Southern Lifestyles Furniture store moving
 

The store in Sumter Landing is phasing out over the next year. A new store will be open in Brownwood. Already they have space in the Sumter Landing store undergoing renovation for an investment firm. (I think)

Where is Brownwood?

The planned third town square.
http://www.thevillagescommercialprop...-brownwood.asp

that is so cool...didn't realize a third square was coming.
thanks for info.

Are you a Villager?

lol

I am a new villager
 

I didn't know where Brownswood was going to bw located until tonight. I have been trying to get info about it to no avail. It does seem as if it may be close to me so I would like to know what is going in there. Someone told me they were planning the biggest mall in Florida. I certainly hope this is not the case. IMHO, If that is the case, we will become a tourist attraction for all kinds of people and the ambience of the other two town squares would be lost. Does anyone know or is it all just rumors. Is there a place to find out? :shocked:

No, not a big mall. Go to that site I posted.....you will learn a lot.

The Sumter landing store is huge, I'm shocked that it is being phased out. The store in Spanish Springs was just remodeled. Why phase out LSL for a store in Brownwood that is at least three years away?


.

ownership
 

If you stop and think about it, the developer is using the "Disney" model, develop the properties, own some of the amenities/restaurants etc. and then turn them over to chain franchises. The Disney company did the same thing, they originally managed all of the restaurants and then as time moved forward they began to "affiliate" or partner with others like Hard Rock Cafe. It is one of the business models used now by many including the YMCA.

Hi Jan,

I think you are right about what is happening. (for what my opinion is worth)

I am assuming that under such an arrangement, the developer retains a piece of the action. If that is the case, that would seem to offer the most continued success for the Lifestyle.

I think it is best for the future of TV if the developer remains invested and profitable, throughout the entire area. -- while allowing others to profit, of course. Like Buffett -- I like capitalism but I am not a materialist. (I don't mean Jimmy, but I like him, too.)

I am out here on the outside, for now, where I am sad to say that I am seeing so much empty commercial property, everywhere. Empty commercial property gives me the willies.

I try really hard to shop in stores with walls rather than on the internet. My books come from an actual bookstore and when I make myself shop for clothes, it is usually Coldwater Creek where I live and not the catalog or website.

Oh well, what do I know about things economic. This is all just my take on stuff. Heck, it has been alleged around here, many times, that I could even be an English major.

Boomer

edit -- sort of -- EEK! I just realized that I misplaced an adverbial clause -- or some such thing -- up there that makes it sound like I live at Coldwater Creek. For the record, I do not live at Coldwater Creek.

Boomer et al
 

FYI

When I went to NU in Boston, I did so because I wanted to pay for my education myself (retrospectively I should have just gone to Boston State I would have had better life results I think). Anyway my first co-op job was in the basement of my parent's home, a dance studio, students are now friends on Facebook, Twitter, and likes on pages. When I graduated, back in the day, I moved to a storefront in the center of a town and expanded to 2 storefronts and then an industrial park. It was always my co-op job even though I also took the jobs provided by the university. I did briefly, very briefly, do the B'way thing, loved the dancing hated the touring, need roots.

I transitioned, who knows why, into teaching English and then technology as my second career. Biggest mistake I ever made, but anyway, I am now back as a social media content provider for dance again.

I like Boomer, cringe when I see empty commercial property, my former landlord recently offered me my old space at 10% of the price I paid in the 80's if I would open again. I think technology is moving faster than we can purchase it or want to purchase it as consumers, but it is here and the genie is out of the bottle so to speak.

I will never correct your English but if you want a free spell check use Firefox or a free Office type program use Open Office. If you have a small business and need social media advice, I am available, as I am now a consultant and hold seminars for small business.

Hope this helps, and I no longer look like the profile picture, as I said I am a back in the day gal, lol.

:sing:

If a good portion of their business is to new owners then it would make sense to move the store to Brownwood. Don't forget that the LSL sales folks will also be moving to Brownwood at some point so having those two entities close to each other seems to make good business sense. But I would have thought that a smaller version of Southern Lifestyles in LSL would have been nice.

Jan...whew. I can type with ease not worrying that I will be graded. lol.

I THINK that Southern LifeStyles is closing because it is a traditional furniture store and those are not easily supported in todays economy. I see them closing all around me here in Cincinnati. Because of the economic situation that people find themselves in, the current furniture shoppers are mostly looking for bargains and discounts. Don't forget the developer owns the other furniture store that is selling not quite as expensive furniture. ......Something Express? in Spanish Springs. I am not at all surprised that these astute business people are responding to the market. The market is hanging onto their bucks a little more these days.

It may be the Disney model but my guess is that they are simply making a common sense decision.

Just my opinion. I could be wrong and frequently am. are.:D

ditto
 

I agree Gracie, I think the economic woes plus the advance of technology is changing a lot around us.

I read other posts and there have been many that state there are other furniture options. When the original plan was designed there was most likely a need for a large furniture store, which over time has changed. They are making quality business decisions.

