Bal Harbour Shops takes luxe on the road
Bal Harbour Shops, Miami’s leading luxury landing, has hit the highway with a 17,000-sq.-ft. pop-up center including brands the likes of Gianvitto Rossi, Dolce & Gabbana, and Balmain.
The Bal Harbour Shops Access Pop-up debuted in Raleigh, N.C., before moving on to the University Town Center Mall in Sarasota, Fla. Future stops on the Tiffany Tour are planned in high-income towns throughout the Southeast.
“We’re thrilled to bring the tropical luxury shopping and dining experience of Bal Harbour Shops to Sarasota for the first time in our history,” said Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Bal Harbour Shops’ owner, Whitman Family Development. “With this roving pop-up, we introduce a new and innovative solution at the crossroads of high-touch personal service and high-tech logistics, delivering on our mission to impress our guests with our distinctive level of excellence.”
Built from thirty custom-built shipping containers, the branded pop-up includes covered walkways with fans and a retractable canopy. Luxury brands featured in the pop-up’s eight-week stay in Sarasota include Tiffany & Co., Santa Maria Novella, Addict, Cremieux, and Orlebar Brown.
No Auntie Anne’s pretzels in this pop-up. Bal Harbour Shops’ fine-dining addition, The Whitman, can serve 150 guests from a menu that includes scallops with cashew crema and blood orange panna cotta, plus specialty cocktails from the bar.
The plus-sized pop-up was designed by Lot-Ek Architecture & Design, known for its use of shipping containers to construct sculptured retail and commercial buildings. The company’s projects include Uniqlo’s flagship store in Osaka, Japan, and the 42nd+5th Mall in New York City in which retail booths are stacked nine stories high.
While Whitman Family Development is on the move to take Bal Harbour Shops to more people, it’s also moving more people into its premier mall. In January, the company submitted plans to add a 70-room hotel and 600 apartments to Bal Harbour Shops, which has long been rated one of the world’s most profitable retail centers.