Rolling reminder: as I was going into work for my Saturday shift
at the bank branch in Palm Valley (south of Jacksonville Beach),
I saw this truck-doubled-as-a-billboard.
Palm Valley/Ponte Vedra are several miles southeast of Jacksonville,
but the anticipation of the new addition to the town center is widespread.
Friday, October 10 was the grand opening of a new portion of
St. Johns Town Center known as “Phase 3”.
Eight new stores and a fresh modern outdoor lounge area are anchored by
The first Nordstrom to come to northeast Florida.
Nordstrom was proposed to come to Jacksonville in 2012.
Who better to bring it on board than SJTC?
A fenced lot has had a banner on it since at least early 2013.
The company decided putting a store in this town center was
A great move because of the amazing success rate of the outlet store
Nordstrom Rack, which opened on the outside lot of SJTC in 2012.
St. Johns Town Center was built in 2004,
The first open-air “mall” to grace Jacksonville with it’s retail presence
Since before the era of the enclosed malls.
“Phase 1” was the only part available to shop
when I arrived in north Florida in fall 2005.
The large L-shaped strip-mall that includes Old Navy,
JoAnne Fabrics, Target and Pier 1 was there.
DSW Shoe Warehouse was sitting across from it.
There was a row of shops and restaurants with a roundabout
And Cheesecake Factory was at the end next to Barnes and Noble.
At the other end, Dicks Sporting Goods sat in front of its bahai turf quad
With its rows of shops on either side including Gap, Express, J. Crew and more.
Apple was across from it with several other stores.
And Dillard’s, with its little run of shops like Hollister and Brighton on either side,
Was on the far end.
And that is where it stopped.
After that was nothing but open, dusty lots and construction equipment.
In 2007, “Phase 2” began to unfold.
Urban Outfitters went up,
And so did some higher-end specialty stores like Betsey Johnson
Louis Vuitton, Puma and LuluLemon,
As well as a large Pottery Barn.
Within a few years, several more stores
including Forever XXI, West Elm
and some new restaurants opened their doors.
Most of what has been added to SJTC has come to stay.
Only a few changes were made over the past decade.
The Sharper Image went bankrupt and was later replaced by
California Pizza Kitchen.
A Microsoft store opened in place of
A failed Puma store,
Sperry overtook a failed LaCoste.
A video store related to Game Stop closed and became a Jos A Bank.
The space next to Starbucks was home to a health food cafe,
then an ice-cream shop, and now a Teavanna.
Cold Water Creek is gone, boards over the front with banners
for a women's fashion store called "Altar'd State"
that is coming soon.
Drills and saws can be heard inside.
Shopping seasons change, but most of SJTC stays the same.
My tour of Nordstrom and “phase 3” happened today,
Saturday 10/11 because of my work schedule.
It was a beautiful, sunny day today but unseasonably warm.
Between the heat and the phase three strip that greeted me,
I felt like I'd just walked into some ritzy part of south Florida.
It makes the great shiny white Nordstrom look right at home.
With its palm trees, white fabric canopies over white and blue outdoor furniture,
and "endless" fountains (the water pours over the edges for a modern look),
It seems like you could be in either Miami
or a resort.
As I walked through, I heard a girl say to her friend
"This looks like that shopping center in Naples!"
(note to self: go visit Naples some day soon).
While all of it looks fairly modern,
most of phase 1 and 2 don earthier colors
like dark wood and stone that make them look like
they could actually be somewhere further north.
And there aren't any other fountains like that.
Phase 3 sports such retail goodies as:
Boston Proper, Yankee Candle,
a new Disney store and a huge upscale
two-story home goods store called "Arhaus".
That's "our house" cleverly spelled out to look like German.
There are a few other shops and an "E-bar"
which is Nordstrom's own version of Starbucks.
It's on the outside but connected to the building.
And now for the main event: The very first and only Nordstrom in north Florida.
Modern, cutting edge and couture with its shining white walls and hard wood ceilings,
the Seattle-based department store boasts a wide range of goods for the whole family
at a higher price point and a few steps up from Dillard's,
but not at such a high tier as Saks Fifth Avenue.
Dining in?: Nordstrom even has its own grille called Bazille,
located upstairs.
I'm not actually an economist at all.
Just someone who took a shine to sociology in college.
I like to observe things, especially trends.
And in my (humble) opinion.... Nordstrom is perfect for
St. Johns Town Center.
SJTC is situated in the "nicer" part of Jacksonville,
where there is a little more affluence.
It is also easily accessible from J. Turner Butler Blvd (AKA "the 202")
and JTB goes east, over the inter coastal, dropping you off about 10 miles later
right by Ponte Vedra.
If anyone knows Ponte Vedra, they know it has some of the most affluent people
in the area, thanks to the golf scene.
There is also a steady flow of tourism.
That being said,
SJTC can host some everyday stores like Target and Old Navy,
some middle-tier national chains like Dillard's,
Express, Abercrombie and J. Crew,
and some high-tier, high-fashion names like Louis Vuitton,
Michael Kors and Coach all in the same sprawling outdoor mall
and they can hold their own for season after season.
If you could turn the stores into math,
averaging together everything there from the JoAnne Fabrics
to the Pottery Barn to the Michael Kors,
the median would probably be a store like Nordstrom.
Bloomingdale's or Saks Fifth Avenue would be a bit too high end,
ultimately unable to draw enough affluent shoppers to stay afloat in Jacksonville...
But Nordstrom is that step up for everyone else looking for what's next after
being in a city full of Dillard's, JcPenney and Belk.
Welcome to the St. Johns Town Center, Nordstrom!
To celebrate the new retail attractions,
a gala event was set up for this weekend.
Placing all their faith in the sunny weather to stay constant,
people were already putting together a fashion show runway,
seating, tables and a bar in a blocked-off part of the street.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102077830#.
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