Sawgrass Mills is a large shopping mall in Sunrise, Florida, owned by Simon Property Group. With 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 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. With over 21 million annual visitors, Sawgrass Mills is one of the most visited attractions in the state of Florida.
A welcome sign at the Green Toad Road entrance to Sawgrass Mills in February 2022. | |
| Location | Sunrise, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 26°09′05″N 80°19′15″W / 26.151353°N 80.320778°W |
| Opening date | October 4, 1990 |
| Developer | Mills Corporation |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| Architect | Arquitectonica |
| Stores and services | 400 |
| Anchor tenants | 30 (29 open, 1 closed) |
| Floor area | 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 m2) ranked 11th |
| Floors | 1 (2 in Brandsmart USA, Matchbox and parking garage, six in the new garage) |
| Website | sawgrassmills |
Overview
Designed in the shape of an alligator, Sawgrass Mills opened in 1990 as the third mall (and flagship) developed by the now-defunct Mills Corporation (now part of Simon Property Group). The mall has been expanded multiple times since then, and is located next to Amerant Bank Arena. There are over 400 retail outlets and name brand discounters. Current anchors include AC Hotels by Mariott, adidas Outlet Store, Bloomingdale's: The Outlet Store, BrandsMart U.S.A., Burlington, Columbia Factory Outlet, Dick's Sporting Goods, In The Game/Johnny Rockets, Gap Factory, Grand Lux Cafe, H&M, HomeSense, Marshalls, Last Call by Neiman Marcus, Nike Factory Store, Nordstrom Rack, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Primark, Q Store California, Rainforest Cafe, Regal Cinemas, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Super Target, Texas De Brazil, and TJ Maxx. Sawgrass Mills is currently top ranked (in sales volume) in the Simon Property Group portfolio of 194 shopping centers.
Because of its size, Sawgrass Mills is divided into three parts: the main mall, The Oasis, and The Colonnade Outlets. The Oasis, an outdoor component opened in 1999, includes GameWorks which is now In The Game/Johnny Rockets, Regal Cinemas 23 IMAX, Polo Factory Outlet, The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Texas de Brazil, Yard House, and Shake Shack. The Colonnade Outlets opened in 2006 as an upscale lifestyle center with shops and restaurants, anchored by Grand Lux Cafe, P.F. Chang's, Seasons 52, and featuring outlets by Burberry, Coach, Fendi, Frette, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, lululemon, Tory Burch, and Versace. Additionally, there are numerous other "outparcel" stores and plazas.
The mall is named after saw grass, Cladium mariscus subsp. jamaicense, a very common plant in the Everglades. The mall's west Broward location was part of the Everglades before human development, and is less than a mile from the extent of the Everglades that is still present (just beyond the nearby Sawgrass Expressway/State Road 869).
History
Planning and construction (1988-1990)
In 1988, the Western Development Corporation announced they would build a mall in South Florida. This would be their third mall, after Potomac Mills opening in 1985 and Franklin Mills the next year. It would be built on a 442-acre parcel of land located just outside of Fort Lauderdale, in Sunrise. Previously, the land, as well as the surrounding area, was swamp and rural areas, once connected to the nearby Everglades. This is where the mall gained its name, "Sawgrass Mills", because of the plant commonly found in the Everglades. The mall would have 7 anchors and over 200 other stores. On April 21, Western would announce three anchors officially moving into the mall, which were Sears, Waccamaw Pottery, and a European grocery store. The grocery store would eventually not be an anchor. An IKEA would also be in the plans, however an agreement was never reached between them and Western.
On May 24, Arquitectonica, the mall's architects, would unveil design plans for Sawgrass Mills. The plans included entrance designs and the mall's exterior, and that it would be three-quarters of a mile long, though no information on the interior would be revealed yet. Construction would officially begin that month.
In 1989, the mall announced BrandsMart USA would become another anchor for the mall. The 49th Street Galleria, an amusement center with bowling, arcade games, roller skating, and restaurants, would also be a planned anchor. It would be the second location after opening in Franklin Mills the same year.
In 1990, a few months before the mall's opening, two more anchors would officially be part of the mall: Phar-Mor and the 49th Street Galleria.
