MISHAWAKA — About a dozen new retail stores and restaurants are coming to Mishawaka's north side. Some of those are part of the University Park Mall development. Others are part of the nearby Heritage Square and Toscana Park Developments off Gumwood Road.

Management at UP Mall says expansion was the only choice when they noticed shoppers taking their business elsewhere, like Chicago.

"You go through a cycle in malls where people get used to what you have, then they start leaving the market, looking for something different," explained UP Mall General Manager Sara Zappia.

Here's a rundown of new stores and restaurants and their opening dates:

Jared, Galleria of Jewelry - July 8
Granite City Food and Brewery - July 29
Bar Louie - August 1
Lane Bryant - August 8
Ulta - August 15
Five Guys Burgers and Fries - September 1

Barnes and Noble is also moving to UP Mall from Grape Road next spring.

"Really we were looking for a more upscale tenant to address our shoppers leaving the market," explained Zappia.

In the nearby Toscana Park, developer Jerry Macri says a children's furniture and clothing store and a sushi bar are opening soon. He says he's in negotiations with high-end wine and music stores.

"I like to kind of plan different stores in certain areas," Macri told WSBT.

Just south of Macri's development, Heritage Square developers are planning to bring in a SoHo Japanese Bistro and a Molly Brannigan's Irish Pub, along with a Citi Financial office.

Even though that totals 13 new stores and restaurants on Mishawaka's north side, there are still empty spaces in all three developments.

"It seems like everybody at once came up with the idea [to develop upscale retail and dining areas]," said Toscana Park's Macri. So naturally the more you have, the tougher it's going to be."

Jerry Macri says there are still 6 un-leased spaces in Toscana Park. That's the same number he gave WSBT last December. But right now more than six buildings appear to be empty. Macri says even though the stores look empty, they're really not.

"There's three of these that are sold," he explained. "So it's up to [the owners] to put their store up."

Macri also said he has big plans for the future. He plans to build a four story building with condos, office buildings and retail stores along the Gumwood Road entrance to Toscana Park. However, he says he will not break ground until the spaces are 60 percent leased.

A spokesperson for Heritage Square told WSBT it's against company policy to discuss occupancy numbers. So we went there ourselves ... and found at least 10 empty stores.

UP Mall General Manager Sara Zappia says there are still about 5 un-leased spaces, but she promises they won't be empty for long.

"There are deals in negotiations now that obviously we can't discuss," she said. "So to say that there's five vacancies, there's probably not really five vacancies."

Zappia also said there are about 4 un-leased spaces inside the original part of UP Mall. She told us all spaces in the new development will be full by this time next summer.