Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Bombay furniture store gets new home
The retailer is leaving University Mall for Northwood Shopping Center in Wesley Chapel.
By JAMES THORNER
Published February 13, 2005
NEW TAMPA - In yet another sign that central Pasco County is luring retailers from north Tampa, the Bombay Co. plans to open Thursday in Wesley Chapel, closing its University Mall store in the process.
The 4,500-square-foot Northwood Shopping Center store, near the SuperTarget at County Line Road and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, is the latest attempt by the company to stake out sites beyond malls.
Founded in 1978, the home furnishings company has 500 stores across the United States and five in the Tampa Bay area. Westfield Shoppingtown Brandon and International Plaza are among the locations.
Under its palm tree logo, Bombay sells mostly dark-wood furniture with a British colonial flair. Desks, lamps, framed art, tables and leather chairs fill a typical display floor.
The Northwood store opened Thursday, replacing Bombay's University Mall location.
Retailers are chasing the thousands of families moving into Wesley Chapel and Land O'Lakes each year. Pasco tallied more than 6,000 housing starts last year, most in the suburbs serving Tampa.
Some retailers have shuttered Tampa stores only to open farther north. Circuit City closed its Fowler Avenue store in favor of one on Bruce B. Downs in New Tampa. Other companies simply opted for the suburbs from the outset. Target opened its first Tampa Bay area superstore in Wesley Chapel.
This year, JCPenney, dispensing with the malls it has patronized for decades, is building its first standalone store in the region on the Wiregrass Ranch at State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs.
Though University Mall officials insist they'll weather the competition, some retail insiders suspect the mall will suffer a fatal wound from Cypress Creek Town Center mall off Interstate 75 in Land O'Lakes. Cypress' scheduled opening date is October 2007.
Said Patrick Berman, a commercial real estate broker with Cushman and Wakefield in Tampa: "Unfortunately for University Mall, Bombay's departure is a sign of the times."
[Last modified February 12, 2005, 09:06:05]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor