Lauderhill Mall; Lauderhill, Florida

224 thoughts on “Lauderhill Mall; Lauderhill, Florida”

1. Even though I don’t know much about mall decor and accurately dating any of it, I’m in shock as to how old this mall looks. The changes that will be in place soon, are definitely a good thing. As cool as it is to see pictures of malls that haven’t been renovated, doing so will probably be a great thing for the community in which this mall is in.

   If this mall had any anchors, does anyone know what they were? I’d love to read more about this mall, if that info is available.

2. Wow. Reminds me a lot of Carroltown Mall in Eldersburg, MD, which I wrote up in the LiveJournal dead_malls community and deadmalls.com. Carrolltown is 10 years younger, though, and whatever groovy storefronts it may have had were mostly replaced by stark white painted drywall.

3. Jerk Machine! Move over Disney World!

4. The Nashua Mall in Nashua, NH, which closed (fully) in 2003 before big-boxing, was in almost this exact same condition. We’ve chronicled it on this site before but I didn’t get a good set of photos when it was still around, unfortunately.

5. Yeah, I’m very curious as to what the original anchors were and also over time. They all appeared to have been abandoned now, I think. I hope someone can provide this information, because scouring the web turned up little about the mall at all.

6. I lived in the area in 1993-96 and frequented the Lauderhill Mall. I believe Penney’s was one of the anchor stores and I liked the convenience of location. As with anything- time always brings changes. Enjoyed seeing the photos and picturing myself strolling through!!

7. According to http://cinematreasures.org/theater/12441/ , it had a Loew’s theater upon opening, which lasted at least as long as the original release of Star Wars (which I believe was 1977)…

8. very reminiscent of the westgate mall in bethlehem, PA. before its late 90’s/early 00’s makeover.

9. although i use the term ‘makeover’ loosely. mostly just shiny new floor tiles, and i think some pillars. still some nice storefronts there though. worth checking out if you’re in the area.

10. The problem with getting nostalgic about malls is that so many seem so generic. By the mid-70s, the mall experience had become so generic, people in fairly large cities were starting to seek out something different. the first generation of truly upscale malls, the shopping strips in counterculturish neighborhoods all spoke to that. Second and third tier markets, esp. in the Sunbelt tended not to have anything other than the most generic of malls–they usually missed the fountins or other focal point tocuhes and they often didn’t have stores that were instant kistch when they opened. The 70s design touches here actually aren’t kitsch enough for this to get that much passing notice. Having come of age in the 70s–I’d say you haven’t lived until you’ve seen chunky swag lamps, dark woods, etc. The malls of that era tended to bright white, with 70s kitsch setting off the store fronts. If this had a vintage 1975 Casual Corner or J Riggings store front, then I’d get excited, but even in the context of its time, this one is pretty unremarkable. It’s like comparing a Thomas Kinckade painting to a Dali and this is like an imitation Kinkade. This mall appears to have little real retail and no longer serves its original purpose. It’s a generic second string mall that will probably be replaced by generic second string new urbanism and it doesn’t seem like enough of an interesting relic to be sad about that.

11. Anchors were Tempo, Woolco and Richards.

    First picture in Row 5 doesn’t work.

12. Woolco, by the way, was the north end, and Richard’s was the south end. I’m not sure if there was a middle anchor (maybe that was Tempo?).

13. Okay, scratch Tempo. I can see a “tempo” store at the bottom, which was obviously unrelated to the discount store of the same name.

14. I grew up, and still live a few miles away from the Lauderhill Mall. Bobby is correct – the major anchors were Woolco and Richards (I don’t know much about this chain, but I recall it being similar to Burdines), and for a time in the 70’s, there was a Jordan Marsh on the center-west area of the mall.
    Never an upscale mall, most of the smaller tenants were always mom-and pop’s, plus the usual Radio Shack, and McCrory outlets. There was major mall competition when the more modern Lakes Mall opened in 1973 about a mile north of Lauderhill on State Road 7, and both Woolco and Richards closed in the late 70’s – the Woolco space was already demolished and replaced with a supermarket. Yes, there was a Loew’s theater there, too (I saw ‘Animal House’ there!) As stated before, Lauderhill is the urban epicenter of Fort Lauderdale, and I am curious what will actually materialize here. I have always loved the frozen in time quality of the mall, and how well it has been preserved. At least it outlived the long-bulldozed Lakes Mall by about 15 years..Hope that this helps!!

15. Some more information on the pictures: the picture labeled lauderhill-mall-16 (the stage with the two flags) was the entrance to the Jordan Marsh store; the shots 02 and 04 (the grey stone walls) were the Richards anchor, and 10 is facing towards the wall that blocked off where Woolco was.

16. This is one of those malls that reminds me of Washington Mall in Washington, PA (one that you’ve already covered on this website). I could assume that it has a weird odor to it too, haha.

17. It reminds me of the Centre Brunswick in Edmundston, New Brunswick (just with light instead of dark paneling); but I assume none of you have been there so I won’t say any more. 🙂

18. Wow that’s a really antique looking mall. IF it was’nt for the “Rainbow” signage in that one pic then I’d definitely would’ve thought the pics were taken in the 70’s.

    I agree though that the mall should be renovated. It’ll revitalize it and make it more appealing to people outside of Lauderhill (assuming that Lauderhill Mall directly serves the village itself)

19. Generic is the key word here. Sometimes I get carried away with how much today’s malls are just largely ho-hum, I don’t aptly criticize these older, lazy, and often cheap looking centers. Well, this mall even if it’s decor is dated by a few decades is quite ho-hum itself. It has character by retrospection, sure, but let’s face it; it’s an ugly, no-frills mall which really should meet ends with a bulldozer. I mean, the floor tiles are on the ceiling!

    Still, it must be exciting to walk through the corridors of this long outdated place today.

20. I was reading on that article about how this mall was purchased by the new owners for $28.3 million, which sits on 45 acres. Keep in mind, the mall that used to exist near me (Greengate) was a two-level center on 90 acres with the same amount of square footage and it was sold for a little over a million. While Rouse obviously wanted to get rid of it, it was in much better condition and looked much nicer than this place.

21. I needed to double-take looking at these pics before responding.

    I’ve come to the same conclusion XISMZERO did. Now I never visited this mall in person, but I vividly recall a couple of malls much closer to me (namely, Memorial Mall in Sheboygan WI, prior to its 2003-2005 remodel, and Brookfield Square in Brookfield WI prior to its 1996-97 updates) that had this same, outdated plain look to it, only it was centered around late 1960s/early ’70s design elements, not the elements of today. The only thing that’s changed between then and now are the color schemes used (Neutral colors were more bold, and often times you ended up with very odd combinations), lighting fixtures (more energy-efficient..lots of flourescents and halogen now, compared to incandescant and mecury-vapor of the past) and building materials used. Fountains and planters have all been eschewed in favor of dozens of ‘cheap jewelry’ and ‘cellphone’ kiosks…..mall operators are going to squeeze every last square foot out of a center nowaays to get as much cash as possible to keep things running.

    Anything to pump some life back into the area this mall sits on would do it some good, even a full teardown of the place. For $28 million, the land under that dated mall was worth much more to those who bought it.

22. For the condition of that mall through the years, I’m certain that the land was worth much more than what the mall was ever worth.

    Back to my previous comment, I should’ve clarified that the mall was only purchased from Rouse, not the land itself. I’m sure the land would be substantially higher, as is the case when THF Realty purchased the mall and the land in 2003. Ironically, Rouse didn’t own the land under the mall; it was owned by someone who had a claim to the land even before the mall was built, which made me wonder how THF managed to get ahold of the land to begin with.

23. Excatly, Gary. There is literally no more land to develop in this area of South Florida, and, even in the blighted area of Lauderhill, property has skyrocketed. I’m surprised that the mall lasted as long as it did.

24. The anchors of this mall were Richards, Jordan Marsh and Burdines. There was also a McCrory’s. There was a General Cinema (not Loews) movie theatre as well. It was built by Herbert Sadkin and Joseph Moriber of Lauderhill Improvement Associates. They essentially founded the city of Lauderhill. In its day it was the major shopping center in Broward county.

25. When we moved to Florida in 1971, the mall was in it’s heyday. My mother would take us to the mall with friends of the family almost every weekend. Over the years, the stores closed or changed hands (Woolco went under in 1982, Burdine’s bought Richards and then closed the store, JB Hunter became Jordan Marsh, the Richards became a Zayre, then an Ames), and the shoppers generally went to the “ultra new and luxurious” Broward Mall (which opened in 1978) or the Coral Square Mall (which opened in the early 1980’s). Of course, before the “big” malls, if you wanted anything you’d either go to the Lauderhill or Lakes mall or you went to the Hollywood Fashion Square or the Pompano Fashion Square malls. There was also a Searstown in Ft. Lauderdale, but for the general mall walks, the Lauderhill mall was a nice place.

    Along with the big chains, there was a Walgreen’s and McCrory’s (as mentioned by others). There was also a Broward Sports, a mom-and-pop bookstore, a small music store, and other outlets that have since been “Wal-Marted” out of existence.

    The last time I was actually in the mall must have been 1984–I went to Zayre trying to find an item I was unable to locate anywhere else. I walked the mall, and the complexion of the mall–like the area–had changed. The area was seeing an influx of folks from the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Caribbean, and the mall refelcted this. The Jerk Machine and Tropitaste are evidence of that shift.

    The most recent addition to the mall is the K-Mart–is it still open?–which replaced the K-Mart store that was at the intersection of Sunrise and 441. I believe there was a grocery store next to the K-Mart as well.

    I moved from Ft. Lauderdale to South Carolina in 2001. When I moved, there was talk that the mall might be bulldozed like its cousin up the road in Lauderdale Lakes.

    Man, I feel old….

26. Reminds me an awful lot of how Greenville Mall (Greenville, SC) was before its mid-1990s “restyling” — it was a place where time had stood still, and it was comforting in a way. Then it got “yupped-up,” that tanked, and now the mall is history. Now I look at this and it makes my heart ache, because I remember when this kind of thing was modern and new. Now it’s being bulldozed! (sigh)

27. I WAS AT THE GRAND OPENING OF THE LAUDERHILL MALL.
    I WAS 5 YEARS OLD AND LOVED THAT MALL !! HOW ABOUT THE BIG METAL SLIDE ON THE NORTH SIDE, AND THE BLACK ANGUS RESTAURANT.. INSIDE- NUMERO UNO PIZZA (BY THE MOVIES )
    PET SHOP- ICE CREAM SHOP – ALL MY HAIR CUTS TILL I WAS 14 !
    LOL THOSE WERE THE DAYS !!

28. I used to go to Lauderhill mall in the early 70’s..when it was still new.

    I used to play at the arcade and went to go see the first Planet of the
    Apes movie there, starring Charlton Heston.

    Who would have thought it stll stands today…..Man, I’m getting old
    Mike Kirner age 47

29. My family built the Lauderhill mall. It was an amazing place in the early ’70s. Lauderhill as a city developed around the mall. The developers were Joseph Moriber and Herbert Sadkin. Herbert Sadkin also founded the city of Lauderhill and later built Bonaventure.

30. “Yupped-up”? What do you mean by that?

31. Disregard that, I now realize it attempted to go upscale. My bad.

32. Roger!

    Oh yeah, I absolutely remember the big slide on the north end, and the Black Angus! Thanks for bringing those up – I was there around the same time too! I had forgotten that Zayre went into the Richard’s space. Ralph, that K-mart is gone..

33. When I moved to Florida in 1969 the Lauderhill Mall was the place to go. I had my ears pierced at the Piercing Pagoda. Now I am the Manager of the Mall and have been for the last 21 years. When I came in 1987, Costco had taken the Woolco space, Zayre’s was still here.Some of the other tenants were Docktor Pet Centers, Food Fair, A.S. Beck Shoe, Butler Shoe, Three Sisters, McCrory’s, Thom McCan, Lanson’s, Zale Jewelers, Walgreens, Dipper Dan, Park Lane Cafeteria, Tell’s Originals, National Shirt, Mister Donut, Sounds of Music and Loew’s theater and many more smaller tenants.

    Food Fair closed and their space was turned into several smaller storefronts leased by mostly Caribbean flavored tenants such as Charlie Pastries, Jerk Machine, Herbal Gardens, Tropitaste and Quality Poultry and Fish. About that same time, Loew’s Theater closed and that was retrofited for the State of Florida Drivers Licenses Building.

    Jordan Marsh was in the old J B Hunter building and when that closed, the building was retrofited to office space for the Department of Labor and then Health and Rehabilitative Services.

    Zayre’s was purchased by Ames Department Stores and then went into bankruptcy. We then leased the bottom floor to Big Lots with the second for Department of Revenue and Child Support Services.

    We now have Payless Shoes, Footlocker, Family Dollar, Simply Fashions, Fashion Trend, Rainbow and Rainbow Kids, Subway and Ashley Stewart plus many local tenants such as Tempo, TopMan, Cool J’s, Root’s Children, Super Bargain Shops, Uniforms Unlimited, Tip Top Shoes, Kids Stuff, Qwest Communications, Grace Gold, Grace Silver, Lee’s Watches, Dress U Car, Klapper’s, Veeko Bargain, Brooke Insurance, South Shore Opticians and many more.

    Several of the employees have been with the Mall as long if not longer than I. Two or three of them came from Cuba during the period when Castro took power and were in political prison. The owners as of 1978 were of Cuban descent and helped as many of their fellow countrymen as possible. These are men who cared about their employees and their tenants. The employees were more than numbers to them. Thankfully, the recent buyers of the Mall are of the same ilk. They also care about keeping our Caribbean flavor.

    We had Hanukkah services in the mall thoroughfare with the Jewish Canadian snowbirds as well as all of the City and some County officials in attendance.

    Over the years our demographics changed and the Mall gracefully changed with it. We are truly an international mall with over 17 different nationalities -each having its own particular culture. Being originally from Mississippi, this has been a life altering experience and I have loved every minute of it.

