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It kills me inside about Sarasota Square. I grew up in that mall as a kid to a teen and on. Sarasota Square was a bustling busy mall. So many memories😢
Sarasota Square mall was much smaller and they renovated by adding the food court, movie theater and Costco. It was a happening place. It began to slow down when the new UTC mall opened up. UTC was more accessible to more people being right off I-75, and it essentially killed off Sarasota Square. It was dead long before COVID. The only reason for going to Sarasota Square now are the movie theater and Costco, two facilities they wouldn’t have had if not for the renovation.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! When you walk into a place like that, you just wonder, “What happened here?” And some malls look like they’ve been in disrepair for decades, but this one didn’t look incredibly out of date, but we did notice some evidence of leaking and water damage on the ceiling.
I visited the Sarasota Square Mall in February 2020 and it was an eerie ghost mall already. So that’s pre Covid. I had heard about it being pretty much vacant and had to check it out myself.
Thanks so much for watching! Oddly enough, this video actually got a lot of flack when it was published. Mostly through a Facebook group. I didn’t see what the problem was. 🤷🏽♂️ It kinda killed our channel for a few weeks, however, because, although the views are high, the average view duration was about 1 minute.
I thought this videowas hilarious 👏🏼 this reminds me of the coral ridge mall. After living minutes from Sawgrass mall my whole life, i have zero interest in other malls. Been living in PSL for 3 yrs and my friend was shocked that i never been to our local mall but at the same time, shes never heard of Sawgrass mall 🤷🏻♀️
Yes’ Coral Ridge is a bit sketchy, and you’re right that Saw Grass Mills is pretty awesome, and the Treasure Coast Mall is sad, and Treasure Coast Square is even sadder than that!
I grew up in Sarasota during the late 80's and 90's. Both Southgate Mall and Sarasota Square Mall were always packed with people back then. There was even a third mall called Gulf Gate Mall. That became one of the first "Dead Malls" before dead malls really became a thing. Growing up with Dream Machine arcade, Babbages video game store, and Waldenbooks was everything before the internet. UTC was the final nail in the coffin for both of these malls. Before UTC, Southgate Mall was the place to go for high end stores. Most of them left and moved over to UTC when it was built. Sarasota Square Mall held on for a little bit, but ironically, the one store that brought major traffic back into the mall, Costco, also played a major part in killing the mall as well. There was no way any of the food court restaurants could compete with Costco's eatery. At $1.50 for a hot dog and soda, there was no way the competing restaurants could match prices like that, especially on top of having to pay high mall rent prices. And with Covid all but killing the movie theater industry, there was little reason to go to Sarasota Square Mall for anything else except Costco.
Sarasota square mall and the crossings at siesta key used to be doing well until the university town center mall opened. After the UTC mall opened, that’s started the downfall of sarasota square and crossing at siesta key. And the pandemic and online shopping didn’t really help either.
We had lunch with a friend in the middle of the day while filming this vid and he told us that Sarasota Square was THE mall in Sarasota for a long time, but when UTC opened, it really started to decline.
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As someone who lives in Sarasota all 19 years of my life here Sarasota square was the go to place but like how many others said UTC sorta killed it but there was still some action but after 2020 it really just happened. Already small amount of people going to that mall and everything closing down. The only reason that mall is relevant is ONLY cause Costco and I’m pretty sure they will wall it off soon in the coming years. It’s really sad to see it go but can’t do much about it I just wonder what all that land is going to be used for the day it does close down for good.
DISCOVER even more great things to do in Sarasota, Florida: aikenadventures.com/best-things-to-do-in-sarasota-florida/
CONTINUE EXPLORING Sarasota with us: ua-cam.com/play/PLEQb1SPMFOqzoBFFDLwBNXGw5j0behDEk.html
JOURNEY across Southwest Florida with us: ua-cam.com/play/PLEQb1SPMFOqztj5oksxEmspvepyYhW3Ns.html
It kills me inside about Sarasota Square. I grew up in that mall as a kid to a teen and on. Sarasota Square was a bustling busy mall. So many memories😢
It seems like it was a nice place and not even all that long ago! But it was in desperate need of repair when we walked through there.
Sarasota Square mall was much smaller and they renovated by adding the food court, movie theater and Costco. It was a happening place. It began to slow down when the new UTC mall opened up. UTC was more accessible to more people being right off I-75, and it essentially killed off Sarasota Square. It was dead long before COVID. The only reason for going to Sarasota Square now are the movie theater and Costco, two facilities they wouldn’t have had if not for the renovation.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! When you walk into a place like that, you just wonder, “What happened here?”
