Sawgrass Mills

Sawgrass Mills is an alligator-shaped single-story shopping mall in Sunrise, Florida, owned by Simon Property Group. The mall has 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 m²) of retail and dining space. It is one of the largest shopping centers in the Miami metropolitan area, being ranked as the 11th largest mall in the United States.

The mall was developed by Western Development Corporation, which later became The Mills Corporation. It also includes The Colonnade Outlets and The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills, both outdoor facilities adjacent to the mall that offer luxury stores and entertainment options, respectively.

Designed in the shape of an alligator, Sawgrass Mills opened in 1990 as the third mall (and flagship) developed by the now-defunct Western Development Corporation. The mall has been expanded multiple times since then, and is located next to Amerant Bank Arena.^[2][3] There are over 400 retail outlets and name brand discounters. There is even AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Sawgrass Mills/Sunrise, a hotel operated by AC Hotels by Marriott.^[4]

Because of its size, Sawgrass Mills is divided into three parts: the main mall, The Oasis, and The Colonnade Outlets.^[2][3]

The mall is named after saw grass, Cladium mariscus subsp. jamaicense, a very common plant in the Everglades. The mall's west Broward location was part of the Everglades before human development and is less than a mile from the remaining Everglades (just beyond the nearby Sawgrass Expressway/State Road 869).^[3]

In 1988, the Western Development Corporation announced they would build a mall in South Florida. This would be their third mall, after Potomac Mills opening in 1985 and Franklin Mills the next year. It would be built on a 442-acre parcel of land in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale. Previously, the land and surrounding area were swamps and rural areas, once connected to the nearby Everglades. This is where the mall gained its name, "Sawgrass Mills", because of the plant commonly found in the Everglades. The mall would have seven anchors and over 200 outlet stores. On April 21, Western would announce that three anchors were officially moving into the mall: Sears, Waccamaw Pottery, and a European grocery store. The grocery store would eventually not be an anchor. An IKEA would also be in the plans, however an agreement was never reached between them and Western.^[5]

On May 24, 1988, Arquitectonica, the mall's architects, would unveil design plans for Sawgrass Mills. The plans included entrance designs and the mall's exterior, and that it would be three-quarters of a mile long, though no information on the interior would be revealed yet. Construction would officially begin that month.^[6]

In April 1989, the mall announced that BrandsMart USA would become another anchor tenant.^[7] The 49th Street Galleria, an amusement center with bowling, arcade games, roller skating, and restaurants, would also be a planned anchor. It would be the second location after opening in Franklin Mills the same year.^[8]

In May 1990, a few months before the mall's opening, two more anchors would officially be part of the mall: Phar-Mor and the 49th Street Galleria.^[9]

On May 21, 1990, Robert Hottinger, a construction worker installing drywall, fell from a scaffold at the mall. He would pass away four days later.^[10]

Later, VF Factory Outlet, Inc. would become the last official anchor.^[11]

In July 1990, marketing and advertising for the new mall would begin appearing across the region, including airplane banners, newspaper ads, and television and radio commercials, leading up to its opening in 3 months. Media previews would also be held.^[12]

On August 20, 1990, Waccamaw opened its store more than a month before Sawgrass Mills opened. This would be due to confusion with another anchor, Sears, supposedly opening the weekend prior, making Waccamaw think they should open as well.^[13] Sears Outlet would officially open on September 5, 1990.^[14]

After two years of construction, Sawgrass Mills officially opened on October 4, 1990. The mall opened in two stages.^[15] The first opened on October 4, 1990 with the BrandsMart USA/Sears Outlet wing at the eastern end, extending past the Garden Food Court (next to Sears, previously the Hurricane Food Court), to the Books-A-Million store at the western end of the mall. The second stage, which opened November 15, 1990, extended the mall westward of the Books-A-Million store, past a second food court, the Market Food Court (next to Dick's Sporting Goods, previously the Sports Food Court) to new Marshalls and Spiegel Outlets (now Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center). Cobb Theatres (renamed Regal Cinemas in 1997) built an 18-screen cinema located at the Northeast corner of the mall, opening in December 1991, being disconnected from the main mall.^[16] A Target Greatland was added to the east wing of the mall, opening in July 1992,^[17] which was then expanded into a Super Target store in mid-2006. Phar-Mor was another early anchor to the mall.^[18] Sam's Club, Walmart's warehouse store division, opened outside of the mall to customers in 1993.^[19]

