Westfield Southgate
3501 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239
Southgate seems to be an anno-MALL-y in and of itself.
Max and I visited this mall too, for a few minutes, on the way to looking for his childhood mall (Sarasota Square). We actually found it by accident, since the GPS took us to it instead of the other one. The funny thing is, I already knew an odd little bit of news about the mall. More on that in a minute.
Westfield Southgate, upon doing a bit of online research, also started as an open-air strip mall in the 1950's, like its "cousin" the Sarasota Square Mall. This one did not get to debut as an enclosed mall until the late 1980's, however. For many years, it hosted some fairly run-of-the mill stores including a Publix. Then in 1996, it tried on a fancy tiara, Saks Fifth Avenue, and then decided to change into a more fabulous outfit to match. The mall was renovated to house a number of upscale stores, though its other two anchors are still Dillard's and Macy's (They can cater to a higher end or a middle class crowd, depending on the area).
The reason I call it, to be punny, an "Anno-MALL-y", is because just like Sarasota Square, it's sitting in the midst of a middle class area, on a busy road that has more furniture and hardware stores than I've ever seen in one place, but it is strictly a tiny concentration of high end shopping. Tamiami Trail wouldn't seem like the type of area to sport a high-end mall, but this tiny little gem, shaped like an L, is home to such stores as Williams Sonoma, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor and some fine dining. Its corridors (all both of them) are bright and one seems wide because of many plate glass windows that run along the sides instead of above (like an airport terminal) and the other has high ceilings with much glass and the whole thing feels like a resort or spa because of the fancy vertical fans, shaped like banana leaves, and chandeliers. Which was probably the general idea. It was peaceful and quiet. Something odd I noticed was that there were virtually no children here at all, just some older folks and some middle aged ladies there with their friends.
This is also a first- never have I seen live orchids for sale in a shopping mall. Perhaps because it serves a more quiet, sophisticated sort of shopper, they feel comfortable having these delicate plants here. Never would you find this in a family mall where many children run and roughhouse and touch things all day.
Here is the breakdown:
Mall type: Small L-shaped one-story upscale, owned by Westfield.
Anchors: Dillard's, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue.
Other Stores: Williams Sonoma, Anne Taylor, Express, Banana Republic, Starbucks and more
Surrounding area: Middle class families and retirees, tourists
Who it's for: An upscale, more sophisticated shopper that comes from a higher economic class and is most likely either a somewhat wealthy retiree, business man/woman or a tourist with expendable income.
Unique Features: Many upscale stores in a middle class area, live orchids, a design that feels like you are in a resort.
What it lacks: It doesn't have a food court. It's also not like the family mall down the road so it doesn't have very many teen/children's fashions or any "bottom dollar" fashions. It does not feature any kind of food store inside.
Signs of decline: very little, though it was also very quiet in there. This may be typical of a stormy Wednesday morning. It might be busier on the weekends.
Overall rating: 9/10
Now about that "odd piece of information" I know of this mall, as mentioned earlier…
it seemed so peaceful on my visit, but according to local news archives, there was one day of terror here….followed by puzzled confusion, then a slight bit of humor but not too much because the story is rather sad.
A man walks into LensCrafters on a normal fall business day, and throws down a white powder. Everyone runs terrified, police come and the mall is locked down. Was it some act of terrorism? Was the powder a weapon of biochemical warfare? No.
As it turns out, he threw ashes. They were the ashes of his deceased girlfriend, who loved the mall.
How very noble of him! Her dying wish must have been for her ashes to be scattered in her favorite place and he went and did it, fearlessly, in broad daylight.
There is a touch of ironic comedy to it because a lot of chaos ensued over something that was actually benign. But mostly your heart just goes out to the poor guy going through the "grieving process".
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