Sarasota Square Mall: The Final Years (2013-2023)

Sarasota Square Mall opened in 1977 and immediately became Sarasota's premiere shopping destination.  This would continue into the 2000's.  Westfield Group purchased the mall in 2003 and renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Sarasota Square. In 2005, the name was shortened to Westfield Sarasota Square.  The next year, the mall underwent a huge renovation adding a new 12-screen AMC theater and a new food court, as well as several new stores.   Dillard's closed their anchor store at the mall in  late 2009, leaving the mall with three anchor stores: Sears, Macy's and JC Penney.  In January 2010, it was announced that Costco Wholesale Corp., the third biggest retailer in the United States was exploring opening a member's discount club in the Dillard's space.  Negotiations were successful and construction to tear down the Dillard's building and build a new Costco store began in 2011. The much-anticipated opening of Costco occurred in August 2012.  Costco was a major addition to the mall, but by the mid-2010's, the mall was facing some huge challenges, including a growing change in retail to online shopping and the addition of the sparkling new Mall at University Town Center (UTC Mall) about 20 minutes to the north in late 2014.  For the most part, the mall hung in there for a couple of years after that, but after two of its four anchors, plus many other stores left in 2017. the sad decline of the mall really began.  For the next six years, stores would steadily depart the mall with very few tenants moving in to take their place. By May 2023, only anchors J.C. Penney, Costco and the AMC Theaters, two food court restaurants and a home game room store remained along with a totally deserted inside of the mall.  After years of rumors and speculation as to what would happen to the property, it was announced that month that the mall structure would be demolished and replaced with town center-style retail, restaurant and commercial space, along with 1,200 market-rate apartments expected to be phased in over a five-to-seven-year period. Costco, JCPenney and AMC Theatres will remain.  

I thought it would be interesting to trace each store from a year in the not too distant past when the mall was still somewhat close to full capacity and then to the time of the announcement in May 2023. 2013 seemed to be a good time to start as the mall was at least over 80% capacity at that time and as mentioned above, Costco had filled the only vacant anchor spot the previous year bringing an increase of traffic to the mall and the UTC Mall was still a year away from opening. Before looking at each store, we will summarize the years from 2013 to 2023 at Sarasota Square Mall.  Note: This page is a supplement to the "What it Used to be in Sarasota" blog. A history of the stores during the early years of the mall can be found on that blog by clicking on the link below and then by scrolling to Sarasota Square Mall. 

What It Used To Be In Sarasota, FL

While business was not quite what it used to be at Westfield Sarasota Square Mall in 2013, the mall still had all of its anchors intact and the majority of its storefronts occupied. In fact, the mall had added ten tenants between late-2012 and mid-2013, while losing only four.  It is interesting to note that some of the tenants that had moved in over the past few years to replace tenants that had left were not the typical mall occupants, such as the Gulf Gate Library and Lunar Golf.  This pattern would continue over the next several years, especially in the mall's final few years. There were still a few national tenants, including some major fashion retailers, that would open new stores at the mall during the next three years.

While several of the mall's tenants, including Macy's, opened new stores in the UTC Mall in October 2014, the mall did not immediately lose any of its major tenants. Sister mall Westfield Siesta Key, located a few miles up the road on US 41 was not as fortunate, losing anchors Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard's. In fact, Westfield Sarasota Square announced that H&M, a popular fashion retailer would be opening a 20,000-plus square foot store there in 2015. This was the mall's first major addition since the arrival of Costco in 2012.  It was also significant in that H&M had just opened a store at UTC Mall and saw enough promise at Sarasota Square to also open a store there. In addition, it was later announced before the end of the year that two more national clothing chains, Old Navy and rue21 would be opening stores at the mall within the next few months.

2015 may have been a foreshadow of what was to come as the year began with the closure of Wet Seal and Delia's women's fashion stores, GameStop and Radio Shack. These closings were primarily part of mass closings by the companies. In April, a closure due to also operating a store at UTC was that of American Eagle Outfitters. Also closing around that time were GNC (an original mall store from 1977) and Rampage Girl. There was some good news, however in 2015 with the openings of H&M, Old Navy, rue21 and Forever 21 Red.

In 2016, the mall added its latest well-known fashion retailers; A’GACI, Windsor Fashions and Torrid. Other than a T-Mobile store added later, these appear to have been the last national retailers that would be added to the mall as all other tenants added during the next seven years were either local or regional.  Also added was local restaurant Prime Serious Steak.  Closures included Aeropostale and Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop. Although there were a couple of smaller store closures toward the end of the year, the mall was still a go-to place in Sarasota for holiday shopping and seemed to be hanging in there despite all of the challenges of the past few years. Things would soon change rather quickly.

