Shore to leave St. Armands Circle; Tommy Bahama to lease its space

Shore, a long-time mainstay of St. Armands Circle, has announced it is leaving Sarasota, saying flooding issues from this year's hurricanes forced its owners to make hard decisions.

“It’s been a challenging time for us, especially given the extended recovery process after the storm," Tom Leonard, co-founder of Shore, said in a news release. 

"The lack of urgency from the city in addressing the infrastructure issues — particularly the malfunctioning pumps that led to standing water remaining in the store for days after the storm — forced us to reevaluate our future here.” 

The Leonard family will lease the building, which has housed its retail shop since 2008 and upstairs restaurant since 2012, to Tommy Bahama, which recently announced it plans to open a new combined restaurant, bar and retail space at the Shore location, at 465 John Ringling Blvd., in February 2025. Shore will close Dec. 1.

Leonard said the aging infrastructure on St. Armands Circle made staying untenable. "While we love this community, it’s clear that the city has a long way to go in terms of modernizing its streets, sidewalks and drainage systems," he said in the release. "We experienced firsthand the frustration of waiting for repairs that should have been prioritized much sooner.”

Sarasota Communications General Manager, Jan Thornburg, released a statement through the city countering Leonard's account saying the three storms were devastating, but the city is continuously working toward recovery.

“Sarasota experienced unprecedented rainfall in August during Invest 90L, then within a month was devastated with 4-5 foot storm surge from back to back major Hurricanes Helene and Milton," the statement read. "These weather events were extraordinary. Infrastructure systems up and down the west coast of Florida were overwhelmed by the historic flooding. Sarasota County oversees and maintains the City’s stormwater system.  City of Sarasota staff coordinated with the County before, during and after the storms to pump heavily flooded streets, including St. Armands Circle, as soon as safely possible. The City is continuing to provide support to St. Armands as the community recovers and businesses on the Circle reopen.”

Although Shore is leaving Sarasota, "we’re actively looking at new locations on the west coast of Florida and beyond,” said Leonard.

The Leonard family left open the possibility of a return to Sarasota in the future. "While we’re making the difficult decision to leave our current location, we’re not saying goodbye to Sarasota forever," Susan Leonard said.  

“If the right opportunity presents itself in the future, we would absolutely consider bringing Shore back to this community that has supported us so well.”

Shore also has locations in Longboat Key and at Disney Spring in Lake Buena Vista. Both of those will remain open.

Tommy Bahama ready to move in

In 1996, Tommy Bahama opened a second restaurant and retail location at 300 John Ringling Blvd. The business grew to the point the entire space was converted to restaurant use and the retail space moved down the street.

In the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, the newer retail store was able to reopen. However, the restaurant and bar suffered considerable damage and will be unable to reopen. 

“Tommy Bahama opened in Sarasota 28 years ago as the company’s second location, and it has always been such an important part of our brand DNA,” CEO Doug Wood said in the news release. “The idea of not having a restaurant in St. Armands, which is like a second home to us, was unthinkable."

Wood says the new location will "reunite the restaurant and retail under one roof to provide our guests with the authentic Tommy Bahama experience.”

The existing separate retail store at 371 St. Armands Circle will remain open. 

Tommy Bahama has other locations in Sarasota, including a Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar in Lakewood Ranch and Tommy Bahama retail stores in Sarasota UTC and Siesta Key.