The Avenues sits at the interchange of Interstate 95 and J. Turner Butler Boulevard, the road that St. Johns County’s growth drives through every morning. Opened in 1990 and operated by Simon, the centre is the first regional mall north of the county line and the last before downtown Jacksonville, which puts it between the Southside office parks, the Mandarin and Baymeadows neighbourhoods and the Ponte Vedra Beach coast.
That catchment is the most economically stable in Northeast Florida and it is still adding households, and the tenant list reflects a mall that serves families rather than tourists. Dillard’s, Belk and JCPenney anchor; MAC Cosmetics and Lush carry the beauty category; Finish Line, Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Rack Room Shoes and Vans cover footwear; and Build-A-Bear Workshop, Color Me Mine, Arcade Time and Train-A-Rama give the concourse a children’s programme that keeps weekend dwell time long. Miller’s Ale House and Pei Wei cover the full-service and fast-casual ends of dining.
The competitive position is the point. St. Johns Town Center, six miles east, took the luxury and lifestyle tier of the Jacksonville market when it opened in 2005; The Avenues kept the department-store and family trade and the interstate access. A tenant in accessible apparel, beauty or footwear gets the mall that the suburban commuter passes twice a day, and a location decision here is a decision about Jacksonville’s middle market rather than its top end.
