An Australian fashion label born out of a beachside apartment on the Gold Coast is setting up shop at St. Johns Town Center, taking over a slice of the retail space once occupied by Express. Princess Polly is preparing to build out a store at 4711 River City Drive, and the city issued a permit for the project on August 4, listing a construction cost of $158,800.
The Jacksonville location is one of just two coming-soon stores planned for Florida, alongside a location in Orlando, according to Jacksonville Daily Record. Princess Polly currently operates 15 U.S. locations across eight states, including five in California, three in New York, and single stores in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, per the Daily Record's review of the brand's store list. The retailer is also planning additional coming-soon locations in Texas and Minnesota, along with a third store in Australia, where it maintains two locations today.
The Jacksonville storefront will occupy suite 113 within a 7,940-square-foot space that landlord Simon Property Group is splitting in two, according to the same report. A separate 2,765-square-foot portion of that footprint, suite 115, will go to another tenant. VCMG LLC, based in Sebastian, is listed as the contractor on the project.
A Former Express Anchor Gets Subdivided
The space becoming Princess Polly's new store once housed the full footprint of an Express clothing store, which closed its men's and women's location at the Town Center. Express no longer appears on the mall's directory or on the retailer's own store locator, the Daily Record reports. Express filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2024 and emerged from bankruptcy two months later, in June, after a group of investors led by WHP Global — joined by Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties — moved to acquire the company. Express has continued operating smaller Express Edit stores, though the article notes it remains unclear what, if any, use Express Edit might have for space at Town Center going forward.
Princess Polly won't be alone in redeveloping the old Express footprint. Right next door, at unit 107, a 2,729-square-foot Mavi Jeans store is under construction in space previously occupied by Casper Sleep Products. The city issued a permit for that conversion on May 8, with a listed project cost of $432,386. Elder-Jones Inc., based in Bloomington, Minnesota, is the contractor for the Mavi Jeans buildout, while Estudio Architecture, of Houston, designed the Princess Polly project.
What Princess Polly Sells
Princess Polly markets itself around dresses, tops, bottoms, swimwear, accessories, shoes and what it calls trending styles, alongside seasonal summer offerings. The brand describes its goal as offering on-trend, quality fashion paired with strong customer service, and says it carries the latest trends alongside exclusive designs and wardrobe staples. Per the company's own website, a store is coming soon to St. Johns Town Center, a detail also reflected in the mall's own tenant directory.
St. Johns Town Center has seen a wave of new retail activity over the past year, part of a broader reshuffling by landlord Simon Property Group. Hoodline has previously reported on Herman Miller's move into the center, along with the arrivals of Paris Baguette and Sweetgreen.
The Jacksonville project fits into a much larger national push. Princess Polly's parent company, A.K.A. Brands Holding Corp., announced in August that it plans to build a footprint of at least 100 Princess Polly stores across the U.S., with as many as 10 new locations targeted for 2027 alone, according to a company announcement. That followed a March announcement that A.K.A. Brands had executed leases for eight new Princess Polly locations across eight states — including the Jacksonville site — pushing its U.S. footprint toward 21 stores by 2027, as reported by Retail Dive.
From Gold Coast Apartment To National Mall Strategy
Princess Polly's retail ambitions mark a significant shift for a brand that started as a purely direct-to-consumer e-commerce operation on Australia's Gold Coast in 2010. It didn't open its first U.S. brick-and-mortar store until September 2023, at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, a roughly 3,370-square-foot location that served as the prototype for its mall buildouts, according to Retail Dive. The brand later opened a much larger, roughly 8,000-square-foot East Coast flagship in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, featuring photo booths and large LED displays aimed at Gen Z shoppers and social media content.
That physical expansion is being funded by a business that appears to be on solid financial footing. A.K.A. Brands reported second-quarter net sales of $160.1 million and a 16% year-over-year rise in adjusted EBITDA to $8.7 million, with gross margins widening 360 basis points to 61.1%, supported in part by the store expansion, per Morningstar. U.S. net sales for the quarter grew 2.1% year-over-year to $110.7 million.
Retailers like Princess Polly are chasing a broader shift back toward physical shopping among younger consumers. Location analytics firm Placer.ai found that indoor mall foot traffic rose 4% in January and 5% in February this year, driven largely by Gen Z and younger shoppers seeking in-person, social shopping experiences, Bisnow reported. That resurgence has helped brands like Princess Polly and Mavi Jeans move quickly into space vacated by struggling chains like Express, which closed around 100 stores nationwide during its bankruptcy before being acquired for $174 million by the Phoenix Retail consortium.
Jacksonville's Premium Retail Corridor
St. Johns Town Center's Southside submarket commands the highest commercial rents in Jacksonville, with retail space ranging between $18 and $25 per square foot on a triple-net basis, according to Clearpath's commercial real estate analysis. Simon Property Group has continued investing in the property, completing $403,000 in entryway sign upgrades in late 2025 alongside tenant changes at the 4711 River City Drive building, which also includes a newly renovated, 3,990-square-foot Ann Taylor location, per the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The building boom lines up with regional growth trends. The Jacksonville metropolitan area's population topped 1.76 million residents in early 2026, with local job growth of 3.8% outpacing Florida's statewide average, according to data cited by The Kirkland Company. Duval and St. Johns counties remain the primary population drivers behind that growth, the report notes — the same demographic surge that's fueling demand for space at Town Center from national and international retailers alike.
