Stein Mart may open new store in City Plaza

The center's tenants hope the clothing store will pull in shoppers.

By MELANIE AVE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000

TAMPA PALMS -- A popular department store could open soon in retail-hungry New Tampa.

The owners of City Plaza at Tampa Palms and Bruce B. Downs boulevards hope to open a Stein Mart store in the bustling shopping center, said Mark Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Tampa Palms Community Development District.

The store would be built on vacant land north of the center, which officials said was originally set aside for a movie theater.

The City Plaza location would be the third Stein Mart in Hillsborough County and one of the first clothing stores in New Tampa, now home to fast-food restaurants and big box stores like Home Depot. Stein Mart's other two Hillsborough stores are in Carrollwood and South Tampa.

Before the Tampa Palms store can be built, shopping center owner Faison-City Plaza Limited Partnership must get the City Council to amend Tampa Palms' growth guidelines.

The council has scheduled a public hearing on the requested change for 10 a.m. Aug. 17 at City Hall. An attorney for the owners, Rick Harcrow, also will make a presentation at the next Tampa Palms CDD meeting, 6 p.m. Aug. 9 at Compton Park.

Stein Mart, a publicly traded chain of 211 stores, sells discount clothing, accessories and home decor items. The Jacksonville-based company posted sales last year of $1-billion.

Company spokeswoman Susan Datz Edelman said she could not confirm that a store is planned for City Plaza because a lease has not been signed, "but it would not be out of the realm of possibility."

The possibility of a Stein Mart was welcome news to some New Tampa shoppers and City Plaza tenants.

"I'd rather have bigger stores like that than strip malls with a lot of little stores," said George Faugl, president of the New Tampa Community Council. "When you have to pick, the more upscale the better."

The shopping center, with an assessed value of $7.7-million, is anchored by Publix. It has a drive-through McDonald's and smaller establishments such as Frame by Frame and City Plaza Travel. The popular Boston Cooker restaurant closed recently because of a rent increase. A sports grill is scheduled to open there later this year.

Several City Plaza tenants said they had not heard about Stein Mart. But they are pleased nonetheless. "Great," said Lenny and Vinny's owner Paul Sampson. "Anything that drives traffic into the center helps us."

Joseph Caetano, who owns the Bostonian Hair Studio and Day Spa, said a department store like Stein Mart would be an asset to City Plaza.

"It would definitely bring more female clients here and probably some males too," said Caetano, whose studio has been at City Plaza since 1988. "Stein Mart is a pretty decent store. I know my wife goes there a lot."

- Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3473 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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