Just after the calendar turned to 2017, Macy's announced that they were closing 68 stores, including their anchor store at Westfield Sarasota Square, leaving the mall with three anchors and a big empty space at the end of one of the wings of the mall.   No soon enough after that, stores such as Men's Warehouse, Marks and Morgan Jewelers, Cotton On and Elite Men's Store had announced their closures. As the spring of 2017 had arrived, so did more closures, including rue21, Dahlia's and Hobby Marketplace. If that wasn't enough, in June, Sears announced that their Westfield Sarasota Square location would soon close, leaving the mall with just two anchor stores (Costco and J.C. Penney) along with AMC Theaters, which was now considered as an anchor. Lids store, Starbucks and Da' Marketplatz café closed shortly after the Sears announcement and Ultimate Relaxation, Bond Jewelers and Pacific Sunwear would announce their closures by the end of the year. The mall did welcome a new tenant in December called Knockerball N’ Ninjas (Nalluri Plastic Surgery and Laser Center had opened in the mall a few months earlier). Also that month, Westfield, which owned the Sarasota Square and Siesta Key malls was acquired by Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco (would then be called Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield).  With the acquisition, the talk of turning Sarasota Square into a housing complex was starting to gain traction as confidence in the mall being able to rebound from all of the closures, including two anchors was very low. Despite 2017 being a disastrous year for the mall, there were still enough quality stores left to generate a good amount of holiday traffic to the mall. 

It did not get any better in 2018 for the mall as A'GACI closed its doors early in January, followed by The Children's Place, Nalluri Plastic Surgery, Verizon Wireless, The Body Shop, Charlotte Russe and Ruby Tuesday.  Even the carousel that had been operating near the food court for about five years closed in July. A new tenant in 2018, again not your typical mall tenant was the Sarasota YMCA Cross-Fit Gym as it seemed that when the mall did add tenants, they continued to be more lifestyle-based than retail.

Once again the start of a new year brought new closures at the mall as Forever 21 Red, FYE and Yankee Candle all said their goodbyes in early 2019.  Ocean Bottom also left but would return in a new location later in the year.  In the food court, Hibachi-San and Panda Express closed, leaving Perry’s BBQ, Charleys Philly Steaks, Villa Italian Kitchen and Chick-fil-A as the remaining restaurants there. Outside of the food court, Prime Serious Steak Restaurant also closed. By early May, next-door neighbors Champs Sports and the YMCA Cross-Fit Gym had closed, leaving Old Navy as the only tenant left in the Sears wing of the mall as seen in the below photo.  Photo credit:  If you grew up in Sarasota, FL... then you remember.

Just a month later, both Express and Candy Barrel would close their doors as well.   As would be the case over the next four years, speculation about the mall's future began to intensify with some of it involving turning the mall area into a mixed-use property. A complication in future plans was that J.C. Penney and the former Sears and Macy's buildings were owned by separate companies apart from the mall.   In July, the departure of Villa Italian Kitchen left the food court at three restaurants and Brow Art 23 also closed. New additions to the mall were local learning center BaoAce and the also local New Wave art gallery. It was also announced that the name of the mall would be going back to Sarasota Square. The mall still hosted special events in 2019, including the All About Women Expo in June, the Back To School Bash in July and the Sarasota Wellness Expo in September.  At the end of the year, it was announced that Your Treasure Chest would be relocating to Sarasota Square Mall from DeSoto Square Mall in early 2020 in the former Forever 21 Red spot in what was known as the Sears wing.   With much fascination about "dead malls", and yes, the mall at this time would have to be considered to fall in that category, the state of the mall is well documented on YouTube from this point going forward through May 2023 as there are several videos posted at different times during that period that show the increasing emptiness of the mall as well as the stores that were still remaining. A search for "Sarasota Square" will bring up these videos. There are also some videos going back to 2010 that show the mall in a much better place.

2020 brought more closures as Chick-fil-A appeared to be closed for good after being closed for a few weeks as their new restaurant had opened across the street at Pelican Plaza in early 2019. Also closing during the first few weeks of the year were MasterCuts, LA Nails Too, Atomic Tattoos and Hollister.  A new addition was Beauty Crew SRQ. It was then announced that one of the two largest non-anchor stores, Old Navy would be closing on February 26. This left the entire wing of the mall that had included Sears empty until Your Treasure Chest moved in. The entire mall would then close temporarily for about three or four months on March 19 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The pandemic certainly had its effect on retail and as the mall opened back up in June, the Justice store would be closing its doors, joining Victoria's Secret and GNC, which did not reopen. Jos. A. Bank also closed its store shortly thereafter. In August, it was announced that a foreclosure action was filed against Sarasota Square. The mall suffered another huge blow in November as H&M, the largest non-anchor store in the mall closed its store. This would leave the mall with national tenants AMC, JC Penney (with JCP Salon), Costco, Claire's, Charley's Grilled Subs, Hot Topic, Journeys, Lenscrafters, Lids Locker Room, Rack Room Shoes, Spencer's, Sunglass Hut and Torrid as well as local or regional tenants Vieira (BJJ) Academy, Diva Nails Spa, Elite Home Games, Infinity Watch and Jewelry Repair, Knockerball N'Ninjas, L.A. Nails, Massage Oasis, Perry's BBQ, Saturn 5 Family Entertainment, Beauty Crew SRQ and Wall Street for Men. It also left a lot of empty storefronts, much more than those that were still filled.

