Consider the retail world shifted. After eight years of planning, which included major changes in the marketplace along the way, Taubman Centers this morning opens The Mall at University Town Center to the masses, and with it introduces dozens of restaurants and retailers new to the Southwest Florida market.

During a special media tour of the $315-million mall Wednesday evening, Taubman Centers CEO Robert Taubman boasted about the number of completely fresh concepts in the retail world, from a Tesla electric sportscar showroom to J.S. Trunk and Co., a new luggage store concept from Samsonite. "We are proud of the fact more than half of the retailers and restaurants are unique to this market," he said.

More than 100 stores will open today, including the region's first Apple store and Cheesecake Factory, and within months, other new names for the region will arrive as well. A two-story space in the mall has already been reserved for a massive H&M, and just Wednesday the mall announced a Microsoft store was on the way. By year's end, 115 stores will do business at UTC.

A mall-wide gala allowed many Southwest Florida residents to get a sneak peak at the mall's insides. The Wednesday evening event drew political faces like U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, County Commissioner Joe Barbetta, Sarasota City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell and Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston. But the opening of the mall is not just a regional event, as proven by other guests in town for the ribbon-cutting.

"This is an important day for Saks," said Marigay McKee, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. "The is the first time in 10 years we are opening a new store."

Similarly, representatives of the Dillards family and Dillards Vice President Chief Financial Officer Robin Sanderford also greeted press; the 180,000-square-foot Dillards, an enormous anchor that could dwarf nearly any store in the mall with just one of its two floors, has become the only Dillards in this market.

Macy's District Vice President Teresa Burgess also said she was thrilled to be part of the grand opening, and Cache announced that its CEO, Jay Margolis, would be at the new location today as well.

That's exciting, since Taubman said the mall would have been here sooner if not for the Great Recession creating retail skittishness. The mall plans were shelved temporarilly in 2008, after national chains expressed reluctance about opening new stores and anchors like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom backed away from the project. Taubman said that never affected the mall company's view of UTC's potential. "We knew Sarasota would support this effort," he said. "The delay was not because we didn't have faith in the market. Our retailers were in a state of fear at the time."

The tour of the mall showcased numerous features new to American malls, including touchscreen interactive directories that will outline directions from your current location to whatever store-or bathroom facility-you ask to find. A dozen electric vehicle parking spaces can be found outside, and nearly every light at the facility is LED.

Jeff Boes, Taubman director of Planning and Design, said the mall actually has room for another anchor, though none has been announced. The mall packs a lot into a condensed space, with a guest standing at the center of the mall able to see to the Macy's and Dillards on opposite ends of the mall. But the most visually striking aspect inside remains the natural lighting, let in through skylights running the length of the mall but regulated by vertical shutters that ensure the light doesn't bring with it unbearable heat. Boes said the modern architectural traditions of Sarasota informed the design.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place today at 9:30am at the main mall entrance, a half hour after the public is allowed inside the mall.