Westfield Brandon, formerly known as Brandon Town Center and Westfield Shoppingtown Brandon, is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located eight miles (13 km) east of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, in the suburban community of

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

. The mall is owned by

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in Fran ...

and is one of five Westfield shopping centers in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Westfield Brandon is directly off

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

, sitting on land between State Road 60 and the

Lee Roy Selmon Expressway The Lee Roy Selmon Expressway is a all-electronic, limited access toll road in Hillsborough County, Florida, It connects the South Tampa neighborhood near MacDill Air Force Base with Downtown Tampa and the bedroom community of Brandon. The ex ...

History

The mall was first conceived in the late 1980s, and originally opened in early 1995 as Brandon Town Center. The mall served a million shoppers in its first seventeen days alon

When it first opened, Brandon Town Center boasted of retail space. The original anchors were Sears, Roebuck and Company, Sears,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

Burdines Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew i ...

, and

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

Maas Brothers Maas Brothers was a leading Tampa, Florida department store founded by Abe and Isaac Maas in 1886 that grew from a small store to a chain of 39 stores throughout the Gulf Coast of Florida. The Maas Brothers brand went defunct in 1991 when it wa ...

also signed although it filed for bankruptcy as it was absorbed into Burdines four years before the mall was built. Prior to Westfield Brandon, Carrey Cattle Company owned the land and operated a cattle farm there. The Westfield Group acquired the Town Center in 2002 and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown Brandon" in line with the other Westfield center

Many of the distinctive fountains featuring metal sculptures of Florida wildlife were demolished in favor of vendor kiosks in the months following the transition. Currently, of space is given to retail shops and restaurants. Westfield Brandon is the second-most visited mall in Tampa, behind Tampa's mall leader,

International Plaza and Bay Street International Plaza and Bay Street is the dominant shopping mall and dining destination on the west coast of Florida, located adjacent to the Tampa International Airport. International Plaza is a traditional enclosed shopping mall anchored by ...

. In March 2005, the Burdines was renamed

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

after briefly operating as Burdines-Macy's. Like all Macy's in Florida that were Burdines, the palm tree

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s reminiscent of the "Burdines style" of architecture remained. The "Shoppingtown" was dropped from the name in June 2005. On January 11, 2006, Westfield announced a expansion, adding a

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

anchor in addition to more retail outlets and restaurants (including

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux ...

and

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

). It was completed in the spring of 2007. Expanding the mall to include some planned pedestrian-friendly establishments has worried commuters who may have to temporarily find alternate routes to the already-congested State Road 60 and the

. The new, expanded wing includes stores such as the

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple ...

Books-A-Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, ...

, DSW,

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. Featuring nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, n ...

Tillys Tillys (originally known as World of Jeans and Tops and Tilly's) is an American retail clothing company that sells an assortment of branded apparel, accessories, shoes, and more. Tillys is headquartered and operated from Irvine, California. His ...

, Torrid, and

The Walking Company The Walking Company, Inc. (sometimes referred to as TWC), is a United States-based comfort footwear company and subsidiary of The Walking Company Holdings, Inc., that was founded in 1991 in Chatsworth, California. History Co-founders Steve Adler ...

. On January 29, 2021, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 23 stores nationwide. The store closed on April 18, 2021.

Anchor stores

Books A Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, ...

(2007–present) *

(2007–present) * DSW (2007–present) *

(1995–present) *

(opened as Burdines, 1995-2005, renamed Macy's, 2005-present)

Former Anchor Stores

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

(1995–2021)

References

External links

Westfield Brandon's Official Website
* {{Hillsborough FL Malls Buildings and structures in Hillsborough County, Florida Shopping malls in Florida

Tourist attractions in Hillsborough County, Florida Shopping malls established in 1995 1995 establishments in Florida

History

Anchor stores

Former Anchor Stores

See also

References

External links