In January 2021, it was announced that the former Old Navy space would be utilized by the Sarasota County Health Department as their main vaccine clinic.  The former H & M space was also used.  The clinic was open until the end of June.  The former Macy's building was sold in May to an affiliate of  Torburn Partners of Illinois. By November, the mall, with the exception of the separate J.C. Penney and Sears properties, was up for sale after the previous owners had lost control of the mall due to the foreclosure.  Store closures in 2021 included Claire's, Charley's Grilled Subs, Rack Room Shoes and Spencer's.  Other than the three anchors, only Hot Topic, Journeys, Lenscrafters, Lids Locker Room, Sunglass Hut and Torrid remained as national tenants going into 2022.

At the start of 2022, it was announced that Sarasota Square was purchased by Torburn Partners, giving Torburn ownership of all mall properties except for J.C. Penney and the former Sears building. The mall's food court was now empty after the closure of Perry's Asian Grill.  That would change with the addition of Reyna's Taqueria in May in the old Charley's location and Sarasota German Cuisine in the former Perry's BBQ location later in the year. As the year ended, Torburn had purchased the former Sears building, giving it ownership of all parcels in the mall except for the J.C. Penney parcel.   2022 closures included Hot Topic, Journeys, Lids Locker Room and Torrid. Tenants in the mall that were left besides the three anchors included Elite Home Games, JCP Salon (inside JC Penney), LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and the two new restaurants in the food court.

In May 2023, with the non-anchor tenants down to Elite Home Games, JCP Salon (inside JC Penney), Reyna's Taqueria and Sarasota German Cuisine, plans were announced by Torburn to demolish most of the enclosed mall and add three apartment buildings containing 1.200 units behind the commercial space. The three anchors, JC Penney, Costco and AMC Theater would remain and a grocery and additional retail space would be built.  The site plan can be found here: https://www.metrocommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Sarasota-FL-Sarasota-Square-Mall_.pdf

While it has been a painful sight to watch the decline of the mall over the past six or seven years, leading to its eventual demolition, there is now a plan for the mall's future and with it will come much anticipation and excitement as the plan comes to fruition over the next few years.

Sarasota Square Mall Stores (2013-2023)

Here is a summary of each store location in the mall starting in 2013 and going through 2023 sorted by the identifier (such as A-5) that was listed in the Mall Directories that were located at various parts of the mall. They are listed in three groupings; A, B, and C as was shown in the directories along with a not-too-clear mall map of each group that was posted in 2013.  The store listings in the maps are the starting points for each store location.   Also listed if known, is the unit number that best corresponds to the numbers that were assigned to each store beginning about 1986. The unit number was part of the official address of each store, along with 8201 S. Tamiami Trail.  Units 76-117 were added with the mall's expansion in 1989-90.  In later years, the unit numbers starting with 77 were renumbered (ex: 77 was A1, 78 was A2, 79 was A3, etc.).  The original unit numbers are shown here instead. Stores that later took up multiple locations are shown with more than one unit number. 

Unless noted, once a store closed during these years, it was not replaced with a new tenant and remained empty.

Before starting, here is a map from 2012 that provides a picture of the overall layout of the mall. As seen, each of the anchor stores essentially had a wing of stores that led up to them.  There is also what you could call the center of the mall, called "The Promenade" in the map.

Group A

This group included the Sears wing and one side of the Macy's wing as well one side of the corridor entering the center of the mall.

Anchor - Sears Department Store opened in October 1979 as the mall's third anchor (along with Maas Brothers and JC Penney) after moving from what is now known as Midtown Plaza.  The store closed in 2017, ending an 80-year run of Sears in Sarasota. Photo credit: Sarasota Hearald-Tribune.

Anchor - Macy's at Sarasota Square Mall (2005 to 2017) used to be a Maas Brothers department store from the mall's opening in August 1977 until 1991 before becoming Burdines and eventually Macy's after a short time as Burdines-Macy's.

A1/unit 25 - Lunar Golf, an indoor mini golf course with a glow-in-the dark theme, operated at the mall from July 2009 until early 2015. Photo: Lunar Golf in 2014. Photo credit: Sarasota Square.

A2/38 - Rack Room Shoes operated at the mall for over 20 years until closing in November 2021. Photo: Rack Room Shoes in March 2021.

A3/37 - Wet Seal, a women's fashions discount store closed in January 2015 after 14 years at the mall in this spot. It then became Windsor Fashions from 2016 until about late 2020. Photo 1: A crowd walks by Wet Seal during busier times at the mall.  Photo: Windsor Fashions with Macy's in the background from early 2017.

A4/36 - Located at the corner of the Sears and Macy's wings, this used to be Kay Jewelers going all the way back to September 1977 until closing 43 years later in 2020.

A5/35 - Vacant in 2013 after previously being a Motherhood Maternity store, this became an AT&T store until about 2017 and was later Delux Jewels. Photo 1: AT&T store with A'GACI in the background in 2017. Photo 2: Delux Jewels in 2021.

A6/33-34 - Champs Sports operated at the mall from 1988 until about the end of April 2019.  It was originally at a different location in the mall (unit 49) until about 2010.  Before Champs in this spot was Foot Locker at unit 33 and Lady Foot Locker at unit 34. Photo: Champs Sports from 2018.

