{"id":226120,"date":"2026-04-10T10:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226120\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:27:08","slug":"wayfair-plans-florida-debut-at-galleria-fort-lauderdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226120\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayfair plans Florida debut at Galleria Fort Lauderdale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wayfair, the trendy e-commerce furniture and home good store, has announced its first large-format store in Florida.<\/p>\n

The company plans to open a two-level store at Galleria mall Fort Lauderdale late in 2027<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old mall that has developers moving ahead with a proposed retail space that would mingle alongside a 170-room hotel and several 30-story residential rental buildings. The Live Local Act, a state law passed in 2023 to encourage developers to build more affordable housing, is the key driving the redesign of the faded mall that gained new owners<\/a> in September 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur vision is to restore the Galleria as the premier shopping and lifestyle destination for Broward County,\u201d Russell Galbut, founder of GFO Investments, one of the new owners, said last fall.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Galleria Mall redevelopment plans<\/a><\/p>\n

Wayfair, which has 2 million Instagram followers, wants to live in 94,000 square feet of the mall\u2019s retail space.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cGalleria Fort Lauderdale\u2019s transformation creates an ideal setting for us to introduce our in-store experience to a new community of customers,\u201d said Liza Lefkowski, vice president of merchandising and stores at Wayfair, in an email to the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n

Customers can shop for \u201cWayfair Verified\u201d items and take them home the same day \u2014 smaller home furnishings, flower pots and kitchen appliances, for instance. For larger items \u2014 refrigerators, sofas, beds, big rugs. Murphy sofa beds \u2014 the store will arrange delivery.<\/p>\n

The opening builds on Wayfair\u2019s growing regional footprint that includes Wayfair\u2019s luxury brand store Perigold at CityPlace in West Palm Beach and its specialty furnishings store Birch Lane at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. A Wayfair outlet store is in Orlando.<\/p>\n

The Fort Lauderdale Galleria Wayfair store that would open in the redeveloped space on East Sunrise Boulevard would mark Wayfair\u2019s sixth brick-and-mortar store. Two are open in Wilmette, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia. Upcoming stores in 2026 include Columbus, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. Westchester, New York, follows in early 2027, and then the Fort Lauderdale store.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we continue to grow our retail footprint, entering Florida with a namesake store is an exciting next step for Wayfair,\u201d said Lefkowski.<\/p>\n

\"Wayfair Wayfair announced it plans to open its first store in Florida at what will be a refurbished Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale in 2027. Wayfair What about Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Galleria mall?<\/p>\n

The Galleria, as most shoppers today know it, officially opened as an enclosed mall in November 1980, with anchors Burdines and Saks Fifth Avenue. Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor followed in the early-1980s.<\/p>\n

None of those anchors remain at Galleria today. Burdines was absorbed by Macy\u2019s in 2005, and that store is still open. Other current anchors include an Apple Store, a Dillard\u2019s department store, Seasons 52 and The Capital Grille restaurants, and an H&M in the former Saks space.<\/p>\n

This Galleria 1980 newcomer, seen as an upscale addition to the Fort Lauderdale landscape, happened in same month of television\u2019s \u201cWho Shot J.R.?\u201d pop culture moment. November 1980 also marked President Jimmy Carter\u2019s last months in office. And voters passing an antibilingualism ordinance<\/a> in Miami-Dade County that month.<\/p>\n

Before it was Galleria, the space was the Sunrise Shopping Center, an open-air retail complex that opened in January 1954. The shopping center debuted with a small Saks Fifth Avenue, an F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime, a Food Fair grocery store and a Thom McAn shoe store.<\/p>\n

\"Fort Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and Director of Development Services Anthony Fajardo go over a drawing of the Galleria mega-project during a town hall meeting at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. Mike Stocker South Florida Sun Sentinel <\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Howard Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Miami Herald consumer trends reporter Howard Cohen, a 2017 Media Excellence Awards winner, has covered pop music, theater, health and fitness, obituaries, municipal government, breaking news and general assignment. He started his career in the Features department at the Miami Herald in 1991. Cohen is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication.
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