The Shops at Fifth and Alton

Please ignore the old reviews of this shopping center while it was being built. This is the best place for all locals and tourists to find a big Publix, TJMaxx, Ross, Total Wine, Petco, and yes we need the Best Buy. There is plenty of free two hour parking and bus stops for everyone, We need Staples to come back, plus, maybe Winn Dixie, Office Depot, Home Depot, a Target or KMart or WalMart, but business people don’t get it. We NEED moderate price stores like these for locals and tourists in South Beach who can’t afford Bal Harbour or Lincoln Road, because locals pay enough money for rent. This land was an empty field for years, an eyesore coming off the Causeway. Now it is an anchor location to bring jobs, people and $$$ to South Beach!

My favorite store in this place is Pet Co, but here you will also find a Publix, a Best Buy (the only one in Miami Beach, if I am not mistaken), a Ross and a Tj Maxx. There used to be a Staple as well, but they closed it down.
You get 2 hours of free parking, which is nice. But, if you are staying in South Beach, is easy to get here by bus or bike.
The elevators can be a bit confusing for first timers, but if you follow the signs you will get the hang of it.
Worth the visit if you are staying in the area.

This shopping center that is so confusing. for a moment I thought I was in some sort of maze/​fun house as I walked through the parking lot in search of the Best Buy entrance. I started on the third floor and ended up on the street. Maybe It was just because I’m not from there, but It was almost too much for me to deal with in the heat. To anyone visiting, I wish you the best of luck.

I visit here for Publix and occasionally the Best Buy.
The garage is poorly designed and makes me hate going here. Its usually 200 degrees inside with poor ventilation, and all the hot cars parked inside make it simmer even hotter. Everyone driving through the garage looks confused and bewildered about where to park, made worse by very tight turns and blind spots.
Making it worse, the elevators are confusing and usually broke down, making the trip even more miserable. Then when leaving the garage, you have to dodge pedestrians on a busy sidewalk in which 3 cars are existing parallel to each other. Surprised nobody has been hurt yet.
The stores are fine, but the overall experience of getting inside and out makes it a very unpleasant place to visit.

Nothing special here.
Average shops (Publix, Best Buy, Staples). Very confusing elevator system and signage.
Pros are free parking for 2 hours and the stores are pretty big with good selection. Otherwise, no reason to come here.

Not a lot of variety, unfortunately it’s pretty much all we got space for here in tiny crowded expensive South Beach :(

Not impressed. While it’s convenient to have a grocery store for folks who live in SoFi, the building is a massive eyesore. Generations from now, when we’re old fogies, we’ll remember the days when, coming off the MacArthur Causeway you were greeted with a view of the beach.
Now we get this ugly mofo of a building, with a massive Britto piece to add insult to injury.
As for the retailers, Best Buy has no business on Miami Beach — this is a small community, probably no more than 2 miles across from the west side to the beach. Had they made the building even 1 floor shorter, the mix of retailers like Publix, TJ Maxx/​Rosa and Staples would be enough.
Parking is ok: a little treacherous getting up the ramp with the way people drive here, and parking ISNT free over 2 hours, so you’d better hustle if you want to fit in some TJ Max after grocery shopping (like me!).
Overall, I’m not impressed. The Miami Beach building department got paid off because this building has no business being here. Oh well.

Good enough. Not bad but nothing remarkable. What do you expect for Fifth and Alton?

I go here for a LOT!!! Publix, Petco, Staples, TJ Max and Ross. I love the free parking and that the garage will fit my hummer h2. I thank GOD that there are so many shops that I need in one place here in South Beach — where we do not have a walmart or target either. If it weren’t for this place, I think I would find living in South Beach less bearable!

Somewhere I can go shopping, get groceries, buy my dog food and grab a bite to eat all in one place? And if I get done under 2 hours parking is FREE? Yup, I like this place.

As a resident of the Flamingo Park neighborhood, I was pre-​disposed to detest the «mall» that became The Shops at Fifth & Alton. But after several years of frequenting its establishments, I can say it’s pretty handy to have only a few blocks from home.
Whether you need to get food for yourself or your pet, a new HDTV, discounted designer duds, or some fro-​yo, The Shops at Fifth & Alton has got you covered. And with 2 hours of free parking, you can totally get all your errands done without shelling out a dime to park your car.
So why only 3 stars? Because the parking garage is a nightmare. No one understands that there are often 2 lanes to enter and 2 lanes to exit. No one understands that there’s a four-​way stop at the top of the entrance ramp, and that you should observe that (meaning come to a complete stop, and if someone was there before you, they have the right of way). Aside from that, parking on level 2 on the Publix side involves taking your life into your hands. If that’s where you’re headed, consider parking up a level or in a different area, and save yourself a headache.
And aside from the problems entering and exiting the garage, what’s the deal with having to push a separate button to call each elevator on the Publix side? Seriously? That’s just annoying.
In any event, I’m grateful to have The Shops at Fifth & Alton in my neighborhood, but even more grateful that I can walk there when I feel like it.

