Tampa's WestShore Plaza likely facing a future without Macy's

Long before International Plaza was a destination shopping center in Tampa, the nearby WestShore Plaza was the mall to be seen in.

It’s stores, including a Sak’s Fifth Avenue anchor, were on the high end and those in search of the latest fashions flocked to it.

But today the mall on Kennedy and Westshore boulevards faces many of the same issues enclosed malls across the country are. Foot traffic has slowed as shoppers look for experiences along with the traditional retail chains. And, like a lot of those malls, including several across the Gulf Coast, talk of redevelopment has replaced efforts to land new tenants.

Now, it looks as if Westshore Plaza is about to take another hit. And this is a big one: its 235,198-square-foot Macy’s anchor may be closing.

More than a half dozen employees say the store is set to close early next year. While an exact date has not been shared, the expectation is the closure will come in February or March, shortly after the holiday shopping season ends.

Employees at the store were notified about the potential closure in August and were told they’d be able to transfer to nearby locations. Several, including managers, have already moved.

While a closure is percolating, and employees and local residents are buzzing about it, neither the developer or Macy's corporate office has commented on it — to confirm or deny. 

The situation comes after Washington Prime Group, the mall’s owner, bought the Macy’s property Oct. 18 for $10 million. The company is not saying what its plans are for the Macy’s space are, but a spokesperson says in an email that “more information will be shared as it is available.”

Macy's public relations officials did not return several requests for comments on the future status of the store. 

Planning for the future

That the WestShore Macy’s is closing is not a huge surprise given the company’s issues and the mall owner’s plans.

Earlier this year Macy’s announced it would shut down 150 stores over two years. According to to the industry publication Real Deal, Macy’s also sold two properties in south Florida — a furniture store in Pembroke Pines and the Boynton Beach Mall store — in recent months for a combined $28 million.

While there are Macy’s stores in Brandon and Citrus Park, the WestShore location was initially seen as the least likely to be eliminated locally given its size and location in the city, about a mile from International Plaza.

But, given the redevelopment plans, it makes sense.

WPG won approval from the city of Tampa in April to transform the 52-acre, 1.09 million-square-foot mall property into a mixed-use development that will include retail, restaurants, offices, medical offices, a hotel and 1,700 multifamily units, as well as a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority transfer station.

Before buying the Macy’s space this year, WPG bought the former Sears store and surface parking lots that include Seasons 52 and a Bank of America branch. Those deals were in 2019.

The mall’s general manager, Larry Sollo, directed questions about the plans to WPG’s media relations department. A spokesperson for the Ohio developer says that for now the mall will continue to operate as normal.

“The redevelopment project will likely be completed in phases,” the spokesperson says in an email. “While there is no definitive timeline for construction as of yet, the mall will continue to serve the community offering premiere shopping, dining and entertainment experiences.”

Left unanswered though were questions about the status of remaining tenants and their leases; what, if anything, is being planned for the soon-to-be vacant Macy’s space; and what is being done to fill other vacant spaces.

While there is a plan in place in place, in the short-term the loss of Macy’s will be a blow to WestShore Plaza’s shoppers and for the retailers who remain but are losing another traffic driver. Dick’s Sporting Goods, which moved into the former Sak’s space in 2014, left the mall for a new location at International Plaza in October.

A Sears store closed its location at the mall in 2019 and has never been replaced.

JCPenney remains an anchor.

Shadow of its former self

Walking around WestShore Plaza today it is hard to remember that for years it was the area’s high-end mall.

It first opened in 1967, a year after a Maas Bros. store opened, and was the first enclosed shopping mall in the area. It was built just on the outskirts of the city’s South Tampa and it reflected its ritzy outlook.

But International Plaza opened in 2001 and over the years has taken over as the area’s premier shopping destination.

Today, International’s tenant mix includes luxury brands —Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, Breitling, Tiffany and Co. and Tory Burch — along with shopping mall stalwarts — Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Dillard’s, H&M and Foot Locker.

Meanwhile, at WestShore, there are the name brand names — Lids, Old Navy and Rack Room Shoes — but for every one of those there are the tenants one sees when a mall is on its last legs. There is a shop specializing in iron on T-shirts, a medical center, off-brand clothing retailers and a tattoo shop.

Photo by Mark Wemple

On a recent visit, the mall was eerily quiet. The Macy’s had a fair number of customers but inside the mall's corridor yards of empty space separated shoppers, employees at empty stores scrolled on their phones and the mall Santa stared off into space as a single family hung around a play area.

Throughout the mall, 15 storefronts sat vacant as did six kiosks. In the food court, two of the nine space were also empty.

A half an hour later at International Plaza, the line at a tiny watch repair shop tucked away just outside of Dillard’s was four deep. And growing.