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Behind the wall Mall hopes new stores excite public

The mall is on track to finish a $50-million expansion , but not by the holidays. A shuttle service will help weary shoppers.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published November 10, 2006

Like all American shopping malls, the Westfield Brandon mall is a paradise for the easily distracted. Merchandise glitters from storefronts and kiosks, music burbles from hidden speakers.

But in the center of the mall there's something out of place.

A dead end. A blank wall. Smooth as eggshell.

Somewhere on the other side, power tools whine.

On the other side of the wall is the mall's future: a $50-million expansion that will bring new stores, restaurants and outdoor fountains. Spokeswoman Taylor Clifton says the project is on schedule and due to open in March.

But for now, it's a blank.

For Mirriah Eve Beausejour, 22, and slinging pretzels at Auntie Anne's pretzel kiosk, the construction is nothing but a pain.

"Booooo," she said. "It's hard to hear sometimes, because there's always so much construction going on. I don't like it. Not to mention ... they're taking way too much room in the parking lot. I can't find a space, and it makes me mad."

Clifton said that the mall is slowly regaining the parking spaces blocked off by construction. Last week, she said, 100 spaces were freed up; more are expected soon.

"So during the holiday season we're going to be pretty good as far as parking goes," she said.

To help things along, she said, the mall will have a new program: a shuttle service.

Four extra-long golf carts will patrol the parking lot, swooping up shoppers and depositing them at the mall entrances. They'll also carry weary shoppers back to their cars.

"You've got all your packages and the last thing you want to do is walk with your tired feet back to your car," Clifton said.

The service will start the day after Thanksgiving and run during mall hours through Christmas Eve.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies will help direct traffic during the holiday crush, she said.

For now, Clifton said the new wing of the mall is "65 percent" complete. The construction noises that annoy Beausejour are the sounds of store owners customizing their display space, she said.

Jim Nichols, owner of Studio One Photography, was putting the finishing touches on his store last week. He's the only tenant whose store is already open; his space is outside the main construction zone.

"We've been trying for two years to get into this mall," he said, as his staff unpacked boxes and swept the hardwood floor. "That's why I don't mind putting up with a little noise and dust."

Nichols will be joined by new stores such as the Walking Company, QuickSilver, Esmer Fashion Jewelry, Windsor Fashions and Dick's Sporting Goods.

More stores will be announced soon, Clifton said.

"We've been talking to a lot of great names so people will be very very excited."

She added, "So many of our community neighbors have seen this space evolve from cow pastures ... people feel this is their community center, their home."

She added, "So many times the mall is just another building ... but to be such an intimate member of the community, we are very fortunate to be in that position."

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 11:01:35]