A7/32 - GameStop operated at this location in the mall from about 2006 until closing in January 2015.  It later became rue21 clothing store from 2015 to 2017 and YMCA South Trail Performance Cross Fit Center from August 2018 to April 2019.  Photos: 1. GameStop in 2010. 2. Rue21 in 2015. 3. YMCA South Trail Performance Cross Fit Center (credit Sarasota Herald-Tribune) in 2018.

A8/28-31 - Old Navy operated a 13,000-plus square foot store at the mall from about August 2015 until February 2020.  The store replaced about four existing storefronts in the Sears wing of the mall.  After the closure of Old Navy, the space was used for a Spirit Halloween store in the fall of 2020 and as a Covid-19 vaccination site on the first half of 2021. Photos: Old Navy from late 2018.

A12/31 - Regis Hairstylists had a long run at this location in the Sears wing of the mall from about 1986 until closing in early 2015. Old Navy took over several spots, including this one in 2015.

A13/30 - Vacant in 2013, this was previously Christine's Luggage & Gifts before 2013. Old Navy took over several spots, including this one in 2015.

A14/29 - Candy Barrel (since about 2009) moved to A26 after Old Navy took over several spots, including this one in 2015. Before Candy Barrel, this was Dormia Sleep Systems.   Photo: Candy Barrel in its previous location before moving.

A15/28 - New York Jewelers (new in 2013) moved to A17 after Old Navy took over several spots, including this one in 2015. Before 2013, this was D & J Collectibles and earlier Hannoush Jewelers. In the early days of the mall, this was a Chick-fil-A Restaurant from 1977 until moving to the old food court during the 1990's. 

A16/21 - L.A. Nails closed in June 2019 after over 10 years in this spot..  L.A. Nails also operated a second store in the Costco wing at B12.

A17/20 - BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu aka Vieira) Academy appeared to have moved to unit A18 in about 2015. It was replaced by New York Jewelers, which closed in late 2016.

A18/19 - Fine Line Alterations closed in 2015. It was replaced by BJJ Academy until 2022. 

A19/18 - V &J Embroidery closed in about 2020 and then moved to the former Claire's location next to AMC Theaters.

A20/17a - This was later used as a side entrance to Forever 21 Red.

A21/16-17 - This was FYE Music and Movies (formerly Camelot Music) from about 2001 until closing in early 2019. Photo: FYE in late 2018 during their store closing sale.

A22/13-15 - Rampage Girl (new in 2013) closed in early 2015.  It then became Forever 21 Red, a discount women's apparel store operated by Forever 21 from August 2015 to early 2019.  After that it became Your Treasure House resale and auction store (relocated from DeSoto Square Mall) from 2020 to 2022. Before Rampage Girl, this was Anchor Blue (opened in 2008) and then Alta's Market Square (opened about 2010). Photo 1: Forever 21 Red in 2015 shortly after opening. Photo 2: Forever 21 Red in early 2019 shortly before closing. Credit: Sarasota Florida.  Photo 3: Your Treasure Chest in 2021. Photo 4: Rampage Girl

A23/12 - One of the original stores of the mall that would survive over 35 years into 2013, GNC (General Nutrition Centers) was at this location in the mall from September 1977 all the way until closing in early 2015.  It would later return to the mall in spot A31.

A24/11 - Pacific Sunwear (PacSun) operated at the mall from 1998 until closing in early 2018.

A25/10 - Brow Art 23 beauty and skin care store closed in 2019 after operating here for close to 10 years.

A26/9 - Vacant in 2013, Candy Barrel moved here from A14 in about 2014 until June 2019. A few years earlier, this was Icing by Claire's.

A26/8 - Great American Cookie Co. operated at the mall for over 20 years until about 2015. 

A27/7 - Perfume Collection operated here from about 2011 to 2014. This had previously been a Verizon store and earlier was Whitehall Jewelers. Photo: Perfume Collection can be seen in late 2013 during an event to promote an upcoming show.

A28/6 - Vacant in 2013, this area would be remodeled into part of Bond Jewelers in 2014. It had been Select Comfort.

A29/4-6 - Bond Jewelers moved from C24 in late 2014 and operated here until closing in 2018.  Previously here in part of this store before it was remodeled for Bond was Veronica Lurie clothing store, which opened in 2011. Before that, the Disney Store (unit 4) was in this area of the mall from 1997 to 2008 and then a short-lived Toys-R-Us Express store, which opened in late 2010.

  Photo: Bond Jewelers, Traffic Shoes and Cotton On from 2015 at Halloween time. Credit: Sarasota Square.

A31/3- Traffic Shoes (see above photo) opened at the mall in 2006 and operated until about 2015. This later became GNC in late 2016 until 2020. Photo: GNC in 2020.

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A32/3 - Cotton On clothing store operated at the mall from 2011 until early 2017. Photo: Cotton On from about 2016.

A33/2 - Express clothing store operated at this location (had operated at another location previously before leaving the mall for a few years) from 2011 until closing in June 2019. Earlier here was Gap Clothing store.

A34/1 - A34 was split up into two stores.  New York & Company operated here until about 2016. It later became Ocean Bottom (moved from B26) until closing in early 2019.  Photo 1: New York & Company from 2015. Ocean Bottom from late 2018.