Strange how things happen.

When I first came to TV in late 2004, Southern Lifestyles was at Plaza Grande (Spanish Springs) where Showcase Direct is now. The space now occupied by Southern Lifestyles was "The Street of Dreams," where new homeowners (builders) chose everything about their house: flooring, cabinets, faucets, windows, doors, sinks, toilets, appliances, light switches (and where they were to go and what they were to control), etc., etc. It was almost like having free rein in Lowes or Home Depot, but with a personal assistant to help you decide and to add it all up! It was really a wonderful experience which I was sorry to see abandoned by TV.

It made some sense to me to have Southern Lifestyles take over the space, when someone decided that the-build-to-your-own-specs program was "too expensive" to maintain. It makes lots less sense for them to move the enterprise to Brownwood. IMHO.

SWR
:beer3:

gosh, I have a friend that works over there, and I was told they are in fact “downsizing” and re-merchandising to better fit the prices customers are looking for, but they sure aren’t closing……They said they plan on having a location, even if it is a little smaller, for as long as the community is there!” Hope this helps…..I love to shop there, and at Showcase Direct too!!! Great staff, great selection, and now great prices at both places! You should check it out if you haven’t lately.

When they're gone I'll miss the free cookies....gn

We have looked in Southern Lifestyles for furniture pieces but found that the quality was good there but the prices were a little high. We have done all of our furniture shopping at Babettes in Leesburg on Hwy 441 and find that the quality there is good and the prices seem much more reasonable.

John

we purchased many items at SL and found both price and quality were very good....gn

Southern Lifestyles is a unique shopping experience. Excellent sales staff, nice selection, and great service. It is like having a consultant work with you. A nice feature is that they have the plans for all the models including a set for each garage location. Furniture cutouts give you a good idea of how everything will fit. Prices were competitive, and Villagers get a five percent discount no matter if it's on sale. I hope they stay around in some form for future TVers.

You forgot one things guys, this is the Villages and they have more money than God ( thats a joke) they don't care how much they spend on a store because its not there money, when they get tired of the store they remodel it or move it to another place.

Bogie...we purchased a place in TV in July...coming down for visit at end of month...still all new to us...
:coolsmiley:

Bring cash.....and lots of it....if you really want to be happy.

I do not think that is exactly true. Maybe you chose the wrong lifestyle.

Bogie I agree. We think TV is the most affordable retirement lifestyle in the world. I am hoping the comment is really just directed at the cost of filling and equiping a new home. I know when we bought in TV over a year ago, we basically did one room at a time to control costs. We could do this because we are still living between two homes, but if you have to move right in, you probably can't do it like that, so it will definitely cost more.

Army Guy

Doing the same here and have really found that Southern Lifestyles have been easy to work with and deliver when I am in the area.

Jennifer at Southern Lifestyles is wonderful to work with and is amazingly skilled to outfit a home with style, and has really been able to get the furniture line and pieces we wanted and less than it would have been in Ohio.

:agree: (Not sure about prices in Ohio but Jennifer is great and has helped us, even came to our house to get a feel for what we like.)

When we found furniture that we liked at a place other than SL, we went to SL to see if they would meet/beat the price. We were impressed with their service on other things that we had bought, such as coming to turn the mattress when we needed it.They matched the other price and ordered the furniture for us through their catalogs, but then gave us the 5% Villager discount. Sounded like a good deal to us, so we bought there and have not regretted it.

i agree with the previous comments, if SL goes away new Villagers will be missing a lot....gn

I agree. It surprises me that it would even need to downsize. It seems the most "perfect fit" for TV of any store there, except maybe the golf cart stores. SL always looked busy whenever I was in there, although many people like me were just browsing.

In another thread, someone said they had knowledge of two more Bridgeport developments going in north of 466. If that's accurate, it's all the more baffling that SL would need to downsize or re-merchandise in LSL.

I wonder what the real story is on this.

how do I find info about Brownwood, the web site you have just brings me right back here ....thanks

dog,

It sounds like you are there in The Villages since you were reporting on the ants, so just take Buena Vista south as far as it will go and you will find where they are building Brownwood Paddock. When we were there last in July they had the "bones" in only.

Please drive down there and give us a report. We will return next month but I haven't heard anything new about what they have done. :coolsmiley:

Copy and paste
 

Dog,

You will probably need to copy the link then past it into the bar for web addresses in order for it to work. Here's the link again
:http://www.thevillagescommercialprop...-brownwood.asp

We won't be down again till December- can't wait to see the progress!

The easiest thing to do is to right-click the above link and click on "open in new window" and it will work

Hmmm, I tried to right-click it and choose "open in new window" in both Firefox and and IE, and it still brought me right back here. That's funny that this works from some computers and not others. I know we just talked about this in another thread. Thought I understood. Now confused again. Oh well. Sorry for the hijack. Just ignore this.