Bloomingdale's & Macys Coming to Downtown

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Downtown is finally getting one thing it's been lacking: a mall! With Bloomingdale's and Macy's on board to anchor, it looks like this retail complex has legit potential. The Miami World Center, which will also include residential, hotel and convention space, is expected to break ground in 2014 and will span three blocks, from Northeast Seventh Street to Northeast Tenth Street. Bloomingdale's is expected to take root in a 200,000 square foot section, while Macy's locale will be only slightly smaller at 195,000 square feet, but neither store will be opening its doors until at least 2016. Now Downtown already has a Macy's just blocks away from the future Miami World Center site, but since their lease doesn't expire until 2018, the company is still unsure what they will do with the decades-old space once they realize their new and improved Macys.

It's about time the Downtown and Financial District area get some much needed retail therapy options. Brickell has already experienced quite the renaissance, with the addition of new restaurants, bars and residential high risers, however both that area and Downtown have been falling behind in the shopping arena, leaving residents and visitors with no other option than to head to Aventura, Dadeland or Dolphin Mall to satisfy their purchasing needs. Now it's true, traffic in that area will be excruciating (not that it already isn't), but the sight of Little Brown Bags overpopulating Downtown's streets makes it just a little bit better, don't you think?

· Macy's, Bloomingdale's to open at downtown Miami Worldcenter [Miami Herald]
· Macy's, Bloomingdale's to open stores in Miami Worldcenter [South Florida Business Journal]
· Macy's, Bloomingdale's to Anchor Miami Worldcenter [Diamonds.net]
· Miami World Center [Official Site]