A34/114 - This became a Verizon Wireless store by 2016 until closing in 2018. It had previously been Mia & Maxx Hair Studio from about 2003 to 2012.  Photo 1: New York & Company and Verizon Wireless can be seen side-by-side during an event at the mall in 2016. Photo 2: Verizon Wireless from 2016 with Charlotte Russe on the right.

A35/113B- Charlotte Russe operated at the mall from 2002 until closing in February 2018.

A36/113A - Children's Place operated at the mall from 2002 until early 2018. It later became BaoAce Learning Center (shown below from 2021) from 2019 until 2022 after moving from unit C8.

A37/113 - Justice Clothing and Kids Store operated at the mall from about 2011 until July 2020. It had previously been Limited Too. Photo: Justice from 2015.

Photo: The closed Justice store and a kiosk still advertising that there is space available for your business opportunity in March 2021. I don't believe anyone ever took them up on that offer!

Playtown - As part of the effort to make the mall family friendly along with a train and carousel, a large play area was installed in front of Sears. The area was still open in 2022 but was closed as of May 2023.

Group C 

I listed Group C before Group B as this group of stores seemed to be more connected in proximity to Group A than Group B was.  This group included the JC Penney wing and the other side of the Macy's wing as well the other side of the lead-in to the center of the mall.

Anchor - J.C. Penney became the mall's second anchor in September 1977 just a month after the mall's opening.  Not only has the store survived 46 years at the mall, it is also included among the future plans of the mall to remain along with Costco and AMC.  Photo: JCPenney from inside the deserted Sarasota Square mall in May 2023.

C2/41 - Hobby Marketplace opened in 2011 and then moved to unit C8 when the area was remodeled for the opening of H&M. This had previously been Random clothing store.

C3/42 (later listed as C1) - Not listed in 2013 (was previously Gold Pros), this was an A'GACI fashions store from May 2016 to January 2018.  The expanded 10.000 square foot store covered most of one side of the Macy's wing. A good part of this store, including the entrance became Ocean Bottom from about late 2019 to 2021. Photo 1: A'GACI from the May 2016 grand opening.  Credit: Sarasota Square. Photo 2: From March 2021, two young ladies were standing in the near empty mall in front of Ocean Bottom (moved into the former A'GACI) appearing to be wondering if the store is open!

C4/43- Radio Shack closed in early 2015 after having operated at the mall since 1977, although at a different location (unit 13) for most of that time.  It then became O Shoes, which was the shoe line for A'GACI and also part of that store. After the closure of A'GACI, this store was vacant. Photo: Radio Shack is seen during a mall event in 2013.

C5/45 - One of the last major stores to close in the mall, Lid's Locker Room remained open until June 2022. It had previously been Sports Fan Attic. Photo: Lids Locker Room in 2021.

C6/46 - Wall Street for Men returned to the mall in about 2005 after operating in a different location from about 1989 to 2002. It remained here until about early 2022.  Photo: Located next to Lids Locker Room, Wall Street for Men was also one of the last stores to close inside the mall (shown here in 2021).

C7/47 - Fat Ink Tattoos operated here until about 2014. It later became Ultimate Relaxation around late 2014 until 2017 and then became Beauty Crew SRQ from early 2020 until 2021. Before Fat Ink, this was Zounds.  Photo 1: Fat Ink sign from 2013. Photo 2: Ultimate Relaxation from 2016. Photo 3: Beauty Crew SRQ in 2021.

C8/49 - Fleming's furniture store became Hobby Marketplace (moved from unit C3 over by Macy's around 2014) until 2017.  After that it was $5 or Less until closing in 2020.  It was earlier Champs before moving to A6 in about 2010. Photo 1: Fleming's furniture store. Credit: Foursquare. Photo 2: $5 or Less from 2019.

C9/51 - Lenscrafters operated at the mall from about 1998 all the way until closing in about early 2023.

C10/52 - ReVive - Your Mind Body Spirit Store opened in December 2012 and closed in about 2017. It then became BaoAce Learning Center around 2018 until moving to A36 during 2019. It was previously PureBeauty and then Zoey and Company.  Back in the early days of the mall, this was the popular Mr. Dunderbak's and later Wunderbar. Photo: BaoAce Learning Center in its original location before moving to A36. 

C11/53 - Amy's Dollar Plus closed in about 2015. It then became All Sports Custom Framing (moved from B11) until about 2017.  This was previously the Sarasota Square Mall Ice Rink until 2013. Photo 1: Amy's Dollar Plus. Photo 2: All Sports Custom Framing in 2016.

C13/53A - Diva Nail Spa operated here from 2007 until about 2022.

C14/50 (outside entrance) - Yoder's Marketplace & Deli (opened in 2010) would become Da' Marketplatz cafe and deli from July 2015 until June 2017. This had previously been Bombay Company from about 2006 to 2008 after moving from unit 3.

C17/56 - Gulf Gate Library opened in February 2013 and closed at the start of 2015 as this was a temporary location while the library on Curtiss Ave. was being rebuilt. It later became Knockerball N Ninjas in December 2017 and was closed by early 2021.  Previously here was Steve & Barry's from 2008 to 2009 and then Famous Labels clothing store.  Photo 1: Gulf Gate Library in 2014.  Photo credit: Malltopia.  Photo 2: Knockerball N Ninjas in 2018.

