Sawgrass Mills

Sawgrass Mills is an outlet shopping mall operated by the Simon Property Group, in Sunrise, Florida, a city in Broward County. With 2,383,906 square feet (221,472.1 m2) of retail selling space, it is the eleventh largest mall in the United States, the largest single story outlet mall in the U.S., the largest shopping mall in Broward County, the second largest mall in Florida and the Miami metropolitan area after the Aventura Mall, and the third largest shopping mall in the southeastern United States. It opened in 1990 as the third mall developed by the now-defunct Mills Corporatio n (now part of Simon Property Group), and has been expanded four times since then, most recently in 2013. There are over 300 retail outlets and name brand discounters, with anchors including Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue, and Super Target.
Because of its size, Sawgrass Mills is divided into three parts: the main mall with four main "Avenue" sections and a "Fashion Avenue" subsection; "The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills", an outdoor component opened in 1999 including GameWorks which is now GameRoom in 2011, then now In The Game in 2018, Regal Cinemas, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Nordstrom Rack, The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Texas de Brazil, and Yard House. "The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills" was opened in 2006 as an upscale lifestyle area with shops and restaurants, anchored by Last Call By Neiman Marcus. Additionally, there are numerous "outparcel" stores and plazas.
== History ==
The Phase I mall was dedicated in two stages. The first opened October 4, 1990 with the BrandsMart USA/Sears Outlet wing at the eastern end, extending past the Garden Food Court (next to Beall's, previously the Hurricane Food Court), to the Books-A-Million store at the western end of the mall. A second stage, dedicated November 15, 1990, extended the mall westward of the Books-A-Million store, past the second food court, the Market Food Court (next to The Sports Authority, previously the Sports Food Court) to the Marshalls/Spiegel Outlet (now Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center) wing. Cobb Theatres (became Regal Cinemas in 1997) built an 18-screen cinema located at the Northeast corner of the mall, opening in December 1991. 
A Target Greatland was added to the East Wing of the mall, opening in March 1992. It was expanded into a Super Target-format store in mid-2006. Phar-Mor was another early anchor to the mall. Sam's Club opened outside of the mall to customers in 1993.
A Phase II addition, known as Veranda Main Street, opened November 14, 1995. It ran parallel to the middle mall corridor and contained T.J. Maxx, Service Merchandise and the first location of Last Call From Neiman Marcus. This section is currently anchored by T.J. Maxx (in the old Service Merchandise/American Signature Home space). This expansion was followed by The Oasis extension, opened April 15, 1999. It brought the mall out from near Burlington Coat Factory to Regal Cinemas (which was expanded to 23 screens). A parking garage was added in 2002 directly across the outside entrance to Burlington Coat Factory. Wannado City, an indoor amusement park with entry fee, opened in 2004.
The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills expansion opened in 2006. It was an outdoor expansion featuring outlets of more upscale brands such as St. John, Burberry, Coach, Barneys New York, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and Tommy Bahama and restaurants such as Grand Lux Cafe, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Villagio, and Zinburger. The Colonnade Outlets had expansions completed in 2009 and 2016 with the latest expansion featuring Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Ted Baker, and Florida's first Matchbox restaurant. A new parking garage opened next to the Colonnade Outlets in 2016 to accommodate more mall visitors.
Originally, the concourses had names and each turn was considered a rotunda or court and named for the style of stores it contained. The original mall concourses (running west to east) were Modern Main Street, Mediterranean Main Street, Art Deco Main Street and Caribbean Main Street. The courts were (running west to east) Entertainment Court, Cabana Court, Video Court, Rotunda Court and New Ideas Court. This proved harder to keep in effect as anchors and internal stores changed. Later, Mall Entrances were named after the parking lot areas, i.e., Yellow Toucan, Green Toad, Purple Parrot, White Seahorse, Red Snapper, Blue Dolphin, Pink Flamingo and New Ideas Court. In the mid-2000s, inspired by rival Dolphin Mall in Miami, the mall transitioned into the current "Avenues" sections.
