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You might have noticed some changes at the mall, including its new name: Westfield Shoppingtown Countryside.
By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 12, 2002
The neighborhood mall is a part of Americana, a throwback to ancient days when the town square was the center of the social universe.
Everybody hangs out there to catch a show, eat in plastic food court chairs or increase their Friday night dating prospects.
"The mall" can be found in Anywhere, USA.
Except in Clearwater.
The city's last remaining mall, Countryside, was bought earlier this year by an Australian company and will hereafter be known as a shoppingtown. Westfield Shoppingtown Countryside to be exact.
The new name is not part of a science fiction plot to subvert American pop culture, said newly named general manager Andrea Boitnott.
Rather, she said, it's a simple business adjustment. Malls in Australia are known as shoppingtowns, and Westfield Shoppingtown is a brand name for her parent company, Westfield Group.
"(Shoppers) will know to expect people in red and 'kiddie kruisers,' " said Boitnott, who has worked at Countryside for six years. "It's like Coca-Cola, they have a certain branding strategy. Westfield did not take the name away; they just enhanced it."
Still, some shoppers are adamantly opposed to the name change and stare quizzically at red and white shoppingtown signs and stickers hanging from nearly every door, window and empty square of ceiling in the place.
It's the sort of abrupt change that incites debate while shoppers wait on their taxis or step outside to smoke a cigarette.
"It's always going to be Countryside Mall," said Patrick Ryan, 35, a resident of the Countryside neighborhood. "I live on Countryside Boulevard. I went to Countryside High School. What are they going to do next? Change those names, too?"
To help with the conversion, the shoppingtown's signs declare it as such with images of Sarah, the Duchess of York, wearing the mall's new signature red and black colors. The mall's Web site renames it a shoppingtown, as do the brochures at the second-floor help desk and the banners flying from the shoppingtown's ceilings.
Still, the idea has yet to catch on with certain retailers or even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who last month were named in fliers announcing an autograph signing at Countryside Mall. To boot, Westfield is working to replace gigantic entryway signs declaring the business on U.S. 19 and Countryside Boulevard to be Countryside Mall.
Rose Puzzanghera thought about the shoppingtown-mall tug of war and shrugged.
"I might get used to it, but I'll still call it Countryside," she said.
Shoppers at the former Brandon Towncenter and Citrus Park Town Center have to make the same adjustments. Those malls were also purchased by Westfield American in recent months.
Despite the red and white fliers, many Countryside shoppers didn't notice the switch until asked for their thoughts on it. Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel knows about the new owners, but said it would be difficult to retrain her brain.
"Old habits die hard," said Seel, a Clearwater native who has lived in the Countryside neighborhood since 1992. "I still refer to it as the Countryside Mall. I've heard people say it will be difficult to remember the new name."
Eventually the new name will stick, said Malachy Kavanagh, with the International Council of Shopping Centers.
"Any time you do something like that, you're going to have people wondering why it's being changed," Kavanagh said. "Over time they'll gradually come to accept it. . . . Westfield wants to brand their name much like anyone tries to create in the consumer's mind an expectation."
Some shoppers say the change is for the better.
There are miniature motor car strollers, free balloons for children and free gift-wrapping.
"One thing working about the mall is its bright colors and emphasis on customer service," said Seel, the county commissioner. "There's been a definite shift in that direction for the positive."
Katie Platt, 16, who also lives in Countryside, doesn't care any which way.
"I don't really think the name makes much of a difference," Platt said. "When you say Countryside, you'll know where it is. The word 'shoppingtown' is just unneeded."
The Countryside neighborhood, located in northeast Clearwater, was named and built by U.S. Homes of Florida Inc. in 1969. Back then, company chairman Charles Rutenberg said the focal point of the planned community would be the community mall.
Naturally, that mall was named Countryside. It was to be the heart of the neighborhood; and when built in the early 1970s it was the largest mall in Florida.
Patrick Ryan, who was born and raised in Countryside, said the name change causes confusion. Countryside is a well-known community, he said, and the idea of a shoppingtown cheapens it.
"The signs look like they're from JCPenney's," Ryan said. "Shoppingtown makes it sound lower class, like a strip mall."
Shopper Mickey Trice of New Port Richey didn't know what to make of it.
"It's been here for so long, and then you up and change it," Trice said.
Still, industry insiders think there is hope for the shoppingtown.
"Like what Shakespeare said, the important thing is that it smells like a rose," said Tom Holliday, president of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. "If the content isn't pleasing, there won't be a mall or a shoppingtown."
Boitnott hopes the public understands the goal is to serve, not antagonize.
The word Countryside will not be dropped from the name, Boitnott said. It's just the mall portion that will disappear.
"All I can say for the moment is stay tuned," Boitnott said. "Westfield is very committed to this center, and continuing and enhancing what Countryside had meant to this area."
-- Adrienne Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com.