Replacing Express and joining new neighbor Mavi, the Australian “trendsetter” fashion retailer Princess Polly is preparing to build-out in St. Johns Town Center.
The us.princesspolly.com site says a store is coming soon to St. Johns Town Center, whose directory also says Princess Polly is coming soon.
The city issued a permit Aug. 4 for contractor VCMG LLC of Sebastian at a project cost of $158,800 to separate space for Princess Polly at 4711 River City Drive, which is near Dick’s Sporting Goods and Maggiano’s Little Italy.
US.princesspolly.com says in 2010, Princess Polly “first burst onto the online retail scene from a beachside apartment on Australia’s Gold Coast.”
“Humble beginnings aside, the goal has always been to provide on-trend, quality fashion to our customers with the best customer service they’ve ever had,” it says.
Its categories include dresses, tops, bottoms, summer, swim, accessories, shoes and trending.
The site lists 15 U.S. locations in eight states, including one in Miami.
It has five stores in California, three in New York and one each in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The site says four are coming soon, comprising two in Florida in Jacksonville and Orlando, another in Texas and its first in Minnesota.
It lists two stores in Australia and a third coming soon.
Plans show that landlord Simon Property Group will separate a 7,940-square-foot space into “R07B” Suite 113 for Princess Polly and a 2,765-square-foot space for another tenant in “RO7A” Suite 115.
The closed Express men’s and women’s clothing store occupied R07 in the full space, and the outline of its name remains above the door.
Express stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2024 and emerged from bankruptcy in June 2024 when a group of investors led by brand management firm WHP Global and mall operators Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties moved to buy the company.
Express is not shown on the St. Johns Town Center directory nor on the Express store directory.
Simon Property Group is the landlord at St. Johns Town Center.
Express has been opening smaller Express Edit stores, but it’s not clear if any space at Town Center would be used for that.
The space for Princess Polly appears to be next to the 2,729-square-foot store being built-out for Mavi Jeans at 4711 River City Drive, Unit 107, where Casper sleep products operated for six years. The city issued a permit May 8 for Elder-Jones Inc. of Bloomington, Minnesota, to convert the store at a project cost of $432,386.
The architect for the Princess Polly project is shown as eStudio Architecture of Houston.
The Princess Polly site describes the stores as carrying “the latest trends, exclusive designs and wardrobe staples.”