Retail Roundup: Puttshack mini golf party venue and three other new businesses coming to Dania Pointe

Golf courses might be disappearing from South Florida neighborhoods, but players will still have plenty of places to practice their game.

In addition to the Topgolf full-swing attraction planned to open in Pompano Beach later this year, the Dania Pointe retail and entertainment complex has announced the planned opening of Puttshack, a 25,000-square-foot indoor mini golf emporium.

This is not the putt putt golf that excited your grandfather on family road trips to Florida.

Puttshack is a nightclub-style party venue built around a series of challenging putting stations. It’s the latest South Florida entry in a popular new style of colorful mini golf venues that feel more like casinos than playgrounds.

Puttshack, an indoor mini golf attraction that's more nightclub and casino than roadside attraction, is coming to the Dania Pointe entertainment and shopping complex in 2024. (Courtesy Puttshack)

Puttshack features a full bar serving “handcrafted” cocktails, and an expansive food menu with sandwiches, appetizers, salads and deserts. Private groups of up to 100 can be accommodated in a large reserved room.

Screens guide players through the course, scores are kept by electronic sensors in the balls, and whoever stacks up the most points wins.

Puttshack, a unique mini golf venue that's more like a casino or nightclub than your grandfather's putt putt course, is coming to the Dania Pointe entertainment and shopping complex in 2024, the complex announced. (Courtesy Dania Pointe)

The Dania Pointe location is scheduled to open sometime in 2024, a Dania Pointe spokesman said.

It will be the chain’s second South Florida venue. The other is open in Miami at 701 S. Miami Ave. Founded in the United Kingdom, Puttshack has opened five locations in the United States, including Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and St. Louis, and four in the U.K.

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Other stores coming to Dania Pointe include:

Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming — Recognized by Pet Insight magazine as one of the fastest-growing retailers of pet food, supplies and professional grooming services, the new location will open this fall, joining 20 others in South Florida, and 230 across the United States. Founded in 2007, the franchise chain targets upscale pooch owners who like to pamper their four-legged family members with freshly backed treats and luxury spa services.

Among several new stores planed for the Dania Pointe shopping and entertainment complex is Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, an upscale boutique-style pet emporium slated to open in Fall 2023. (Courtesy Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming)

The Baked Bear — Pick from 13 kinds of baked-from-scratch cookies and 13 flavors of “premium craft” ice cream. They put them together as a sandwich and roll them in toppings, if you want. This chain was started by two childhood friends in San Diego, California, and has evolved into eight locations in the Golden State plus one each in Bethesda, Maryland and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Four additional South Florida locations are planned, including in Miami’s grafitti-sodden Wynwood neighborhood. The Dania Pointe location is scheduled to open this winter. Want to try it now? There’s one in Sawgrass Mills.

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Sephora — Already in most of South Florida’s most popular malls, Sephora features a wide range of “classic” and “emerging” beauty brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, JLo Beauty, Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, Tom Ford, Sephora Collection and more. It’s slated to open this fall.

Robots will soon stroll among shoppers at BJ’s Wholesale Clubs.

The “business intelligence solution,” nicknamed Tally, will be deployed at all BJ’s locations to gather data that will “provide greater visibility into club conditions and deeper business insights, ultimately improving operational efficiencies and enhancing the member experience,” according to a recent news release by the company.

Shoppers at BJ's Wholesale Club are bound to run into Tally the robot, which is being deployed at all BJ's locations. Tally will help the company figure out what displays work best and help keep its shelves stocked more efficiently, the company says. (Courtesy BJ's Wholesale Club)

Tally will autonomously roam store aisles multiple times a day, the release said, “leveraging computer vision technology to collect highly accurate shelf data that ensures products are in stock, shelved appropriately and accurately priced.”

BJ’s developed Tally in partnership with Simbe Robotics, a San Francisco-based venture-backed company that works with major retailers and brands across the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Los Angeles-based The NOW Massage plans to open its second South Florida location in Plantation Walk 331 N. University Dr., Suite M2300, on April 10. It will follow the chain’s first South Florida location at 815 2nd Ave., Suite 410 in Fort Lauderdale.

According to its website, The NOW “offers a space to escape the daily pressures of life and recharge your energy and spirit through the healing benefits of massage therapy.”

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The chain uses “raw elements and natural materials to create a chic minimalist oasis,” the site states.

Options include “The Now,” a Swedish-inspired massage that’s “rejuvenating,” “relieves stress,” “reduces anxiety,” “increases well being” and provides “total relaxation.” Session costs start at $65 for 25 minutes up to $150 for 80 minutes.

Beyond these curtains is "a relaxing oasis" where consumers can "disconnect from the outside world and reconnect within through the healing benefits of massage therapy," says Rose Figueroa, co-owner of The NOW Massage's new location opening April 10 in Plantation Walk. (Courtesy The NOW Massage)

All boutique revenue generated on April 15 will be donated to the Backpack Barber Foundation, a local nonprofit that provides free haircuts and hygiene products to South Florida’s homeless population.

Franchisees Danny and Rose Figueroa plan to open four additional NOW Massage locations in South Florida, including in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

BOTE, maker of “water lifestyle” products, has opened its flagship store in Fort Lauderdale at 1501 S. Andrews Ave.

The 3,600 square-foot retail location features the brand’s lineup of paddle boards, kayaks, skiffs, floating docks, inflatable water furniture, apparel, drinkware, totes, coolers and more.

A grand opening event on March 31 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. will feature live music, BOTE beer, light snacks, a free BOTE Fort Lauderdale t-shirt, and a chance to win a free BOTE board. The event follows a ribb\on cutting ceremony at 4 p.m.

BOTE, maker of a line of "water lifestyle" products that range from kayaks and skiffs to floating chairs and coolers, has opened its new flagship store on South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. (Courtesy BOTE)

BOTE products are also available in retail stores such as DICK’s Sporting Goods, Nautical Ventures and various independent surf shops throughout the region. They are listed on BOTE’s website at boteboard.com/pages/store-locator.

Other BOTE retail locations in Florida can be found in St. Petersburg, Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Grayton Beach.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Send him your retail news at [email protected]. Make sure to type Retail Roundup in the subject line of your email.

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