Vision for DeSoto Square mall is to combine traditional with nontraditional

What’s the secret in revitalizing an old community mall such as DeSoto Square? Care about the community first.

That’s the leadership and vision Jerrell Davis, president of Madison Properties USA, brings to the table after the group purchased the mall in April for more than $25.5 million.

Davis said another $20 million is being invested into the mall and an additional $5.1 million is being poured into reconstructing a state-of-the-art movie theater, complete with creature comforts such as leather recliners and the largest curved movie screen within 40 miles of Bradenton.

Davis recently moved to Bradenton from Orlando and believes that revitalizing a local mall means everything associated with it must be local. He is building a management staff of local professionals and all firms taking part in the redevelopment are local.

“I have embraced this town,” Davis said.

And he brings that hometown bias into his creative thinking for the mall’s future.

“The previous owners had kind of let it go,” Davis said. “They had the mentality of the ‘daily dollar’ and that’s not who we are. That’s the reason it went downhill, but we are the opposite. What made us buy here is basically the community. We know if we give them a reason to come back, the community is already here and I believe they want their mall back. That’s what we are going to do. That’s why we bought it, and that’s our intent.”

In July, Time Magazine reported that by 2022, one of out of every four malls in America will close as a result of online shopping and the changing dynamics of the overall consumer mentality. Once-popular mega retail giants such as Sears and Macy’s continue to close stores. The DeSoto Square Sears operates in the black, Davis says, but he’s prepared for whatever may happen to its parent company.

“I’ve thought about it already,” Davis said. “I have some ideas.”

Mega retail isn’t what Davis’ vision is all about. It is a local experience for local consumers to enjoy and relive the traditional mall experience, but perhaps in a nontraditional manner. Putting a large trampoline fun zone in the Sears space is even a possibility should it ever close. Davis believes that the “mall experience” is still viable — “if you create things people want to come for,” he says.

Their motto of “Going Forward” and “Re-imagine” sums up the direction for Davis, whose company oversees 31 shopping centers along the East Coast. But DeSoto Square is his favorite project.

“In getting to know everyone here, people have nothing but good memories of the mall,” he said. “From buying their first set of tools at Sears to visiting Fletcher’s Music, which has been here since the mall opened. All of these are good, positive things. The concept of our improvements revolve around that. More interest, more activities, more entertainment and more food. Our logo of ‘Going Forward’ is to respectfully move forward while keeping the heritage and history of all the things that make this a great location.”

Recently joining The Madison Group’s management team was Trina Silenzi, a Bradenton resident for 37 years.

“I had my first job at this mall,” Silenzi said. “I had my first date at this mall. In middle school I would hang out with my girlfriends at this mall. I think it will also be nice for this community to not have to travel, and online shopping is overrated. People want to get out and go look at things. To visually see things, try things on, experience a movie. And sometimes it’s just about walking down the mall.”

Overcoming years of negative perceptions

Davis knows the DeSoto Square mall comes with baggage, but in his vision, there is no room for negativity and the past should stay in the past.

“How do we overcome that? The way I look at it, is when we bring in new stuff like soft seating, carpeted areas, new colors, new energy and positive interaction with the community,” Davis said. “We have been here for eight months and we are probably eight months ahead of schedule. We have great security, great people, local people, professional people and good communication with our tenants. Those things of the past are in the past.”

Silenzi said she sees the negativity about the mall less and less as more people come to see the changes beginning to happen.

“When I talk to people, they can’t get past that history, but things have changed,” she said. “What it was versus what it is today is totally different.”

And tomorrow is only going to be better, Davis said, who compared it to pouring cream into a bitter cup of coffee.

“That’s all I’m doing here,” he said. “Just keep pouring in the goodness. The interest has been tremendous, and we are ahead of schedule because of the community. We had one negative comment on our Facebook page and I reached out to that person, invited them to come down and took them on a tour. I’d like to believe I changed their mind, because their concerns had to do with the past.”

Davis says the Manatee County and Bradenton governments have been “unbelievably pleasant to work with and professional. They have a direct interest. All I want to do is spread the good word about our mall — and ‘our mall’ is a key thing. We’re just going to make it happen. There’s no magic to it. The previous owners lost focus and were not hands on. That’s not us.”

Silenzi doubts the previous owners would have reached out to someone on Facebook to invite them to see what exciting things are happening.

