OLD TGI Friday's Sumter Landing

[TraceyMooreRN]

It seems several months ago they shut their doors rather quickly and their were "RUMORS" that a new restaurant would be opening before the snowbird season--

Anyone know if there really is a new place in Sumter opening soon? I hate seeing a business closed in our favorite Town Square!

[buggyone]

You are right. That looks like it would be a prime location for some restaurant or bar. There are several others nearby, but if it offered something unique, it should do fine.

On the same note, I saw Coldwater Creek nationwide is going out of business. They also have a prime location for a retail store by the canal. Hope something else good comes in quickly when available.

[justjim]

Restaurants come and go. Those in the business will tell you it's a very challenging business. The cost of leasing or owning a building, finding and keeping good employees, insurances and taxes, to just name a couple of issues.

Maybe just me but that street location always seemed a bit "out of the way" to me.

[Ourtime]

I agree about the location. I like TGI Fridays but it never came to mind when we were deciding where to go out to eat. That location will need something "Unique, like the rumor about a Brazilian restaurant" that was once circling on TOTV.

[Skip2MySue]

I heard a rumor that the Cheesecake Factory will be taking over the building and expanding it to also take over the Cold Water Creek building :coolsmiley: . You might want to start lining up now to avoid the wait.:pray:
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[buggyone]

I heard a rumor that the Cheesecake Factory will be taking over the building and expanding it to also take over the Cold Water Creek building :coolsmiley: . You might want to start lining up now to avoid the wait.:pray:
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No, that is where Trader Joe is putting the Trader Joe's Villages store. :throwtomatoes:

[justjim]

I heard a rumor that the Cheesecake Factory will be taking over the building and expanding it to also take over the Cold Water Creek building :coolsmiley: . You might want to start lining up now to avoid the wait.:pray:
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:D. Skip you can't be serious about this! :mmmm:

[Wolfys]

A waitress at Evans Prairie says it will be a steakhouse, ran by the same folks as Evans Prairie & Bonify.

[villager]

Maybe Macy's will move in the two locations...

[jnieman]

A waitress at Evans Prairie says it will be a steakhouse, ran by the same folks as Evans Prairie & Bonify.

Talked to the owner of Evans Prairie last night and although he initially was interested he said that he is no longer in the running to occupy this space. He did say that he will be running the new Country Club restaurant that is currently being built and that it is supposed to open in about 6 months.

[Skip2MySue]

:D. Skip you can't be serious about this! :mmmm:

Jim, Please note the praying character at the end of the post :D
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[Bonny]

A waitress at Evans Prairie says it will be a steakhouse, ran by the same folks as Evans Prairie & Bonify.
They are no longer involved in that anymore.

[ilovetv]

I hope the TGIFridays and Coldwater Creek buildings have retail and not more office occupants.

Turning the former Southern Lifestyles Furniture buildings (beside Panera) into office space instead of retail is not good at all for our favorite "downtown" area. That whole street now has very little retail business now and I don't think it bodes well. We watched downtowns die in our former states with loss of retailers, and I'd hate to see that trend here.

[Hancle704]

Might be a new Rec center

[VT2TV]

I hope the TGIFridays and Coldwater Creek buildings have retail and not more office occupants.

Turning the former Southern Lifestyles Furniture buildings (beside Panera) into office space instead of retail is not good at all for our favorite "downtown" area. That whole street now has very little retail business now and I don't think it bodes well. We watched downtowns die in our former states with loss of retailers, and I'd hate to see that trend here.


I agree! One thing I am tired of is that so many of the new restaurants in TV are run/managed by the same people, and they seem like the same restaurant. We have had a lot of people tell us that the reason new and totally different restaurants do not open up in TV is that the Morse family is very, very hard to work with, and have a lot of demands for new places. Not to mention that it is extremely expensive to open up a place in TV. Now, I know a lot of people will be angry to see this about the Morse family. I personally do not know if it is true, but have had more than 5 places tell me this, and to not count on many completely new places opening. Again, NOT MY WORDS-just told to me. I sincerely hope this is NOT true. I have nothing against the Morse family, and am very happy to be here in TV. But I really, really would like to see lots of new restaurants-instead of yet another Beef's or Subway, or small oriental place, etc....