And some malls look like they’ve been in disrepair for decades, but this one didn’t look incredibly out of date, but we did notice some evidence of leaking and water damage on the ceiling.
I visited the Sarasota Square Mall in February 2020 and it was an eerie ghost mall already. So that’s pre Covid. I had heard about it being pretty much vacant and had to check it out myself.
You guys are so funny and adorable. Such a nice family. Keep up the fun work.
Thanks so much for watching! Oddly enough, this video actually got a lot of flack when it was published. Mostly through a Facebook group. I didn’t see what the problem was. 🤷🏽♂️
It kinda killed our channel for a few weeks, however, because, although the views are high, the average view duration was about 1 minute.
I am enjoying the video. 💛🌴🌴🌴🌴🥥🥥 I've never been to Sarasota, but I plan to go December or January.
Thanks for the positive feedback! Sarasota is one of our absolute faves!
cool video. as someone who’s lived in Sarasota for 15 years, it’s really interesting to see someone’s review and reaction to sarasota square lol
I’m glad you enjoyed it. This was a nice relaxing trip overall.
I think competition from the newer University Towncenter Mall hurt the Sarasota Square Mall that was built in the 1970s.
Wow, the 70s. Didn’t know that.
I thought this videowas hilarious 👏🏼 this reminds me of the coral ridge mall. After living minutes from Sawgrass mall my whole life, i have zero interest in other malls. Been living in PSL for 3 yrs and my friend was shocked that i never been to our local mall but at the same time, shes never heard of Sawgrass mall 🤷🏻♀️
Yes’ Coral Ridge is a bit sketchy, and you’re right that Saw Grass Mills is pretty awesome, and the Treasure Coast Mall is sad, and Treasure Coast Square is even sadder than that!
I grew up in Sarasota during the late 80's and 90's. Both Southgate Mall and Sarasota Square Mall were always packed with people back then. There was even a third mall called Gulf Gate Mall. That became one of the first "Dead Malls" before dead malls really became a thing. Growing up with Dream Machine arcade, Babbages video game store, and Waldenbooks was everything before the internet. UTC was the final nail in the coffin for both of these malls. Before UTC, Southgate Mall was the place to go for high end stores. Most of them left and moved over to UTC when it was built. Sarasota Square Mall held on for a little bit, but ironically, the one store that brought major traffic back into the mall, Costco, also played a major part in killing the mall as well. There was no way any of the food court restaurants could compete with Costco's eatery. At $1.50 for a hot dog and soda, there was no way the competing restaurants could match prices like that, especially on top of having to pay high mall rent prices. And with Covid all but killing the movie theater industry, there was little reason to go to Sarasota Square Mall for anything else except Costco.
That’s interesting. Thanks for sharing. UTC is pretty nice.
Sarasota square mall and the crossings at siesta key used to be doing well until the university town center mall opened. After the UTC mall opened, that’s started the downfall of sarasota square and crossing at siesta key. And the pandemic and online shopping didn’t really help either.
We had lunch with a friend in the middle of the day while filming this vid and he told us that Sarasota Square was THE mall in Sarasota for a long time, but when UTC opened, it really started to decline.
I now have heard that the Sarasota square mall (except Costco, JCPenney, and amc theaters) is going to be demolished in the future for redevelopment.
That makes sense, though. It was really very vacant.
Find great deals on even more things to do, entertainment, dining, and lodging options in Sarasota on Groupon:
www.kqzyfj.com/click-100301143-15230314?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.groupon.com%2Fbrowse%2Ftampa-bay-area%3Flat%3D27.336%26lng%3D-82.531%26locality%3DSarasota%26administrative_area%3DFL%26address%3DSarasota%252C%2BFL%26division%3Dtampa-bay-area%26locale%3Den_US%26category%3Dthings-to-do%26topcategory%3Dlocal (Affiliate Link)
As someone who lives in Sarasota all 19 years of my life here Sarasota square was the go to place but like how many others said UTC sorta killed it but there was still some action but after 2020 it really just happened. Already small amount of people going to that mall and everything closing down. The only reason that mall is relevant is ONLY cause Costco and I’m pretty sure they will wall it off soon in the coming years. It’s really sad to see it go but can’t do much about it I just wonder what all that land is going to be used for the day it does close down for good.
I think that I read in the Sarasota FB group that there have been some plans to improve it. So-we shall see!
International plaza mall is my favorite.
Is that in Tampa?
Yes.
We’ll have to check it out!
It's a real nice mall It's has lot's of store and beautiful view at the food court.
I’ll bet Alaina would love it, and Food Court is always a win for me!