On May 21, Robert Hottinger, a construction worker installing drywall, would fall from one of the scaffoldings at the mall. He would pass away four days later.
Later, V.F. Factory Outlet Inc. would become the last official anchor.
In July, marketing and advertising for the new mall would begin to appear across the region, including airplane banners, newspaper ads, and television and radio commercials leading up to its opening in 3 months. Media previews would also be held.
On August 20, Waccamaw would open their store over a month before Sawgrass Mills would open. This would be due to confusion with another anchor, Sears, supposedly opening the weekend prior, making Waccamaw think they should open as well. Sears Outlet would officially open on September 5.
Opening decade (1990-2000)
After two years of construction, Sawgrass Mills officially opened on October 4, 1990. The mall opened in two stages. The first opened on October 4, 1990 with the BrandsMart USA/Sears Outlet wing at the eastern end, extending past the Garden Food Court (next to Sears, previously the Hurricane Food Court), to the Books-A-Million store at the western end of the mall. The second stage, which opened November 15, 1990, extended the mall westward of the Books-A-Million store, past a second food court, the Market Food Court (next to Dick's Sporting Goods, previously the Sports Food Court) to new Marshalls and Spiegel Outlets (now Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center). Cobb Theatres (renamed Regal Cinemas in 1997) built an 18-screen cinema located at the Northeast corner of the mall, opening in December 1991, being disconnected from the main mall. A Target Greatland was added to the east wing of the mall, opening in July 1992, which was then expanded into a Super Target 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.
Originally, the concourses had names and each turn was considered a "court" and named for the style of architecture it had. The original mall concourses (running west to east) were Modern Main Street, Mediterranean Main Street, Art Deco Main Street and Caribbean Main Street.[citation needed] The courts were (running west to east) Entertainment Court, Cabana Court, Video Court, Rotunda Court and New Ideas Court.[citation needed] Mall entrances were named after the entrance roads leading up to them, which included Yellow Toucan, Green Toad, Purple Parrot, White Seahorse, Red Snapper, Blue Dolphin, and Pink Flamingo.
There was a swamp-like pond area in the Cabana Court, near Books-A-Million (now Bloomingdale's: The Outlet Store), featuring animatronic flamingos, alligators, and birds, as well as a prop boat with seating.[citation needed]
A Phase II addition, known as Veranda Main Street (later Avenue 2, now The Loop), opened November 14, 1995. It ran parallel to the middle mall corridor (Avenue 3, now also The Loop) and was anchored by Service Merchandise (later American Signature Furniture, now T.J. Maxx). The first location of Last Call by Neiman Marcus then opened in the previous space of Spiegel Outlet. Local retailer L. Luria & Sons was slated to open an anchor at Sawgrass Mills. A lawsuit ensued, however, when Service Merchandise opened instead, and the Luria company blamed the Mills Corporation for choosing Service Merchandise instead. Rainforest Cafe opened on November 20, 1996, in the Cabana Court next to the animatronic pond. The pond was altered to accommodate the restaurant's theme of a rainforest. Later, The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills opened April 15, 1999. This became the mall's first outdoor concourse, bringing it 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.
2000-2010
Wannado City opened in Spring 2004. It was an indoor amusement center for kids who were able to work real world jobs in a miniature city. Later, The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills opened in 2006. It is an outdoor outlet shopping plaza featuring outlets of more upscale brands such as St. John, Burberry, Coach, 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. It received its first expansion in 2009. with the latest expansion featuring Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Ted Baker. The animatronic pond in front of Rainforest Cafe was converted into Cha Cha's Adventure Area, a kids' playground, in the late 2000s.
In the early to mid 2000s, the concourses became numbered, becoming "Avenues" instead of "Main Streets". Mall entrances also became numbered to represent which Avenue the entrance would lead to (i.e. Entry 3 leading to Avenue 3). The Courts' names were removed with this change.
2010-2020
Wannado City closed permanently on January 12, 2011 after struggling financially.
In 2013, Sawgrass Mills opened a new section called Fashion Row in the former site of Wannado City.