There was a kid's animatronic display in the Cabana Court, between Books-A-Million and the Rainforest Cafe, featuring singing flamingos and alligators welcoming the public to Sawgrass Mills. It was set up like a swamp and allowed people to toss coins into the shallow water which were donated to local charities. It was later converted to a waiting area designed after a ship, still with alligators, and then into the current Cha Cha's playground. Wannado City closed in 2011.
In 2013, Sawgrass Mills opened a new wing called Fashion Avenue in the former site of Wannado City.
Local retailer L. Luria & Sons was slated to open an anchor at Sawgrass Mills. A lawsuit ensued when catalog showroom chain Service Merchandise opened instead, as the Luria company blamed Mills Corporation for choosing Service Merchandise instead.
An expansion is scheduled to open in 2018 called the "Town Center at Sawgrass Mills" which will feature 25 full-price retailers, 4 new sit down restaurants, and another new parking garage for 2,000 vehicles. The new expansion will be situated next to the recently expanded Colonnade Outlets and will act as an extension to the Colonnade Outlets.
== Anchors ==
Store 	Opened 	Previous stores 	Notes
Vacant 	1990 	Bed Bath & Beyond (1990 - 2023) 	
Bloomingdale's The Outlet Store	2010 	Books-A-Million 	
BrandsMart USA 	1990 	 	
Burlington Coat Factory 	1990 	 	
Camille La Vie 	 	 	
Century 21 Department Store 	2016 	VF Outlet (until 2015) 	
Dick's Sporting Goods 	2017 	The Sports Authority 	
Forever 21 	2013 	Wannado City 	
In The Game/Johnny Rockets 	2018 	GameRoom 	
Gap Outlet 	 	 	
H&M 	2017 	TJ Maxx (1995-2017) 	
Marshalls 	1990 	 	
Last Call by Neiman Marcus 	1995 	 	
Nike Factory Store 	2017 	 	
Nordstrom Rack 	 	 	
Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse 	2003 	 	
Rainforest Cafe 	1996 	 	
Regal Cinemas 	1997 	Cobb Cinemas 	
Ron Jon Surf Shop 	1999 (old), 2012 (new)	Legal Sea Foods 	Moved to former Legal Sea Foods location in 2012, with the old store becoming Old Navy
Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th 	1990 	 	
Super Target 	2006 	Target Greatland (1992–2006) 	
T.J. Maxx 	1995 (old), 2017 (new)	American Signature Home (2003-2016), Service Merchandise (1990-2002)	Moved to former American Signature Furniture location in 2017, with the old store becoming H&M
Texas de Brazil 	2017 	Hard Rock Cafe (1999-2004) 	remained abandoned until Barbie Dreamhouse Experience (2013-2015) took over the space
TrendMax Outlet Store 	2017 	JCPenney Outlet Store 	
== Gallery ==
=== Videos ===
File:SAWGRASS MILLS - The Best Mall In Florida|Mall Tour
File:Dover Hydraulic Elevator @ Brandsmart USA Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, FL|The BrandsMart USA Elevator
File:Schindler 330A Hydraulic Elevator @ Sawgrass Mills Parking Garage in Sunrise, FL|The Parking Garage Elevator
== External Links ==
* Sawgrass Mills's Official Website
* Sawgrass Mills on USA Store Fanon Wiki
Category:Malls in Florida
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Simon Property Group Malls
Category:Largest Malls in the United States
Category:Malls that opened in 1990
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Category:Malls with Multi-Level Stores
Category:Former Mills Malls
Category:BrandsMart USA-anchored Properties
Category:Former GameWorks Locations
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Category:Chipotle Locations
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Category:P.F. Chang's Locations
Category:Cheesecake Factory Locations
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Category:Regal Cinemas-anchored Malls
Category:Outlet Malls
Category:Mills Corporation
Category:North America