Manager: Hopes High To Fill Vacant Spaces at Brandon Crossroads

Negotiations are under way to bring a new restaurant to the former Old Chicago location at Brandon Crossroads, according to the shopping center's community association manager.

“There are several interested parties, all restaurants,” said Paula Wormuth, manager of the Brandon Crossroads Association. “I’m confident one will move in within a few months.”

Meanwhile, she added, a tenant is in talks to move into the space vacated by Borders, which announced July 18 it would be laying off 10,700 workers and liquidating its remaining stores.

The Brandon bookstore , as part of the company's move to liquidate 200 of the company's 659 stores.

Old Chicago Pasta & Pizza .

For location alone, Brandon Crossroads would seem to be a retailer's and restaurateur's dream, standing minutes from several major highways and close to several large housing and apartment complexes. It's nestled just east of Brandon's shopping mecca, the Westfield Brandon shopping mall.

Yet in these trying economic times, Brandon Crossroads, too, has been hit by several high-profile closures over the past year.

 is the latest store to , which is scheduled for July 30. Brandon customers have been offered coupons and free delivery through December at the Dinner Done specialty food store in Carrollwood.

Owner Audra Nasser cited the rising price of supplies and the stagnant economy as her reasons for consolidating the Brandon store, at 2026 Badlands Drive, with her store in Carrollwood.

“It was totally an internal decision,” Nasser said. “It had nothing to do with the location.”

Lori Mincey opened Tabitha’s Tea, 2052 Badlands Drive, in May. Mincey, whose store specializes in afternoon tea in a formal setting, said business is doing well.

“It’s a great location for us,” she said. "We have been doing fantastic since we opened. Many of the other businesses in the mall have referred business to us.”

Just a few doors from Tabitha’s, , 2056 Badlands Drive, specializes in body building training and supplements.

“I would like to see more advertising for the [center],” manager Ana Karina said. “I think we should be busier because of where we are. We always have people asking where we are and how to get here.”

Brandon’s , 2086 Badlands Drive, has kept its doors open with aggressive marketing and events, including “Jazz Night” on Fridays and Saturdays and wine tastings beyond what is typically offered, said Debbie Ponti.

The Internet, she added, has helped save the store she has managed for three years.

“I think all the businesses in here are just holding their own now,” Ponti said. "Thanks to websites like LivingSocial and DealSwarm, we are still open."

For Ponti, the location has been a bit trying.

“It’s a tough location in here because no one knows where we are,” Ponti said. “People who have lived here all their lives come in all the time and are surprised we are here.”

Kennedy Investments, a real estate investment company based in Tampa, rents not all, but 13 stores in Brandon Crossroads, including Dinner Done!.

Currently, only one other storefront managed by Kennedy Investments, at 1,200 square feet, is empty.

“It’s a tough market out there but we are almost full,” said Erin Bohacek, a Kennedy vice president. “It’s been harder to find tenants trying to start new businesses, and it’s been hard for new owners to finance new businesses. They used to be able to borrow money to start new business from banks, but banks are just not lending anymore.”

Wormuth said Brandon Crossroads remains a desirable location for retailers.

After Old Chicago closed, "I didn’t even have a chance to put a sign in my window and my phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to know about moving in,” Wormuth said. “That doesn’t indicate to me there’s a problem with the area.

“With Old Chicago, it was their only location in Florida, and the ownership is in South Dakota. It’s a little hard to keep track of things when the ownership is South Dakota and the store is in Florida, so they ran into some issues."

Wormuth said the recent closings are just part of a normal business cycle and that she remains optimistic in even the most trying of economic times that the center will fill its vacant spaces.

“Brandon is a hot area right now," she said. "Lots of retailers want to move into the area.”

That would be welcome news to Tammy C. Bracewell, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce.

"The chamber is eager for the redevelopment of Brandon Crossroads," she said. "The re-establishment of these anchor locations will re-energize not only the center itself, but the 1,800 businesses in immediate proximity to this Brandon retail area as well."

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