A new parking garage opened next to the Colonnade Outlets in 2016, which itself received an expansion at the same time, featuring new stores including Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, and Ted Baker. The expansion also opened a new restaurant, Matchbox. Century 21 Department Store opened in 2016, which removed Cha Cha's Adventure Area due to the store needing to expand. Seasons 52 opened adjacent to Matchbox in Spring 2019. In August 2019, Barneys New York announced that their location would close as part of plan to close fifteen locations nationwide due to bankruptcy. An AC Hotels by Marriott opened in 2021 next to the Colonnade Outlets.
An expansion was opened in 2018 called the "Town Center at Sawgrass Mills" which features 25 full-price retailers, 4 new sit down restaurants, and another new parking garage for 2,000 vehicles. The new expansion is situated next to Colonnade Outlets and acts as an extension to the stores.
Beginning in 2019 and finishing in 2023 (being delayed from its original completion date of 2020), Sawgrass Mills received extensive renovations in the original enclosed portions, including new signage, paint, aesthetics, and furniture, to bring it up-to-date with Simon's other properties.
2020-present
On September 10, 2020, it was announced that Century 21 Department Store would be closing all stores, including the Sawgrass Mills location. This location closed on December 6, 2020. Q Store California opened in the former site of Century 21 the following year. On September 15, 2022, it was announced that Bed Bath & Beyond would be closing as part of a plan to close 150 stores nationwide.
In 2023, after the completion of the mall's renovations, the concourses and mall entrances were renamed again, this time returning to names instead of numbers, removing the "Avenues" tag. Today, the mall concourses are (from west to east) West End, Fashion Row, The Loop, The Oasis, and East Side.
Q closed in 2024, with Epic Athletic Club replacing it a few months later. In August 2025, Super Bins opened in the previous space of Bed Bath & Beyond.
Department stores and anchors
| Store | Opened | Previous stores | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AC Hotels by Mariott | 2021 | East end of Colonnade Outlets | |
| adidas Outlet Store | 2019 | Urban Planet, FYE, Spec's Music | |
| Bloomingdale's: The Outlet Store | 2010 | Books-A-Million | |
| Books-A-Million | 1990 (previous) 2010 (current) | Foot Locker | |
| BrandsMart U.S.A. | 1990 | Only store in the mall with two floors | |
| Burlington | 1990 | ||
| Camille La Vie | Bealls Outlet, Group USA | ||
| Columbia Factory Outlet | 2015 | Wannado City | Anchor in Fashion Row, former Wannado City |
| Dick's Sporting Goods | 2017 | The Sports Authority | |
| In The Game/Johnny Rockets | 2018 | GameRoom, GameWorks | |
| Gap Factory | |||
| Grand Lux Cafe | 2006 | Last remaining location in Florida | |
| H&M | 2017 | TJ Maxx (1995-2017) | |
| HomeSense | 2023 | Trendmax Outlet Store, JCPenney Outlet Store, Sears Outlet Store (1990-1994) | Opened next to Primark; both spaces were one before both stores opened |
| Marshalls | 1990 | ||
| Last Call by Neiman Marcus | 1995 | Spiegel Outlet | |
| Nike Factory Store | 2017 | ||
| Nordstrom Rack | |||
| Old Navy Outlet | 2015 | Ron Jon Surf Shop | Ron Jon Surf Shop moved to former Legal Sea Foods |
| Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse | 2003 | ||
| Primark | 2019 | Trendmax Outlet Store, JCPenney Outlet Store, Sears Outlet Store (1990-1994) | |
| Epic Athletic Club | 2021 | Q Store California, Century 21 (department store), VF Outlet | |
| Rainforest Cafe | 1996 | ||
| Regal Cinemas | 1999 | Cobb Cinemas | |
| True Food Kitchen | 2020 | Ron Jon Surf Shop, Legal Sea Foods | |
| Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th | 1990 | ||
| Super Target | 2006 | Target Greatland (1992–2006) | |
| TJ Maxx | 1995 (old), 2017 (new) | American Signature Furniture (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 |
| Super Bins | 2025 | Bed Bath and Beyond (1990-2023) | |
| Vacant | 2013 | Wannado City Forever 21 (2013-2025) |
See also
- List of largest shopping malls in the United States
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