Canadian fashion retailer Aritzia is working on plans to open at St. Johns Town Center.
The city is reviewing a permit application for Aritzia, which sells women’s clothing, in 8,089 square feet of space at 4751 River City Drive, No. 101.
The space is near Dick's Sporting Goods.
Aritzia sells clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts. It started in 1984 inside the Hill family’s department store in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and then Brian Hill opened the first stand-alone boutique in a Vancouver mall.
Aritzia expanded across Canada in 1999 and opened in the U.S. in 2007.
A public company, Aritzia had 116 stores as of Aug. 27, which was the end of its 2024 second quarter, up from 106 at year-end fiscal 2023.
Aritzia carries its own brands, including Babaton, Wilfred, Tna, Sunday Best and Super World, as well as others such as Levi’s, Citizens of Humanity, Calvin Klein, New Balance, G.H. Bass and Dr. Martens.
It also has expanded into menswear.
Its 116 stores comprise 68 in Canada and 48 in the U.S. It shows three in Florida in Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
Simon Property Group, the landlord for St. Johns Town Center, has Aritzia as a tenant in 16 malls, including Town Center at Boca Raton in Florida. However, that location is not included on the Aritzia locator site.
An Aritzia investor presentation says the company will open eight more boutiques in the U.S. in the fiscal year, which ends in February.
It says it has identified more than 100 U.S. locations that meet its exact criteria and plans to open eight to 10 new U.S. stores annually through fiscal 2027.
Aritzia said Sept. 28 in announcing second-quarter results that it expected 2024 net revenue of $2.25 billion to $2.35 billion, up 2% to 7% from fiscal 2023, which ended Feb. 26.
From the previous quarter, total revenue was up 1.6% to $534.2 million with U.S. revenue up 6% to $278.9 million.
Aritzia is led by CEO Jennifer Wong.
The investor presentation shows Aritzia positions itself in a fashion tier as “everyday luxury,” below luxury and sub-luxury and above midmarket, fast fashion and discount.
Aritzia says it will invest in three growth areas: geographic expansion, e-commerce and brand awareness.
“As we continue to expand our horizons, more Aritzia boutiques are popping up than ever before. Fingers crossed the next one is at a location near you,” says Aritzia on its website of recent openings, including its first in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Plans show it will open in St. Johns Town Center space now occupied by two stores.
J. Crew and Loft, both clothing stores, now appear to lease two shops that total more than 11,000 square feet of space.
Aritzia will take the J. Crew and part of the Loft space, leaving 3,313 square feet for another tenant in Space 107.
The permit says the interior demolition for the spaces will start in January. Enovative Technologies Inc. of Jacksonville is a permitting agent.
J. Crew is relocating to the former Altar’d State store in Space 125. The city is reviewing a permit application for that estimated $200,000 project.
Altar’d State moved into a larger store at 4712 River City Drive, No. 131.
It is not clear where Loft is moving, although Simon has been repositioning retailers in St. Johns Town Center to be near other stores with similar target markets.
