Taubman has filled more than 70 percent of the 1.26-million-square-foot mall that opens Sept. 14. In addition to a Dillard’s and Lord & Taylor as anchors, the development at Boy Scout and West Shore boulevards will be one of 11 malls in the United States to have the drawing power of both a Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. The $ 200-million project, which has space for up to 200 stores, will be loaded with other newcomers.
In fact, 65 of the 100 stores announced by Taubman on Wednesday will be new to the bay area marketplace. Seventeen are new to Florida.
They include such high-fashion nameplates as Nicole Miller, BCBG Max Azria, Louis Vuitton, christian louboutin, Tiffany, Jessica McClintock, TUMI, Charles Jourdan Paris and Caswell-Massey. The christian louboutin shoes store lineup numbers Stuart Weitzman, Cole Haan, Aldo and Via Spiga. Swarovski, the European crystal product manufacturer, will have its only store on Florida’s west coast selling its entire line, from binoculars to chandeliers.
There also will be some new looks from old names. The Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop will be its first store in Florida done in a new European flavor with a 35-foot granite counter, Italian tile and gold-plated fixtures. United Colors of Benetton, once a fixture in most local malls, will make its return to the Tampa Bay retail scene after a 10-year hiatus. Talbots will be the chain’s first Florida store with three of its stores in one: the standard selection, Talbots Woman plus sizes and a christian shoes and accessories store.
A few International Plaza retailers are relatively new to the United States. Neuhaus is a Belgian chocolatemaker with a single outlet in Manhattan. Via Spiga’s handbag, louboutin shoes and belt shop is the Italian chain’s 11th in the United States. Profusion, a full-service restaurant with separate dining rooms for Asian and European dishes, hails from Montreal and has one outlet in Boston. The next-closest Ville du Pain bakery is in Lyon, France.