  

C18/61 - Payless Shoe Source operated at the mall in this spot for over 20 years before closing in 2014.  Before Payless, this was Colony women's clothing store, which was one of the mall's original stores. This spot was one of about nine that were taken over by H&M in 2015. Photo: Shoppers watch a presentation outside Payless Shoe Source.

C19/62 - Crown Specialties wig & hair extensions store closed about 2014 after at least eight years here.  This spot was taken over by H &M.  The original tenant here was Hickory Farms, which operated into the 90's.

C20/63 - Vacant at the time of the above mall map, this had been Flemings Too (furniture) shortly before that and earlier Freeman's Luggage.   This spot was taken over by H&M. 

C21/64 - Rhythm (fashion) closed in 2014   This spot was taken over by H&M. Photo 1: Rhythm fashion store. Back in the 90's and into the 00's, this was Rave women's clothing store. Photo 2: Rhythm, Flemings Too, Crown Specialties and Payless Shoes can be seen through the crowds at a special event at the mall in August 2012.  All of these stores would be gone within a couple of years as H&M took over that side of the JC Penney wing. Credit: SNN

C22/65 - Ellen's Hallmark closed about 2014.  This spot was taken over by H&M. 

C23/66 - Journeys shoe store moved to spot C32 around 2014 to make room for H&M. Photo: Journeys in their previous spot in the JC Penney wing before moving to the center of the mall.

C24/67 - Bond Jewelers, which opened at the mall in early 1994, moved to A29 around 2014 to make way for H&M. It closed at the start of 2018.

C25/68 - Vitamin World opened in August 2000 and closed in 2014.  This spot was taken over by H&M. 

C26/69 - Verizon Wireless moved to A34 around 2015 to make way for H&M.

C27/70 - Build-A-Bear Workshop operated here from 2007 until closing in July 2014. This area was then rebuilt shortly after that as the mall office shown on the right below (photo 1) was over moved to the left (photo 2) and H&M took over the rest of the area.

C27 - H&M, a popular Swedish clothing and apparel store, operated a 27,000-plus square foot store here from May 2015 until November 2020.  Several stores moved to different locations of the mall to make way for H&M.  During the first half of 2021, the vacant store (along with the former Old Navy store) was used as a Covid-19 vaccination site. Photo 1: H&M during their opening in 2015. Photo 2: The former H&M space being used as a Covid-19 vaccination site in March 2021.

Note: Stores C28 through C34 below were all remodeled into new stores in 2006-2007 as part of the renovations to remove the food court from this area.

C28/73 - Bath & Body Works moved from unit 13 to this location of the mall in 2007 as part of the renovations and operated here all the way until 2022. Photo: Bath and Body Works from 2019.

C29/76 - Buckle clothing store operated here from 2007 to 2020.

C30/77 - American Eagle Outfitters moved to this location of the mall during 2007 from B2 as part of the renovations and operated here until April 2015.  After temporarily turning into Halloween Megastore during the fall of 2015, it became Dahlia's, a local boutique until closing in 2017. It was then turned into a lounge called The Square later in 2017. Photo 1: American Eagle Outfitters is seen during a mall event in 2014. Photo 2: American Eagle Outfitters is seen also with Hollister, Aldo and Finish Line on the left during a separate mall event.

C31/78 - Finish Line (athletic shoes and apparel) operated here from 2007 until about 2015. It later became fashion-retailer Torrid from September 2016 until March 2022.  Photo 1: Finish Line.  Photo 3: Torrid from 2021.

C32/79 - Aldo (shoes) opened in 2007 until closing in about 2014.  It then became Journeys shoe store (moved from C23) from 2014 to March 2022. Photo 1: Aldo Shoes. Photo 2. Journeys Shoes in 2021.

C33/80 - Hollister clothing store operated here from 2007 until closing in early 2020. Photo: Hollister during its last weeks at the mall.

C34/81 - Forever 21 operated at the mall from about 2008 to 2015 (The company would open a Forever 21 Red store in the Sears Wing in 2015). It later became City Fashion from late 2016 to 2018. In March 2019, it became Armageddon Laser Tag until about 2021. Photo 1: Forever 21. Photo 2: City Fashion.

Train Station - The train that would provide children with a ride around the mall operated for several years until about 2016 and was stationed outside of JC Penney.  Photo 1: Yes, the Train Station was popular, but I somehow do not believe that all of these folks were waiting in line for a train ride! Photo 2: The train is making its way through the mall. 

Group B

This group included the Costco and AMC wings, along with the food court and led into the opposite side of the center of the mall from Group's A (after Victoria's Secret) and C (after Hot Topic).

Anchor - Costco at Sarasota Square Mall (since 2012) replaced Dillard's (1996 to late 2009) as the mall's fourth anchor.  Dillard's had replaced Parisian (1989 to early 1996). It will remain as part of the new development of the mall property. Photo 1: The entrance inside the mall to Costco.  Photo 2: The food area outside the entrance to Costco was packed on a Friday afternoon in May 2023.

