping choices close to home.
By October 31, 2024, AMC closed permanently, leaving the theaters empty and silent.
A few months later, demolition machinery rolled in, engines rumbling loudly. Workers set orange safety cones around the perimeter, preparing the site for demolition.
Bulldozers began tearing away walls that once housed businesses. Dust clouds rose above the once-popular retail destination, visible from US 41 and Beneva Road.
Piece by piece, Torburn Partners, an Illinois developer, began reshaping the sprawling 93-acre property from a ghost town into something else entirely: a neighborhood filled with apartments, storefronts, offices, and cafés.
The transformation wouldn’t happen overnight. Torburn set a deliberate timeline, promising new apartments in phases over five to seven years.
Costco and JCPenney stayed open, almost untouched by the demolition.
Customers drove carefully around construction barriers, carts full, perhaps glancing at what was left of the old mall—wreckage piled high, twisted steel beams jutting out from concrete ruins.
For the longtime residents watching from their cars, it was a strange sight: half familiar landmark, half construction zone.
AMC’s empty theater building awaited its fate quietly, curtains drawn, ticket windows shuttered.
The mall, as they knew it, was vanishing bit by bit.
Construction fences marked off a fresh start, signaling that soon enough, new streets and buildings would rise from these ruins, and Sarasota Square Mall would become unrecognizable—just a memory tucked inside the newest part of Sarasota.