Tim Aten Knows: Waterside sets new lineup

Q: Could you give another update on Waterside? I was shocked to see Ann Taylor closing and their lease not being renewed. I was told Häagen-Dazs, Chico’s and White House Black Market are all closing the curtain, as well, as Waterside wants only luxury tenants. I knew there were changes coming but didn’t realize it meant forcing existing and longstanding tenants out! Thanks. – Meghan B., Naples 

A: Owners and managers of regional retail centers have become more selective and intentional in curating a mix of certain types of businesses and specific tenants. Criteria evolve over time due to ever-changing aspects such as brand popularity, market trends, tastes, relationships and even financial solvency. We’ve seen this play out during the past decade at local destinations such as Mercato in North Naples and Coconut Point in Estero, but Waterside Shops has taken it to the next level lately. 

The Forbes Co., the owner and manager of Waterside Shops, specializes in high-end properties and luxury retail. The Michigan-based company is making many calculated and deliberate changes to its retail and restaurant lineup at the upscale center. “Something stunning is in store,” proclaims a wrap across a vacant storefront. 

Restaurant revolution 

We broke the news last fall that the local lease for Brio Italian Grille wouldn’t be renewed at Waterside Shops in order to create space for another restaurant — Buck & Rider. After operating for 20 years on the northern end of the open-air mall, Brio closed April 12.  

Leading to the closing was the fact that Bravo Brio Restaurants, the parent company of dining chains Brio Italian Grille and Bravo! Italian Kitchen, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August, its second filing in five years. Likewise, Bravo’s longtime lease was not renewed last year at Mercato so that Violi Greek restaurant could open in that space. 

Buck & Rider, a seafood restaurant concept based in Arizona, plans to extensively renovate Brio’s former space at 5505 Tamiami Trail N. for a launch targeted in late 2026.  

On the eastern edge of Waterside Shops, Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop will be closing next month so that the mall can convert its space into a new retail unit. 

“After 25 wonderful years serving ice cream and smiles at the Waterside Shops, our lease is not being renewed, and we’ve been asked to vacate the location by May 31, 2026,” messaged Nabila Zafar, the owner of the local franchise since 2021. 

Although Zafar said she is sad that it is the end of an era at Waterside, she will continue to operate the Häagen-Dazs shop at Coastland Center mall in Naples. The Waterside store will operate through the end of May. 

Signage is up for another new restaurant, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, targeted to open this summer on an outparcel lot at Waterside Shops. The steak and seafood fine-dining concept is the first regional location of a Darden Restaurants brand that’s on the upscale level of its Capital Grille. Eddie V’s nears completion on a redeveloped outparcel space of a former bank office on the southwest corner of the center at Seagate Drive and Myra Janco Daniels Boulevard. 

Another new major restaurant will be central to Restoration Hardware’s inspirational home furnishings gallery under construction on the site of the former Nordstrom department store on the mall’s northwest corner. The RH fine-dining restaurant will be framed by a glass atrium at the center of six separate showroom galleries connected by landscaped walkways. Destined to be the talk of the town, the single-story RH store and restaurant are targeted to open in late 2026. 

Retail revamp 

Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma opened in January in the highly visible two-story outparcel building at Waterside that was home to Barnes & Noble bookstore for more than 30 years. The bookstore moved about a mile south to Park Shore Plaza, while the relocation of Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn to the transformed freestanding spot freed up large inline spaces for Waterside to fill with multiple other retailers. 

Italian luxury fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli launched a store near the end of 2025 in part of Williams Sonoma’s former inline unit. Dior plans to open a fashion boutique this summer in part of the kitchenware retailer’s former space, as well as some other adjoining smaller units.  

Anthropologie, a store that sells clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decorations, beauty products and gifts, plans to relocate this fall from its large space near the northeastern corner of Waterside to a location on the eastern edge of the mall that includes the spaces that Ann Taylor and Pottery Barn vacated in January. Anthropologie tentatively plans to close its current store in September and reopen in its new space in October. 

The former inline unit of Pottery Barn also will be divided to create a space for Vuori, a premium performance activewear retailer, set to open this fall next to Sephora. Anthropologie’s current space also could be divided into three new retail units, creating more internal movement and opportunities at the mall. 

Next door to Häagen-Dazs, the lease for the L’Occitane en Provence skincare brand also was not renewed at Waterside so that those two adjacent units can be combined into a single space for another new tenant that is yet to be announced. The L’Occitane store plans to close May 26. 

Omega will move in May to a temporary location in the former space of the Beaufort Bonnet Co., which closed this month next to True Food Kitchen, while a permanent boutique for the watch retailer is built out this year in the former Isaia space next to California Pizza Kitchen. 

Another vacancy remains in the former storefront of White House Black Market, which shuttered in late January. It is temporarily being used to showcase Lilly Pulitzer merchandise. 

This latest information for changes at Waterside Shops reflects only what could be confirmed now, but much more is in the works. Expect many more revisions and the addition of new retailers to be announced soon. 

The Tim Aten Knows weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at Tim.Aten@NaplesPress.com.