Anchor - The 12-screen AMC Theaters opened as part of the mall's expansion in 2006. It replaced two six-screen theaters previously at the mall (one inside the mall and the other outside the mall). It will also remain as part of the new development of the mall property. Photo: AMC Theaters from May 2023.

B1/112 - Victoria's Secret operated here at the mall since the early 1990's until closing in 2020.

B2/111 - Bijou Brigitte closed in December 2016 after almost ten years at the mall. Photo: Victoria's Secret and Bijou Brigitte from 2016.

B3/108 - Jos. A. Bank men's clothing store operated at the mall from 2003 until 2020.

B4 - Hurricane Grill & Wings opened in September 2013 and then reopened under new name Barefoot Caribbean Grill in August 2015 to about early 2020. It had previously been Coyne's Pier 28 Restaurant from June 2012 to July 2013 and Cosimo's Too before that.

B5 - Prime Serious Steak Restaurant operated here from late 2016 to early 2019.

B6/107A - Ruby Tuesday Restaurant operated at the mall from October 1998 until March 2018.

B7/107 - Sunglass Hut operated at the mall from at least 1998 until closing in early 2023.

B8/105 - This was Things Remembered, which operated in this spot for over 20 years until about 2015.  It later became T-Mobile in 2017 until about 2020.

Photo: The wing headed toward Costco had seven active stores in a
row as late as 2019 with Sunglass Hut (not shown), T-Mobile, Massage Oasis, Mastercuts, Atomic Tattoo, L.A. Nails and Infinity Watch & Jewelry Repair (also not shown). Credit: Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

B9/104 - Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio operated at the mall from the beginning (1977) at a different location to about 2015. It later became Massage Oasis. Photo: Massage Oasis was still operating at the mall in March 2021.

B10/103 - MasterCuts operated at the mall until closing in early 2020. Photo: MasterCuts and mannequin from 2016.

B11/102 - All Sports Custom Framing opened here in about 2012 and later moved to C16.  It then became Atomic Tattoos until early 2020.

B12/101 - Nails & Facials became LA Nails & Spa in about 2015 until about 2021.

B13/100 - Men's Warehouse operated at the mall until about the start of 2017. It later became Infinity Watch & Jewelry in March 2018 until about 2021.

B14 - Somnis Sleep System operated here until about 2014 and it then became Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop from late 2014 until 2016.

A30A (located near the Costco entrance) - Elite Home Gamerooms opened in October 2015 and was still operating as of May 2023 as seen in the photo below.

Units B15-B23 are located in the Food Court, which opened in 2006 after moving from the center of the mall.

B15 - Blondie's Cookies operated here until about 2014. It later became Pholicious Vietnamese Restaurant around 2015, and Zero-Degree Ice Cream from about 2017 to 2019. It had previously been Edy's Grand Ice Cream.

B16 - Chick-Fil-A operated a standalone restaurant in the mall from 1977 until moving to the old food court in the 1990's. It then moved to this location with the opening of the new food court in 2006 until closing late in 2019. 

B17 - A Subway Restaurant had operated at the mall going back to the old food court and then here from 2006 until about 2015.

B18 - Panda Express operated in the food court from 2006 until January 2019.

B19 - Jake's Wayback Burgers, a chain now known as Wayback Burgers, operated here from 2012 to 2014. In early 2015, this became a Burger King for a couple of years. It had previously been Flamers Burgers & Chicken.

B20 - Perry's BBQ Asian Grill operated here until 2022. Later in 2022, it became German Cuisine, which was still operating as of May 2023, but would close by the end of the year. Photo: Taking an order at German Cuisine in the food court in May 2023.

B21 - Charley's Grilled Subs was here from at least 2010 until closing in about 2021. In May 2022, it became Reyna's Taqueria South, which was still operating as of May 2023, but would close by the end of the year.  Photo: Reyna's Taqueria South was operating in the food court and bringing in customers in May 2023.

B22 - Sbarro Pizza became Villa Italian Kitchen until July 2019. Sbarro was a long tenant of the mall, going back at least as far as 1983. Photo: Villa Italian Kitchen

B23 - Hibachi-San operated here until January 2019.

Carousel - A carousel operated in the food court area from about 2013 to 2018. Photo: The carousel from 2015.  Credit: Sarasota Square.

B24/99 - Claire's (Claire's Boutiques) operated at the mall from about 1988 (originally in a different location by the old food court) until closing in 2021. It then became V & J Custom Embroidery, which previously operated from A19, until 2022.

B25/97 - Lid's operated at the mall from 2006 until closing in January 2017.  It would later become a Boost Mobile location for a short time by 2018 into 2019.

B26/95 - Delia's (women's apparel) operated from 2006 until closing in January 2015. It then became Ocean Bottom by early 2016 (moved to A34 in 2018) and then Saturn 5 Entertainment after that until about 2021. Photo: Delia's

Photo: Claire's, Lids and Ocean Bottom are seen in the AMC wing in early 2016.

Photo: Saturn 5 Family Entertainment

B27/93 - Spencer's (Spencer Gifts) operated at the mall for about 30 years (originally at a different location by the old food court until 2007) until 2021.

