South Florida Super Target gains convenience edge

America is on sale for foreign tourists thanks to the weak U.S. dollar, and it has been a boon for retailers who operate stores in key destinations. Nowhere was this phenomenon more evident than last week when Tiffany & Co. reported spectacular second quarter results that were aided by a 41% sales increase at its flagship New York store. That location is frequented by tourists, and so is the Saks flagship New York location, which reported a second quarter comp increase in the neighborhood of 15%.

With foreign tourists coming to the United States with bags of money and buying all sorts of goods to take home, a new service has been added at Simon Property Group’s Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in South Florida, and it stands to benefit Target. Shoppers at the expansive mall with 350 stores can now take advantage of an in-mall bag storage and shipping service called Bags To Go.

The way it works is shoppers visit drop off locations near Super Target, the Bloomingdale’s outlet or Burlington Coat Factory where they have the option of sending their bags directly to the airport or having them shipped to anywhere in the United States or select worldwide destinations. The service is provided by Bags To Go Enterprises, an off-airport check-in, baggage storage, and baggage claim and delivery firm founded in 1999 and authorized by the Transportation Security Administration.

“This marks our first launch into a retail destination and we are confident that Sawgrass Mills’ shoppers will embrace our services,” said Keith Wiater, founder of Bags To Go Enterprises. “Because of Sawgrass Mills’ huge number of shoppers, which includes an impressive draw of people from around the world, we estimate that many will take advantage of our options to check, store or ship their bags through us.”

It costs $10 to store bags in a tagged-and -sealed storage bag, and when shoppers are ready they simply call, text, or send an email and a Bags To Go representative delivers their purchases curbside or to the designated parking spaces located between Super Target and BrandsMart USA.

Sawgrass Mills bills itself as the largest outlet, value retail and entertainment center in the United States with 350 name-brand outlet and off-price retail stores, two food courts, six full-service restaurants and entertainment venues such as Gameroom and Sawgrass 23 Stadium & IMAX. Some of the signature tenants include Bloomingdale’s, Coach, Escada, Guess, Hugo Boss, Kate Spade New York, Kenneth Cole, Lacoste, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Stuart Weitzman, Theory, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH and Last Call by Neiman Marcus.