Management for The Mall at University Town Center settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount against the first locally-owned store to be a tenant there. The case against Jackie Z Style was adjudged and dismissed on June 22. Mall officials filed a complaint against Jackie Z and owner Jackie Zumba in January for closing shop. “I am happy it’s done and over with, and relieved not to worry about it anymore,” says Zumba.

Jackie Z Style was among the original tenants at UTC when the mall opened in October 2014, but the store saw less foot traffic than Zumba expected. Zumba now owns and operates a Jackie Z Style and the children’s boutique Ansley Z Kids in St. Petersburg. Zumba originally opened a successful store in Downtown Sarasota in 2011 and thought customers would follow her to UTC. “Everyone who shopped at my store was excited about it opening,” she says. “We did well in Downtown Sarasota and thought we could just carry it over.” But after operating for a year at the mall, the store shuttered. 

In October, mall officials notified Zumba it would treat the closing of the UTC location as “abandonment” of a lease, according to complaint filed in circuit court, and that Jackie Z Style maintained an obligation to pay rent. The complaint said Jackie Z Style and its owners owed an “accelerated rent” of more than $1.52 million. UTC attorney Andrew Rosin could not speak to the settlement but said the goal in any litigation of this sort is to find a timely resolution. Court records show the mall is still engaged in litigation with past tenants including the owners of eyewear boutique Edward Beiner, Gadget Planet and Forever Nail and Spa. 

UTC general manager Octavio Ortiz could not speak to any ongoing litigation between the mall and previous tenants, but he did say Taubman Centers, parent company for the mall, remained pleased with foot traffic there.

Zumba says she went to the mall expecting to be around more luxury retailers like Gucci, and says the lack of such brands contributed to problems. “We don’t have 30 stores,” she says. “At the time we just had two.”

Ortiz notes the mall has seen 24 new stores come in since the mall’s opening in October 2014. Comparatively, a little more than half a dozen have closed. “It takes really three years to stabilize the shopping center,” says Ortiz. Most recently, the mall saw the opening of a Hugo Boss. And Ortiz says offerings like the new Tricho Salon will bring in more customers looking for services and not just food and merchandise.

He also notes many of the closures were due to changes in the national retail marketplace, notably Cache, the first store to close at UTC, and Boston Proper. Both of those stores saw all locations close nationwide. “We are confident we do have the best line-up in the Bradenton-Sarasota metropolitan market, and we are looking forward to the future,” Ortiz says.