“It’s all about communicating,” she said. “Back in the day, they would have ignored negative comments and kept going. Everyone wants this place to come back.”

The work ahead

Improvements are ongoing. A good portion of the parking lot has been resurfaced. Exterior painting is complete and interior painting continues to bring back the brightness of the mall. Davis said a new roof has been installed. The food court will be remodeled and the mall will feature soft seating in carpeted areas for weary shoppers to take a break.

“Our budget is $20 million and I’m putting $20 million into the community,” Davis said. “All new roofs, outside parking LED lights, improved video surveillance including into the parking lot. It’s much, much more secure and we’ll re-landscape, painted the whole exterior, but anybody can do those things. The difference between us and those anybody’s is simply the fact that this mall is the pulse that drives its community. It’s going to be good, but some of those things will take a little bit of time. But we will make this mall the destination for shopping, dining and entertaining in Manatee County.”

Davis’ group continues to work with Manatee County on a proposal to build housing on mall property.

“What we want is to spread out the demographics,” Davis said. “We do have wealth in Manatee County, but then we have a very strong blue-collar working class. The mall is almost a million square feet, so in order to sustain it, we need to make all those citizens come here and not all will come for the same reason. We are working with the county for the apartments to reach a community that includes millennials and retirees. That’s a good thing. They are all already here. We aren’t having to create a market for this mall.”

What’s coming

In addition to the improvements and a new 28,752-square-foot theater with seven screens that will show first-run movies, a heavy emphasis has been placed on the dining experience. An 18,000-square-foot restaurant complex is being planned and will become a key anchor of the mall, Davis said.

Within the same “restaurant complex,” on the south side near Sears, there will be a casual, sit-down, home-cooked-style comfort-food restaurant where everything is made from scratch. In the middle will be a new “Frank’s Lounge” designed to be a “sophisticated gathering place” to get a drink and relax. On the other side is something Davis is particularly excited about, a new steakhouse called Bradenton Prime.

Davis says there are plenty of chain steakhouses in the area, “but Bradenton needs its own steakhouse, which why we also call it ‘Our Steakhouse.’ ”

Another component of the restaurant complex on the mall side will be a sit-down pastry and coffee shop. Davis said he recently signed a “major restaurant” to join the mall, but is not ready to disclose the name. All he would say is, “It’s a big home run.”

Remodeling of the food court is a priority for Davis. He said he used to be in the restaurant business and has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of food being served in the food court, but the court is in need of revitalization to make it more visually appealing. One of the newer additions is Cimillo’s Pizzeria & Grill.

Davis says the owner uses 100-year-old recipes and puts out an amazing product. Like the other eateries in the food court, a more inviting environment is needed. The food court averages a couple thousand people a day, and Davis expects it to play an important role in making the mall a dining destination.

Taking over the former Macy’s location is a new business called Your Treasure House, run by former Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy Joe Bernhard. The store will feature a variety of experts on antiques and will be filled with first-class auction and estate sale finds. It will also hold regular auction events and offer appraisals and potential purchases.

Davis had all of the old movie theater seats refurbished and made them into mobile seating for the auctions and other planned mall events. Other new stores are Teez custom shirts, and coming in February is Jams Music Store, which will offer high-end guitars and repair services. Davis says the store also will donate equipment to those needing it for temporary special functions, particularly students.

“It’s just another way we all want to give back to this community,” Davis said. “Sure, we’ve lost some tenants since we started this, but that’s been a good thing because they didn’t fit the vision. Because we are self-funded and in this for the long haul, we can pick and choose who fits that community vision. Again, it doesn’t have to be the big chains. Just something fun and unique for the community. First we stabilize and then we improve. Sometimes it takes years, but we are long-haul players and self financed, so we can do it right.”

There are plenty of vacant storefronts, but Davis doesn’t expect it to stay that way and is in no hurry to fill them until the right tenant comes along. J.C. Penney, Sears, Bath and Body Works and many other mall favorites have no plans to leave, Davis said.

And while shopping, eating or going to a movie at the mall can be pricey, Davis says that, too, will separate DeSoto Square from the others.

“We are doing things deliberately in a way where we can hold the pricing down,” he said. “Again, it’s about the community. Funding is adequate and the staff is great, but most important is the community, the individuals and the governments. Bradenton used to be a pass-through, but the identity of this town is rocketing up fast. Everything is here and we want to be here, too.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Vision for DeSoto Square mall is to combine traditional with nontraditional."