It’s been a busy opening day at the Mall at University Town Center.
Shoppers say they've been waiting for years to get a mall like this and now that it is here they are ready to shop.
The mall opened its doors to shoppers for the first time Thursday morning giving them a retail experience like nothing else in the area.
"It's so beautiful. I'm really excited about it,” said Jane Pratt.
The mall has more than 100 stores and restaurants and all were packed on opening day.
All day long dozens lined up to soot some of the big name stores like Apple. Despite the large crowds shoppers say getting to the mall wasn't as bad as expected and they didn't have any traffic issues.
"It was pretty easy to get here. I was surprised at that and we’re having a good time,” said John Clarke, Manatee resident.
But with the weekend and holiday shopping season approaching, traffic will most likely be getting busier. Drivers are being asked to use alternate routes to get to and from the mall.
"Stay off of University and I-75.Because we are going up get a lot of visitors from Fort Myers and Tampa who are on the highway in addition to normal traffic,” said Todd Mathes, Dir. Of Development at Benderson.
The new mall at UTC has brought 2,000 permanent new retail jobs to the area.