B28/90 - Marks & Morgan Jewelers operated at the mall in a corner spot between the AMC and Costco wings from 2006 until closing in January 2017.

B29/89 - Best Buy Mobile operated here from 2011 until about 2017. It was previously Perfumania. Photo: Best Buy Mobile in 2016. 

B30/87 - The Body Shop (beauty products) operated at the mall from 1995 (originally in the Parisian, then Macy's wing) until closing in early 2018.

B31/86 - Aéropostale operated at the mall from 2003 to 2016. It briefly became Elite (men's clothing) later in 2016 until early 2017, Nalluri Plastic Surgery and Laser Center from 2017 to 2018 and New Wave Art Gallery from 2019 to about 2021. Photo 1: Aéropostale in 2010. Credit: Sarasota Square. Photo 2: Although it had not yet opened for the day, New Wave Art Gallery was one out of about 20 to 25 stores still open at the mall in March 2021.

B32/85 - Starbucks closed in June 2017. Photo: Starbucks Coffee with Aeropostale on the left.

B33/84 - Yogurt Zone operated here until from about 2013 to 2014.  This spot had otherwise been vacant for the majority of the time going back to the late 00's.

B34/83 - Yankee Candle closed in early 2019 after about 15 years here. This had earlier been San Francisco Music Box Co. Photo: Yankee Candle shown in December 2018, just a few weeks before closing its doors.

B35/82 - Hot Topic, a popular teen and young adult-oriented clothing store operated at the mall from 2007 until March 2022 (seen below from 2018).

Kiosks

In addition to the stores, there were many kiosks stationed throughout the mall.  As one would expect, the number of kiosks dwindled as the years went on. Two of the longest-tenured kiosks were Piercing Pagoda, which operated at the mall for over 40 years and Auntie Anne's (food court).  Other kiosks during this period included Pita Pit (food court), Cellairis, Dish Network, YS Jewelers and Cricket Wireless.

Mall Photos from May 2023

At the time of the announcement of the future plans of the mall in early May of 2023, the mall was totally vacant except for Costco, AMC Theatres, Reyna's Taqueria, German Cuisine and Elite Home Games on one side of the mall and JC Penney on the other side. 

In late May 2023, I took a walk-through of Sarasota Square for the first time in over a year on a Friday afternoon around lunch time and the mall area from Costco all the way to the Sears and JC Penney wings was still open (the Macy's wing was blocked off) but resembled a ghost town of closed and empty stores with just the occasional mall walker passing by. There was no music playing in the background as there had been in the past.  It was not well-lighted, and the air conditioning didn't seem to be working too well.  Although I had seen recent videos and photos of the mall, seeing it in person was quite a surreal and eerie feeling while remembering the days when crowds would pack these same walkways and stores in the mall. The only light at the end of the tunnel was coming from JC Penney and it even seemed quiet there, at least at that end of the store. 

On the other side of the mall, Costco was brimming with activity as always, movie watchers were entering the AMC theater and at least a dozen patrons were sitting down and enjoying lunch from the two local restaurants at the food court, which was nice to see.

Here are some photos of the vacant stores (photos of the active stores are included above).

Group A

A3 - The former Windor Fashions (closed in 2020) and earlier Wet Seal in the Macy's wing. 

A4 - The former Kay Jewelers (closed in 2020).

A6 - The former Champs Sports (closed in 2019).

A21 - The former FYE (closed in early 2019).

A23 -The former Your Treasure House (closed in 2022) and earlier Rampage Girl and Forever 21 Red.

A31 - Left: The former GNC (closed in 2020) and earlier Traffic Shoes.

A32 - Center: The former Cotton On (closed in 2017).

A33 - Right: The former Express (closed in 2019).

A35 - The former Charlotte Russe (closed in 2018).

Playtown - Closed in about 2022. In the background is the former Sears.

Group C (Again Group C is listed before B due to the closer proximity to Group A).

C3 - The former Ocean Bottom (closed in 2021) and earlier A'GACI.

C7 - The former Beauty Crew SRQ (closed in 2021).

C28 - The former Bath & Body Works (closed in 2022).

C29 - The former Buckle (closed in 2020).

C32 - The former Journeys (closed in 2022).

C33 - The former Hollister's (closed in early 2020).

C34 - The former Armageddon Laser Tag (closed in 2021). It was earlier Forever 21 and then City Fashions.

C32 - C34 The above three stores are shown together.

Group B 

B7 - The former Sunglass Hut (closed earlier in 2023).

B8 - The former T-Mobile (closed in 2020) and earlier Things Remembered.

B13 - The former Infinity Watch & Jewelry (closed about 2021) and earlier Men's Warehouse.

B15 - You might be able to tell that this is the former Zero Degree Ice Cream (closed in about 2019) in the food court.

B24 - Left: The former Claires (closed in 2021) and V & J Custom Embroidery (closed in 2022).

B25 - Right: The former Lids (closed in 2017).

B27 - The former Spencer's (closed in 2021).

B32 - The former Starbucks (closed in 2017).

Credits: Although a good part of the content above was accumulated through visits to the mall over the past few years, I have to give special credit to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for their excellent coverage of the mall and the YouTube posters as all of this was needed to patch the information together.