Originally, the concourses were named, and each turn was considered a "court" and named for the architectural style it featured. The original mall concourses (running west to east) were Modern Main Street, Mediterranean Main Street, Art Deco Main Street, and Caribbean Main Street. The courts were (running west to east) Entertainment Court, Cabana Court, Video Court, Rotunda Court and New Ideas Court. Mall entrances were named after the entrance roads leading up to them, which included Yellow Toucan, Green Toad, Purple Parrot, White Seahorse, Red Snapper, Blue Dolphin, and Pink Flamingo.^[20]

A Phase II addition, known as Veranda Main Street (later Avenue 2, now The Loop), opened November 14, 1995. It ran parallel to the middle mall corridor (Avenue 3, now also The Loop) and was anchored by Service Merchandise (later American Signature Furniture, now TJ Maxx). The first Neiman Marcus Last Call location opened in the former Spiegel Outlet space. Local retailer L. Luria & Sons was slated to open an anchor at Sawgrass Mills.^[18] A lawsuit ensued, however, when Service Merchandise opened instead, and the Luria company blamed The Mills Corporation for choosing Service Merchandise instead.^[21]

Rainforest Cafe opened on November 20, 1996, in the Cabana Court next to the animatronic pond. The pond was modified to align with the restaurant's rainforest theme.^[22]

An outdoor entertainment center, The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills, had its grand opening on April 15, 1999. This became the mall's first outdoor concourse, bringing it out from near Burlington Coat Factory to Regal Cinemas (which was expanded to 23 screens). A parking garage was added in 2002 directly across the outside entrance to Burlington.^[23]

Wannado City opened in the spring of 2004.^[3] It was an indoor amusement center for kids who were able to work real world jobs in a miniature city. Later, The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills, designed by the BCT Design Group, opened in 2006.^[3] It is an outdoor outlet shopping plaza that featured outlets of more upscale brands, including St. John, Burberry, Coach, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and Tommy Bahama and restaurants such as Grand Lux Cafe, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Villagio, and Zinburger. It received its first expansion in 2009. with the latest expansion featuring Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Ted Baker. The animatronic pond in front of Rainforest Cafe was converted into Cha Cha's Adventure Area, a kids' playground, in the late 2000s.^[24]

In the early to mid-2000s, the concourses were numbered and renamed "Avenues" instead of "Main Streets". Mall entrances also became numbered to represent which Avenue the entrance would lead to (i.e. Entry 3 leading to Avenue 3). The Courts' names were removed with this change.^[25]

In February 2007, The Mills Corp.'s portfolio, including Sawgrass Mills, would be acquired by Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management for $25.25 per share, following the rejection of Brookfield Asset Management's offer, which offered to acquire The Mills Corp. for $21 per share. This was because The Mills Corporation filed for bankruptcy.^[26]

The acquisition was completed in April 2007, and Sawgrass Mills' branding was relaunched as The Mills: A Simon Company.^[27]

Wannado City closed permanently on January 12, 2011 after struggling financially.^[28]

In 2013, Sawgrass Mills opened a new section, Fashion Row, on the former site of Wannado City.

A new parking garage opened next to the Colonnade Outlets in 2016, which itself received an expansion at the same time, featuring new stores including Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, and Ted Baker. The expansion also opened a new restaurant, Matchbox.^[29] Century 21 Department Store opened in 2016, which removed Cha Cha's Adventure Area due to the store needing to expand. Seasons 52 opened adjacent to Matchbox in Spring 2019. In August 2019, Barneys New York announced that their location would close as part of plan to close fifteen locations nationwide due to bankruptcy. An AC Hotels by Marriott opened in 2021 next to the Colonnade Outlets.

An expansion was opened in 2018 called the Town Center at Sawgrass Mills which features 25 full-price retailers, 4 new sit down restaurants, and another new parking garage for 2,000 vehicles. The new expansion is located next to Colonnade Outlets and extends the stores.^[30]

Beginning in 2019 and finishing in 2023 (being delayed from its original completion date of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Sawgrass Mills received extensive renovations in the original enclosed portions, including new signage, paint, aesthetics, and furniture, to bring it up-to-date with Simon's other properties.^[31]

On September 10, 2020, it was announced that Century 21 Department Store would be closing all stores, including the Sawgrass Mills location.^[32] This location closed on December 6, 2020. Q Store California opened in the former site of Century 21 the following year. On September 15, 2022, it was announced that Bed Bath & Beyond would close 150 stores nationwide as part of a plan to close stores. The former Century 21 Department store was eventually replaced by an Epic Pickleball & Padel Athletic Club while the former Bed Bath & Beyond was eventually replaced by a general store called Super Bins. Both openings add new experiences and stores to the mall.^[33]

• List of largest shopping malls in the United States

• Official Website