International Décor Outlet confirmed Monday it has signed a lease for 200,000 square feet of retail space in Regency Square Mall.
“We are taking over the entire west wing,” said Sarah Verus, director of operations for Jacksonville-based International Décor Outlet.
She said the company will hold the master lease on the space and sublease it to international manufacturers and retailers who will set up showrooms to sell directly to consumers.
Verus estimates there will be about 57 units at Regency and expects construction to start on the spaces early next year.
“That is going to be filled in over the next year. We intend to fill up that space,” she said.
She would not comment on lease terms.
Mall owner Mason Asset Management of Great Neck, N.Y., announced the lease Monday. Executives there did not return an email or telephone call for comment Monday.
The West Mall stretches from the former central-mall Belk space, now empty, west to the Sears store. The former Belk space is not included in the International Décor Outlet lease.
Celebration Church posted on its website that it plans a campus in the Belk space called “Celebration Regency.”
Sears and Dillard’s own their stores, which are not included in the International Décor Outlet lease. Torch Bearers Church is leasing space near the Dillard’s clearance center.
Regis Salons, one of the last retailers in the West Mall, has closed its Regency presence, according to its website. International Décor Outlet said that space is included in its lease.
International Décor Outlet has hung a banner on an entrance on the Arlington Expressway side of the West Mall.
The mall, which is at 9501 Arlington Expressway, has consolidated most of its retail stores into the East Mall.
International Décor Outlet also is working on a Georgia center.
It says on its website it expects to bring 50-100 manufacturers from around the world to the Darien Outlet Center in Georgia within two years and expand beyond that.
International Décor Outlet LLC was registered with the state in April. It describes itself as a direct-to-consumer outlet for manufacturers and retailers of interior décor and home-improvement materials.
Its managers are Karin Jia Lee and Warren Hickernell. The company is based in Baymeadows.
Its website, idooutlet.com, says global manufacturers, including from China, will sell from the storefronts they lease.
The company says on its site it expects a grand opening early next year of its first location at the Darien Outlet Center and that it will develop in seven more sites, including Jacksonville.
It scheduled a Dec. 8 home-improvement and décor conference at the Darien Outlet Center. Manufacturers and exhibitors interested in showcasing their products are asked to contact IDO at [email protected].
The conference will introduce the IDO retail concept.
Hickernell said in a news release about the conference that international manufacturers will showcase their products and that residential contractors, interior designers, remodelers and others will attend to establish connections with the manufacturers.
The site also says International Décor Outlet will assist entrepreneurs entering the U.S. market to apply for the EB-1 immigration visa. It also will help with visas for spouses and children. It further explains how the EB-1 can lead to a path for permanent residency.
“We are walking them through the process. We are not giving them legal advice,” Verus said. International Décor Outlet can provide information and make referrals to immigration attorneys and translators, she said.
The EB-1 is “an extraordinary ability classification” for people recognized at the top of their field who are coming to the U.S. to continue work in that field, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Applicants must demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim.
Bealls might add outlet in Southside
The Bealls department store at Beach and Hodges boulevards could be reconfigured to add a Bealls Outlet.
Plans filed with the city show a potential $610,000 renovation of almost 22,000 square feet at 13500 Beach Blvd. for a Bealls Outlet.
Stan Sarnowski, director of real estate for Bealls Department Stores, said the existing Bealls is 80,000 square feet.
It will downsize to about 58,000 square feet with the outlet’s addition.
“We found that we co-exist very well with our Bealls Outlet counterpart, and we had some excess footage there,” he said.
Pending final corporate and city approvals, he said construction could be completed in time for a pre-Easter opening.
The two stores will have their own entrances and there would not be internal access from the Bealls to the Outlet, he said.
Newk’s buys back 2 units, to open six more
Newk’s Eatery said Monday it bought two franchise-owned locations in the Northeast Florida market and plans to open up to six more restaurants between Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The first new restaurant will open in January in Claire Lane Center in Mandarin.
The two that were recently acquired are near River City Marketplace and near The Avenues mall.
Newk’s co-founder and CEO Chris Newcomb said Florida is the company’s most rapidly expanding market, with up to 30 new restaurants scheduled to open within the next five years.
He said the plan to build-out the Jacksonville market is part of its strategy to add stores in the Southeast and up the East Coast.
Over the next year, Newk’s Eatery plans to open new restaurants in six Florida cities, including Jacksonville.
In addition, it has a development agreement with a franchise team to open 10 more restaurants in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
Newk’s Eatery is based in Jackson, Miss. The fast-casual concept features open-view kitchens and a menu of soups, salads, pizzas, hot toasted sandwiches and more. It operates and franchises about 90 units in 13 states.
It plans to reach more than 200 units by the end of 2018.
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