WEST SHORE PLAZA SHOPPING CITY
North West Shore and West J.F.K. Boulevards
Tampa, Florida
The first fully-enclosed shopping venue in the Tampa Bay area was located on a 50 acre plot, 4 miles west of center city Tampa. WEST SHORE PLAZA SHOPPING CITY, designed by Boston-based Sumner and Schein, was developed by Boston-based Theodore W. Berenson and Associates and Philadelphia-based Strouse, Greenburg and Associates.
The single-level complex, officially dedicated September 28, 1967, was anchored by a 3-level (238,000 square foot), Tampa-based Maas Brothers and 2-level (209,000 square foot) J.C. Penney.
The original shopping venue housed thirty-five inline stores, including an F.W. Woolworth 5 and 10, Walgreen Drug, Piccadilly Cafeteria and Pantry Pride supermarket. There were also outparcel Penney's and Firestone Auto Centers.
The second enclosed shopping center in the area, GATEWAY MALL [October 2008 archive], opened in Saint Petersburg, in March 1968. The third, SUNSHINE MALL [October 2008 archive], was located in Clearwater and opened in September 1968.
The site of WEST SHORE PLAZA was adjacent to the Interstate 4 expressway; which was redesignated as Interstate 75 in May 1971.
The first expansion of WEST SHORE PLAZA was done during 1973 and 1974. The project included the addition of a 2-level (159,000 square foot), Saint Petersburg-based Robinson's of Florida, the "North Parkade" parking garage and several new East Wing stores.
In 1980, a new expressway bypass was completed through the eastern environs of Tampa. It was thereby designated as Interstate 75, with its original route (which passed by WEST SHORE PLAZA) being renamed Interstate 275.
All Robinson's of Florida locations were rebranded as New Orleans-based Maison Blanche in 1988. These stores were acquired by Little Rock-based Dillard's in 1991. This was the same year in which Maas Brothers department stores in the Tampa Bay area were rebranded as Miami-based Burdines.
In 1992, a 9 million dollar renovation of the 869,000 square foot PLAZA began. This project included new skylights, marble floors, fountains, mall entrances and a Food Court, which was built in space previously devoted to mall offices and shoe repair, barber and beauty shops. A 3-story bell tower (a trademark of the restyled shopping venue) was also added.
A 170 million dollar expansion of the shopping center was announced in April 1997. During a first phase of construction, the "South Parkade" garage was built.
The second phase involved the Woolworth structure, which had been shuttered in January 1994. It was divided into two sections by a new mall corridor, with the remaining area refitted with six inline store spaces.
The new mallway extended to a 2-level (101,500 square foot) Saks Fifth Avenue, which held its grand opening November 12, 1998. The "West Parkade" was built at this time, as well.
A subsequent expansion, which got underway in November 2000, cost 85 million dollars and consisted of the construction of a 14-screen AMC multiplex on an upper level and expansion of the original Food Court.
These renovations were completed in November 2000. The official name of the mall, WEST SHORE PLAZA (three words), was altered to read WESTSHORE PLAZA (two words).
A major mall competitor, INTERNATIONAL PLAZA AND BAY STREET, came on the scene in 2001. The new super-center was located only 1 mile northeast of WESTSHORE PLAZA.
In September of the same year, the WESTSHORE Dillard's vacated, moving into a store in the newer mall. Its old space at WESTSHORE reopened as a Sears in October 2002.
In June 2003, the Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust purchased WESTSHORE PLAZA, by then encompassing 1,059,500 million leasable square feet and over one hundred stores and services. In 2006, the Maas Brothers / Burdines was "Macy-ated".
Sources:
"WestShore Plaza" article on Wikipedia
Malls Of America Blogspot / Keith Milford webmaster / "WestShore Plaza" post
Comment post by Jim
Interstate275florida.com
www.bizjounals.com
www.glimcher.com
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6 comments:
Actually Robinson's became Maison Blanche in 1988 when May decided to sell its newly acquired Associated stores that it didn't want. The Robinson's sale to Maison Blanche was somewhat of a package deal which included the sale of the May Cohens division in Jacksonville. Maison Blanche Central Florida stores were sold to Dillard in 1992. The Jacksonville Maison Blanche stores were renamed Gayfers. Mercantile, the owner of Gayfers, purchased those stores. In 1998 Jacksonville sold the stores directly to Belk especially as a way of keeping Federated's Burdines division from coming to town.
I meant to say that in 1998 Dillard bought Mercantile and sold the Jacksonville stores to Belk.
Michael,
Thanks for all of the update info about WestShore's third anchor store.
Now, let me (try and) get this all straight here......
The store originally opened as a St. Pete-based Robinson's of Florida in the mid-1970's.
In 1987, through acquisition, it was rebranded a New Orleans-based Goudchaux/Maison Blanche (shortened to simply Maison Blanche in 1988).
In 1991, the chain was acquired by Dillard's....the store was a Dillard's until 2001.
Sears moved into the anchor space in 2002.
Does this all jive with the facts?
Thanks again,
I am out of town but have the facts at home. From what I remember Robinson's was a new division started in 1973 by Associated Dry Goods. The name was chosen because it was a 'user friendly' name and was also an in-house Associated name used in LA as J.W. Robinson's. Its first store was located at Tyrone Square in St. Petersburg, its 'flagship' store. West Shore was either its 2nd or 3rd store, I think 2nd. The Tampa Bay area had little competition as it was ruled by Allied Stores' Maas Brothers division. Around the same time Robinson's opened, as a more upscale alternative to Maas Bros., Miami's Burdines came to town and Mercantile opened a lone Gayfers store in Clearwater.
May purchased Associated in 1986 and did not want Robinson's. Yes, it was sold to Baton Rouge-based Goudchaux/Maison Blanche in 1987. West Shore became Maison Blanche but then Goudchaux ran into money issues and sold MB Florida stores in 1992. West Shore then became Dillard's.
The rest of your facts seem correct.
This is the mall I grew up going to -- I was born in 1974.
The "WestShore Plaza" spelling of the name is fairly recent (circa the 1997 renovation, maybe). The previous spelling was "West Shore Plaza" -- the city street that runs along the east side of the property is "West Shore Boulevard."
I don't remember any "Goudchaux" branding -- I remember the name on the store changing from "Robinson's" to "Maison Blanche," and I remember the name they used in their advertising shifting from "Robinson's" to "Robinson's-Maison Blanche" to "Maison Blanche-Robinson's" to "Maison Blanche" over a period of about a year.
Jim,
I've incorporated the alterations you mentioned into the diagrams and written content of the WEST SHORE PLAZA article.
Thanks for perusing and posting.
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