* ROC Resto-Lounge & Fashion.
Reprinted below is an article which Jeff Eats just read in the Sun Sentinel…
If I was a betting man, ROC Resto-Lounge & Fashion has absolutely no chance of “working” in Coral Square Mall.
The location stinks, the demographics stink, the concept stinks.
The guys behind this business should “walk away” from this project right now…unless they enjoy losing money.
While Jeff Eats is on the subject of losing money…ROC currently has a location at Delray Marketplace–unless I’m dead wrong on this, that joint has to be a financial disaster. Literally, I have never seen anyone shopping in there on the numerous occasions that I have been in the center.
Since Jeff Eats has no skin in the ROC game- whether it does well or not is of no concern to me. Here’s wishing its owners good luck with this latest project, but I just don’t see anything even remotely promising about it.
In all honesty, Jeff Eats can’t figure how anyone-including ROC executives, Real Estate executives- would even consider Coral Square Mall for such an elaborate and upscale concept. The only difference between ROC in Coral Springs and the Titanic is that the Titanic had a band.
Like I said before, good luck to ROC-
*****
ROC Resto-Lounge & Fashion combines dining, drinking and shopping
By Miriam Valverde, Sun Sentinel
5:36 pm, July 1, 2014
No more driving from place to place if you want to eat, drink and shop.
Gaston Garcia, a Weston resident and retail veteran, is building a complex at Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs where he plans to combine a restaurant, store and nightclub under one roof — a first for South Florida, retail experts say.
Garcia is calling it ROC Resto-Lounge & Fashion and expects to open it to the public by mid-September.
“It’s a lifestyle concept, sort of what we already do on a regular basis,” said the 36-year-old Garcia, founder and chief executive of ROC.
He said he’s approaching the concept from the point of view of millennials.
“If you look at their tablet or phone, they have four to five apps running at the same time,” Gaston said of millennials, typically defined as those aged 18 to 33. “It’s a big benefit to have many things in one space, and that’s exactly what we are bringing to life at ROC.”
Late-night crowds will be able to grab drinks and enjoy live music and entertainment at the ROC nightclub and lounge, and if they get hungry or feel the need to shop, they can wander to the retail and restaurant areas.
The restaurant’s menu will feature American fare “with Asian and Latin twists.” Dinner choices will include entrees starting at $15. Lunch crowds will be able to grab meals ranging from $4 to $12.
The shop will feature apparel and accessories priced around $35, as well as designer clothing. Gaston also envisions fashion shows where people can use a ROC phone app to buy clothes they see.
“The whole concept is affordable luxury,” said Larry Hotz, marketing director for ROC Resto-Lounge & Fashion. “Accessible to all people who already go to Coral Square Mall.”
“We are super excited,” said Xiomara Fraga, director of marketing and business development for Coral Square Mall. “The cool thing is they have fashion, apparel, restaurant and entertainment all in one location.” ROC will fill 10,000 square feet once occupied by three different retailers. It will open at the west entrance of the mall, near the men’s Macy’s, Fraga said.
People in the mall will have access to a “community annex” — a smaller, casual section with snacks, seating and charging stations for mobile devices.
“It’s absolutely unusual for South Florida, and particularly Coral Springs, which is primarily a middle-class, family-oriented demographic,” said Lisa Ferrazza, a retail specialist in Broward and Palm Beach counties and vice president at CBRE, a commercial real estate services firm.
Some are skeptical it will work in Coral Springs.
“I think it’s an interesting concept, but I don’t get it at all for that location,” said Barry M. Wolfe, vice president of investments at Marcus & Millichap, a real estate firm in Fort Lauderdale.
The concept is trendy and different, a seemingly natural fit for South Beach or SoHo in New York, Wolfe said. But Coral Springs is more of a family neighborhood and not necessarily a destination city, he said.
“Unless they can make people drive from outside Coral Springs, I just don’t see it,” he said.
ROC’s pricing and accessibility are what make it right for Coral Springs, said Hotz, ROC’s marketing director.
The developer also said Coral Square Mall presents an opportunity for ROC to establish a relationship with Simon, the mall’s parent company, which has retail properties throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
“They’re coming to a good, strong community,” said Fraga, who works at Coral Square Mall. “It could become a destination.”
mvalverde@tribune.com, 954-356-4526, Twitter @MiriamValverde
