JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The latest expansion to the St. Johns Town Center is finally complete. Ground was broken last June, and starting Wednesday many of the new stores will be open.
Tuesday, News4Jax got a look inside those new stores, including the first 124,000-square-foot Nordstrom store.
Nine new stores will open in Phase III of the St. Johns Town Center, including Nordstrom, which is the cornerstone of the expansion. Many of the stores are completely new to Northeast Florida.
Nordstrom carries some of the biggest names in fashion for men and women -- not to mention five sections of shoes. The store has hired almost 300 new employees, knowing that this store is in a prime shopping spot.
"We want to be a part of the best retail locations and the St. Johns Town Center is one of those," said Nordstrom spokesman John Bailey. "We are fortunate that we have many customers in Jacksonville who have shopped at our other stores in Florida and online."
Nordstrom isn't the only store new to Jacksonville opening soon. Boston Proper has been a catalog retailer for years and its store in the Town Center is only its 17th brick-and-mortar store.
"This really gives our customers a firsthand experience to see the merchandise," said Danielle Guzzetta, director of marketing for Boston Proper. "Just to really have the life of the brand come out in our brick-and-mortar store."
And inside, shoppers will notice a new concept: no cash registers.
"We have what's called a Proper trend table, where people can shop the thousands of SKU's online, and we ship right to their homes," Guzzetta said. "Our stylists also have iPads where people can shop and add things to wishlists and check right out."
As the new stores get ready to open, the Town Center is ready for more shoppers to see them
"We are so excited. It's the only one in the market, so we expect a lot of people to come from all over to shop the new wing and the new Nordstrom," said Lindsey Von Hoven, director of marketing for St. Johns Town Center.
Nordstrom has an espresso and smoothie bar downstairs and a full restaurant and bar upstairs inside the store.
The grand opening of the new Nordstrom store is Friday at 10 a.m.
The other new stores opening tomorrow are Boston Proper, Disney Store, Arhaus Furniture, Free People, Model Citizen, Natural Life, Swim N Sport, and Yankee Candle.