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. 

Entering its 19th season this October, Pierian Spring Academy (PSA) comes off another year of record-breaking enrollment and participation with an expanded slate of 69 courses—most of them new—offered at six locations around Sarasota. But this will also be the adult education nonprofit’s last year operating as an independent organization after a decision to consolidate into the Ringling College Lifelong Learning Academy (RCLLA).

Formed earlier this year by the merging of Lifelong Learning Academy of Sarasota and the college’s Continuing Studies and Special Programs department, the RCLLA will be housed within the newly renovated and equipped Sarasota Museum of Art (SMOA) just south of Downtown Sarasota, which played a major role in PSA’s decision to merge, according to PSA Board Member and Marketing Chair John Gartner: “When we saw that Ringling was reaching out and promoting its new facility, we said, ‘Maybe this is the time to throw our hat in with them. This looks like an opportunity for us.'”

The opportunity brought two prime advantages, says Gartner. From an educational standpoint, gone would be the hassle of dealing with failing or faulty equipment in rented facilities or classrooms, to be replaced by SMOA’s “absolutely first class” audio/visual classroom technology. No more waiting on technicians or assistants while students waited on their learning. “We expect that type of situation to be completely eliminated,” says Gartner.

And from an administrative standpoint, this first permanent home for PSA means an end to the yearly struggle to find suitable and affordable locations to rent throughout the season for classes, freeing up time and money for the nonprofit’s educational mission. “It’s a very big effort every year,” says Gartner, “and it’s a job you don’t want to have to do when your emphasis is on providing lifelong learning opportunities and adult education.” Gartner hopes the centralized and consistent location will also help develop more of a community presence, though admits the possibility of losing students who found the scattered campus more convenient.

Classes will continue through the 2016–17 year with “business as usual,” according to a statement released by PSA but it remains unknown what effect the consolidation will have in years to come on programming. “I can’t answer that question because we don’t know,” says Gartner. “It’s an open question.” 

At the newly opened Mercantile Home & Apparel outpost on St. Armands, ancient Brazilian volcanic matter joins your dinner party. These smooth slices of raw geological beauty are the result of bygone eruptions: air pockets bubble into host rocks which then bloom with fiery, quartz-infused liquid. Circular, multicolored bands fan out like well-marbled clouds. No two agates are alike: variances in temperature, pressure and mineral content impact the color, shape and design of the bands—even slabs from the same stone will display subtle differences. With concentric circles that meld into silvery neutrals, opaline periwinkles, ocean-deep navies and warm russet tones, Mercantile’s agate coasters enliven your entertaining assemblage with an infusion of the volcanic.  

Pictured: Mercantile's agate coasters.

Mercantile Home & Apparel, 18B South Boulevard of the Presidents, Sarasota, 941-366-2457

Super Lawyers selected Sarasota martial and family law attorney Michael L. Resnick to its 2016 Florida “Super Lawyers” list for the 10th consecutive year. Resnick is the president and a founding partner of the Sarasota law firm Syprett, Meshad, Resnick, Lieb, Dumbaugh, Jones, Krotec & Westheimer, P.A. Syprett Meshad partner Teresa D. Jones, a board-certified in civil trial law, was also selected to the list for the ninth time. 

Syprett Meshad

BB&T has an annual Light House Project in which the insurance company selects a local nonprofit to partner with for a week long volunteer initiative where staff is exempt from work in order to participate in the competition of the project. BB&T selected Easter Seals Southwest Florida and created a brand new courtyard that included wheelchair friendly picnic tables, a new paint job, umbrellas for shade, new lounge chairs and rainbow mural. 

Easter Seals Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida’s premier private homebuilder, Neal Communities, had an increase in sales in June with a total of 99 home sales. The 99 home sales were across the company’s north, south and Neal Signature Homes divisions. The north division represented the majority of the sales with 71 home sales, the south division was responsible for 23 home sales and their luxury homes division, Neal Signature Homes, had five sales.  

Neal Communities