An unexpected shopping mall, right when you cross the MacArthur Causeway into South Beach. Decent parking garage and the bonus here is that it’s free if you’re out in less than two hours. And you’re not going to find parking anywhere nearby — it’s all residential. Some of the shops will validate your parking. So there’s that too.
You can do pretty well with your shopping here — Publix, Staples, Best Buy and even a Petco. Stop by the Brooklyn Water Bagel Co for a snack.

I was a little skeptical when I heard about the project but now find myself there almost daily. It is so convenient and I am able to cross shop without ever moving my car! It’s also real nice to see the progress they’ve made on 5^th street with the restaurants and retail!

«The Shops at… such a fancy name for Ross for Less/​TJ Maxx/​Best Buy.
These shops are close to the art deco hotels. So if you forgot to pack that bikini, swimming trunks or that dress that was left on your bed back in home, coming here is a cheaper option than Lincoln Road.
The Shops proved to be convenient when the handles of our carry-​on luggage broke. The Mister insisted that we get new ones as we were still traveling on to the US Virgin Islands. We found good olé Samsonite black carry-​on luggage in TJ Maxx! While, the hubby was examining one of them, another person wanted to check out the other one. My hubby said, «No, I am taking that». But if it had been me, I would have said, «It’s mine, all mine!» Luggage is such a hot item. We also check them out in Ross for Less, we didn’t find anything we liked but they had a display of luggage right at the entrance.
Right there at the benches outside the stores, we had to transfer our clothes from the old luggage into the brand new ones. Thanks TJ Maxx, for helping all vacationers get what they need, especially us!

It certainly would have been convenient to have this shopping center around when I actually lived on West Avenue. But it still proved to convenient to me when I was on my way home from South Beach and needed cat food (PetCo) and some electrolytes (Vitamin Shoppe).
Compared to other local multi-​level shopping centers, parking in this building was a breeze. The signs (if you’re the type that looks for signage) were easy to read and quickly direct you to the appropriate place to park depending on which store you are visiting. Most important, I didn’t feel like I had to go up some deathy-​defying spiral in order to park in the building.
Another plus is that the building offers up to 2 hours of free parking. I didn’t bother to check the rates because this girl doesn’t spend more than 2 hours shopping anywhere.
With Publix, Best Buy, PetCo and the Vitamin Shoppe, free parking and a location right off the causeway, this place is going to be a convenient place close to downtown to stock up on certain items.

this place is awesome! things you would never find solo on south beach a ross/​tj maxx/​best buy
so southbeachers done love it, but people that forget to bring something from their home while going to south beach appreciate things like this… cause who wants to have to go to a boutique shop to buy a 60 dollar tang top that will break the first time you wash it? i would rather pay for a 3 dollar tank top that might or might not do the same thing!
plus i’m sure the people on south beach hated driving in land to have to drive to these places so i thought this was a great idea despite of what others think!

I do agree the signs are in very poor taste and need to come down.
My thoughts are a little different. These stores are creating jobs for many people who need them. It is giving options to locals and visitors so they do not have to leave the beach and pay for expensive taxi’s to take them across the Causeway. It is giving more options for shopping instead of only having high end boutique’s that tend to take advantage of tourist.
Very convenient. I am excited that I do not have to go to North Miami to find certain stores. (Best Buy) or Dolphin Mall.
Also, how many times I have been on the beach needing to get to a grocery store on my way home and having a Publix there will be so cool, instead of going out of my way.
South Beach needs the nice change. Things change all the time. Grasp it and be happy that it is creating revenue as well to the area.
Parking is free for now and obviously not busy yet. My only concern is hopefully this will not create any traffic issues.
Remember, what an eye sore the building looked like before they refaced it. Plus it sure has not taught people how to drive onto Alton Rd. off the Causeway… aaaghhhhh no stop sign people, keep driving…
Can’t wait for the rest of the stores to open.

Furthermore… let’s not forget to mention the hideous piece of «art» now standing below all that hideously large signage.
Great! So now visitors to Miami Beach will not only think we’ve changed the name of our city to ROSS/​TJ MAXX but that we also like to promote the work of conventional and bad commercial artists too.
This town is going to sh*t.
Can you tell this angers me so? Unilocal is good therapy.