The Lutgert Companies has announced that five national and specialty retailers will lease space at The Mercato at U.S. 41 North and Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples.

Construction is underway on each of the new locations, and the stores and boutiques are expected to open in early 2009.

The recently signed tenants are:

• Femme Fatale, a locally owned and operated women’s boutique providing clothing and accessories. The boutique, started in 2001 by sisters Trisha Cona and Jennifer Ewing, specializes in “bringing contemporary clothing to true fashionistas.”
• GiGi’s Children’s Boutique, an upscale children’s store offering newborn, infant, toddler boy and girl, and girl’s 4-16 apparel along with accessories, diaper bags and baby gifting. This will be the first location for the children’s store, which is being started by Naples native Kristy Malloy, who formerly was in the children’s buying office for the Neiman Marcus department store chain.
• JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, a retailer of men’s classically-styled tailored and casual clothing, sportswear, footwear and accessories. The company sells its full product line through 430 retail store locations in 42 states and the District of Columbia, a nationwide catalog and an e-commerce web site. This is the first location in Collier County for the Hampstead, Md.-based company, which was established in 1905 .
• Solstice Sunglass Boutique, an upscale luxury sunwear specialty chain owned and operated by Solstice Marketing Concepts LLC, a privately held company headquartered in New York City. The chain specializes in high-end designer fashion sunglass brands along with more moderately priced bridge collections and active sport sunwear lines. The company has locations throughout the nation. This will be its first store in Collier County.
• Swim ‘n Sport, a high-fashion swimwear retailer for junior, contemporary and missy shoppers. Headquartered in Miami, the chain specializes in swimwear separates, monokinis, tankinis, d-cup fits, resortwear and related accessories. The company’s online store provides designer swimwear collections, including La Blanca, Calvin Klein, Anne Cole, Gottex, Giddeon Oberson, and more. Swim ‘n’ Sport currently has 36 stores throughout the nation. This will be its first store in Collier County.

Located on 53 acres, The Mercato is scheduled to open in early 2009. The project is a joint venture of The Lutgert Companies and the Barron Collier Companies of Naples.