[Bonny]

I agree! One thing I am tired of is that so many of the new restaurants in TV are run/managed by the same people, and they seem like the same restaurant. We have had a lot of people tell us that the reason new and totally different restaurants do not open up in TV is that the Morse family is very, very hard to work with, and have a lot of demands for new places. Not to mention that it is extremely expensive to open up a place in TV. Now, I know a lot of people will be angry to see this about the Morse family. I personally do not know if it is true, but have had more than 5 places tell me this, and to not count on many completely new places opening. Again, NOT MY WORDS-just told to me. I sincerely hope this is NOT true. I have nothing against the Morse family, and am very happy to be here in TV. But I really, really would like to see lots of new restaurants-instead of yet another Beef's or Subway, or small oriental place, etc....
I would be curious if these are restaurant owners telling you the Villages is very hard to work for or just people who just like to assume this stuff. I've been here 14 years and know many of the restaurant owners.
Definitely would make a difference if you talk to a successful restaurant owner or one who can't get their act together so they blame the Villages because they have no clue what they are doing.

[coach]

I agree totally with Bonnie. It is so easy to blame others for failure. My opinion is that we have a very low turnover in restaurants compared with national averages of restaurant success.

[My Daily Run]

I spoke to the owner of the olive oil store that opened in Lake Sumter and he has 2 other very successful stores one being in the Winter Garden beautiful artsy commercial area and that is where I spoke to him... he told me that it took him 2 years and more work then most would even think of doing to convince and prove to the developer that he was a successful business...maybe at one time they would allow anyone that wanted to open a business to do so but I think it is not that easy anymore. By the way a business in SS is closing due to a dispute with the developer...just got an email and it states it right in the email.

[billethkid]

There is no problem opening ("working with the developer"), opening, operating a successful restaurant in TV or anyplace else if the owners/operators know what they are doing!!

The failures and those who do not know anything about the process or the business that always blame someone else....usually a baseless rant about what the other guy or developer did or did not do.

If you know what you are doing the developer is easy to work with!!!

[Chi-Town]

If having a strong business plan and a successful history of operations are prerequisites to staying in business I can't figure out why Friday's closed. The food was good, and I had no problems with the service. And people were having fun watching the games and partaking in the special nights like Bingo. Some circumstance must have occurred.

[Bonny]

I spoke to the owner of the olive oil store that opened in Lake Sumter and he has 2 other very successful stores one being in the Winter Garden beautiful artsy commercial area and that is where I spoke to him... he told me that it took him 2 years and more work then most would even think of doing to convince and prove to the developer that he was a successful business...maybe at one time they would allow anyone that wanted to open a business to do so but I think it is not that easy anymore. By the way a business in SS is closing due to a dispute with the developer...just got an email and it states it right in the email.
What did the e-mail say ? Which business is it ?

[ilovetv]

If having a strong business plan and a successful history of operations are prerequisites to staying in business I can't figure out why Friday's closed. The food was good, and I had no problems with the service. And people were having fun watching the games and partaking in the special nights like Bingo. Some circumstance must have occurred.

I've thought that same thing, except that I did see some sloppiness and apathy in the workers a couple of times. I liked sitting on their patio....still a part of the square but away from the hustle-bustle a bit.

I think that location begs for a bar-restaurant because people are getting off the airport shuttle there, and they recognize TGIFridays and Barnes & Noble. (Newcomers don't know Cody's and maybe aren't ready for the beer and peanut shells on the floor atmosphere yet.) The good thing about chain restaurants is that visitors/tourists know what they're getting.