Parkway Shops, adjacent to River City Marketplace, is adding Hobby Lobby to its growing set of stores along Max Leggett Parkway in North Jacksonville — and there could be another much larger store in the future.
Hobby Lobby is shown on site plans filed with the city as a 55,000-square-foot store in the project’s Phase II. Construction is anticipated to start in November and the retailer would open in fall 2015.
Site plans also show two stores next to Hobby Lobby – 13,438 and 13,600 square feet – and a “future major” of more than 134,000 square feet.
Edward Eickhoff, vice president of development and redevelopment for Ramco-Gershenson, said none of those sizes are set and they could change.
The Parkway Shops project is under development by Ramco-Gershenson Inc. of Farmington Hills, Mich., which also developed the adjacent 900,000-square-foot River City Marketplace.
River City Marketplace, in North Jacksonville, is anchored by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Lowe’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Michaels Stores, Ross Dress For Less and others, including restaurants and a Regal Entertainment Group movie theater.
The first phase of Parkway Shops features Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls, Ulta and Newk’s Eatery, along with outparcels that include BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Mellow Mushroom, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Wendy’s and Express Oil & Lube.
Eickhoff said there is a signed lease with Hobby Lobby, “and we continue to search for additional retailers to complement the project.”
He did not elaborate. “We are looking but we don’t have anything secured yet,” he said.
Hobby Lobby is across Max Leggett Parkway from the UF Health Jacksonville North campus.
Family Dollar plans Normandy store
Family Dollar, one of the top three dollar-store chains, plans to open at 10390 Normandy Blvd. at southeast Blair Road and Normandy Boulevard.
Goodson, Nevin & Associates is the agent and engineering consultant for the project. An application with the St. Johns River Water Management District shows the landowner as Ameris Bank of Moultrie, Ga.
Plans show the store will be developed on a 2.02-acre site. It would be one of about 50 Family Dollars in Northeast Florida.
Youfit opens at Gateway, scouts more sites
Deerfield Beach-based Youfit Health Clubs, which opened its first Northeast Florida club Wednesday at 5920 Norwood Ave. in Gateway Town Center, is scouting Jacksonville for additional locations.
Youfit Health Clubs has 81 clubs around the country and said it is opening new ones at the rate of three a month.
Youfit says its clubs are designed for the average person who wants to get and stay in shape rather than for bodybuilders. Customers pay month-to-month.
Founder and President Rich Berks said in a news release it also is a “green” club. Floors are made of recycled tires or Nike “grind” — recycled sneakers. He said its cooling, heating, water and lighting systems are “state-of-the-art green.”
Hours are 5 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday; 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Fields Auto buys Jaguar dealership
Fields Auto Group, a North American luxury auto group that owns 38 franchises at 25 locations took over the Jaguar Land Rover dealership at 11211 Atlantic Blvd. on Monday. It did not disclose the purchase price.
It announced the impending acquisition Friday.
The addition brings the number of Fields locations throughout Florida to 14, which include Fields Cadillac Jacksonville and Fields Cadillac St. Augustine.
Fields operates in Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin and North Carolina. It grew from a single store in Evanston, Ill., in 1971. Its website is fieldsauto.com.
Visit www.fieldsauto.com for more information.
dd’s Discounts to open third area store
Another dd’s Discounts store will open in Jacksonville. The city OK’d build-out Monday for a dd’s Discounts at the Highland Square shopping center at 934 Dunn Ave. in North Jacksonville.
The Miken Corp. will renovate 24,806 square feet of space at a project cost of $450,000.
Owned by Ross Stores Inc., dd’s Discounts operate two stores in Jacksonville in Arlington at 9822 Atlantic Blvd. and in West Jacksonville at 6310 103rd St.
Ross Stores’ main chain is Ross Dress For Less, which operates eight stores in the Jacksonville area.
Ross Stores is based in Dublin, Calif. It operates 1,146 Ross Dress For Less stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. It says it sells in-season, name-brand and designer clothing, accessories, shoes and home goods at 20 percent to 60 percent below department and specialty store regular prices.
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