saks – West Boca News

Successful Opening for Saks Off 5th: Photos and Videos

It was an impressive “pre-opening” for the new Saks Off 5th store in Somerset Shoppes. We stopped by a little after 6 pm and the place was packed, as you can see above and in our 360º video below:

Parking was a little contentious immediately in front of the store, but if you went down toward Men’s Wearhouse there were plenty of spaces available.

The grand opening is tomorrow (Thursday). For details see our Facebook post.
We took a little time inside to record a more news-like video. But we’re still pretty new at video so this one isn’t the greatest:

Video from the Saks Off 5th pre-opening event today. Article to follow soon.Still working on our video skills. This one is slightly out of focus, but we'll get better at it.
Posted by West Boca News on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

We previously reported that Saks was coming back in October. It’s a pretty big store, taking the place of the old Loehmann’s.

While it seems large to us, we learned from their VP of Marketing Robby Schnall that they have larger stores in places like Aventura. Due to the smaller size they had to make some choices and to our disappointment they have chosen not to carry kids clothes at least for now. We did notice a very large array of women’s shoes:

There is, of course, a men’s section. We’d guess it’s around a quarter the size of the women’s section but that’s only a guess.

We were also impressed with how young the customers seemed. This time of year we typically see a lot of seniors. But we were told that the senior crowd came earlier in the day, closer to the 4 pm opening.

We also just like the look of the store. It’s bright and although it’s got a lot of merchandise inside, it has nice lines and is very bright.

New Stores & Restaurants on Glades Road

We’ve noticed progress on new stores and restaurants that are open or will be opening soon. Above you can see that the Saks Off 5th in Somerset Shoppes is looking closer to ready. We’re guessing it will open in a couple months.

In the same plaza, near Original Pancake House, it looks like the Orange Theory fitness center is up and running.

We see some progress on the Armadillo Cafe, both outside (above) and inside (below). This place has a lot of buzz as well as interest from customers of the old location in Davie. We’re told to expect a soft opening soon, sometime near Valentine’s Day.

On the outside the new Walgreens building in Shadowood looks close to ready, but inside there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Also in Shadowood, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is definitely coming. We don’t see any progress inside the space yet but there’s a sign outside saying they’re coming:

It’s next to Sybarite Pig, and you can see where the outdoor seating will be on the right side of the picture below.

On the south side of Glades at 441, the new building everyone’s asking about looks great on the outside.

Again we don’t see much done on the inside so don’t expect anything to open for at least a month and maybe 2-3 months. We’re also pleased that there’s a lot of parking.

Also in Westwinds we just learned that a new Mathnasium franchise will open to serve West Boca. There used to be one in the Boca Lyons plaza but that closed a couple years ago but still operates just east of Town Center near the Hooters. A new franchisee is giving it a shot and we’ll cover that in more detail soon.

They should open their doors this coming week.

Speaking of Boca Lyons Plaza, it appears they’ll finally replace the old Ethan Allen with a 4th Generation Organic Market & Cafe.

In the same plaza we also see a new “Clouds of Vapor” electronic cigarette shop, and Ace’s Barber Shop has opened between that and Steve’s Wood Fired Pizza.

The Four Seasons restaurant is up and running and we see customers giving it a try. We’ll get there soon. Next door in the photo above the lit-up store front is Creative Heart Dance Studio with a lot of dance classes for kids. They’re using this space as well as an area upstairs next to the FitRX gym.

Saks Off 5th Coming to West Boca?

Anyone passing by Somerset Shoppes recently may have noticed work is under way on the old Loehmann’s. We stopped by today and took a closer look. An inside source tells us that it will be a Saks Fifth Avenue, though our expert on retail says it will more likely be their discount version, a Saks Off 5th

Originally conceived as a clearinghouse for Saks Fifth Avenue merchandise, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH has reinvented itself as a major national retailer in its own right and, most recently, a compelling place to find the same exceptional deals online. An engaging environment, abundant exclusives, remarkable savings and assortments from the most notable names in fashion

Somerset Shoppes is on the northeast corner of Glades and Lyons. The old Loehmann’s is at the eastern end of the plaza. We attempted to contact Saks for confirmation but have not received any reply yet. Their corporate website appears to be down at the moment.

However, thanks to a reader we did get confirmation from another source: BizJournals.com. It’s a 10-year lease on roughly 23,000 square feet of space.
We also noticed a new fitness place coming in toward the middle of the plaza, not far from Original Pancake House. Orange Theory Fitness is “coming soon.”

We were able to confirm this one on their website and have asked for a target opening date.

However, the signs in the plaza indicate there is a “pre-opening” sales location near LensCrafters. We were unable to find that.