The Mall at University Town Center is just a few days away from opening to the public.
When it does, the 880,000-square-foot shopping plaza will bring world-class fashion and dining to Manatee and Sarasota County residents.
The Mall at UTC is located off of University Parkway near I-75.
It is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Dillard’s and features an array of restaurants new to the area, including The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and The Cheesecake Factory.
On Monday, Bay News 9 got a sneak peek inside Saks Fifth Avenue.
“This is the newest and best design,” said Joel Ellzey, General Manager of Saks. “This is the first full Saks that has opened in over 9-years. It’s outstanding.”
The store offers a world class shopping experience, from American and International Designer collections, handbags, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics and more.
The new Saks is offering more items in a larger space.
“We’ve expanded our staff at Saks Fifth Avenue by 44 percent,” said Ellzey. “For a new building we’ve gone from 39,000 square-feet to 83,000 square feet.”
The store even has its own luxury restaurant, Sophie’s.
“This is the second Sophie’s that’s opened,” said Michael Kaufman, President of Fifth Dining. “We opened Sophie’s in Chicago and we’re thrilled to be in the Sarasota/Tampa area to open.”
In addition to Saks there are more than 100-stores and restaurants at the mall.
All are still doing some last minute work to make sure they’re ready for opening day.
UTC’s General Manager, Octavio Ortiz, said they’ve been planning for the big day for years. He said now that it is almost here, they can hardly wait to show off all of their hard work.
“It is a wow factor,” said Ortiz. “We’re very happy with it and the architecture is gorgeous.”
The variety of stores at the new mall are new to the area and cannot be found in the local market.
The Mall at UTC will open to the public on Thursday October 16th at 9 a.m.