    You need to come and try our ethnic foods – Charlie’s Pastries, Joy’s Roti, Seven Loaves, Tropitaste (they have the best rum raisen ice cream I’ve every tasted anywhere) and the Jerk Machine. Their food is spicy and wonderful.

    Charlie’s Pastries opened their first store here when they came from Jamaica. They now have a wholesale industrial plant and sell their meat patties to Winn Dixie.

    Jerk Machine came to my office with their baby stroller fresh from Jamaica and wanted to start their restaurant. They now have 7 locations and provide the catering for the Port of Fort Lauderdale.

    Joy’s Roti is from Trinidad and have customers from New York that have Joy’s send their food by plane to them.

    We have an herbalist from Trinidad called Herbal Garden. She has one of the best remedy for a cold tea that I’ve ever had.

    There are great stories about a lot of our tenants here. About how they started in very small 200 sq. ft. kiosks and grew into 3600 sq. ft. stores.

    We’ve had a Caribbean festival called “Unite A Fest” in partnership with the City of Lauderhill, the Caribbean National Cultural Association and the Mall in March for the last 10 years. There are 12 or more countries who come and bring their art and culture along with their wonderful native foods for a three day event. We have people from New York and Canada come to see their island relatives and enjoy the weekend.

    Yes, we are slated for redevelopment and are very excited about it. However, the main Mall (the “mothership” as I call her) will remain for the next ten to fifteen years with some renovation to match the new building that will be started along the main corridor of U. S. 441. We will be mixed use in the front of the property and residential along the rear of the property.

    This has been a wonderful, spiritually, emotionally and mentally lifting career and one that I would not trade with anyone. Luckily I won’t have to because the new owners have asked me to stay and continue to manage the Mall and be a member of their team. COME SEE US!

34. Wow! Thanks for all the information Cynthia. It sounds like you’ve had a really rewarding career at a really awesome place. I hope Lauderhill Mall continues to be successful well into the future through the redevelopment.

35. Man, I can’t read the ancient directory. Thanks Cynthia for the info. Now Lauderhill Mall doesn’t sound like a complete dump anymore. It sounds kinda cool now.

36. Thanks, Cynthia. That was not only a walk down memory lane, it was also a good history lesson–as well as a nice update on how things are now.

    I’m glad to hear that the mall will not be plowed under like so many others before it.

37. I was gonna say…snowbirds were probably one of the reasons this mall is still running, but you have a great community there, it seems…locals and snowbirds alike! In fact..i work with a chiropractic referral service based in New Jersey…and one of our Chiropractors in FLorida uses LauderHill mall as a landmark to get to their office! I was giggling just now about that…small world huh?

38. I was 10 years old in 1971 when my famlly moved to Lauderhill. The Lauderhill Mall was the place to go. There was a grocery store called Pantry Pride on the south end. There was an anchor store called Richards, this was a department store on the south side. Through the south entrance to the mall was the movie theatre and Numero Uno Pizza. There was an ice cream shop called Dipper Dans. There was a Walgreens with a coffee shop inside and a McCory’s with a little diner in it. The best place was the little shop that sold posters and incense, I can’t remember the name of it. The mall expanded a year or two later and added JB Hunters, which then turned into Jordon Marsh. I lived a few blocks north of the mall and as kids everyone walked to the mall to hangout and go to the movies on Saturdays. I loved this mall as a kid. I moved away in the early 80’s and went back to Lauderhill today. The mall is now not a place I would want to go to anymore.

39. Thank you so much Cynthia Baker (and others) for sharing all of that information with us. If only we could get such a detailed history on every mall, especially those that are endangered, then we would all be so much better prepared.

    I grew up in Ft Lauderdale, yet I don’t ever remember visiting this mall until around 1995. Those were the Big Lots days and the parking lot was serving as a bus hub.

    The mall looked as though it had been a “second run” mall for years at that point. It probably hasn’t had a real renovation ever. People need to keep that in mind. And obviously this was never intended to be a beautiful big regional mall at any point. It was intended to serve the locals and it has done that for many years.

    I think fans of the shopping mall format need to be thankful when any mall is saved from the bulldozers at this point. If this had been torn down ten years ago, I would have just shrugged it off too because I would have felt that the nice malls in the area would be safe for years to come. But today, with malls being torn down left and right, and being replaced with completely characterless big box stores and generic shopping centers as well as town centers, which just look like any generic small inner city buildings…well then you have to be happy when any mall is saved because even the no frills malls have more character than what’s replacing them.

    Obviously malls aren’t being spared because of how nice they are, simply on how successful they are in relation to their surroundings. The absolutely stunning, three story Plantation Fashion Mall just down the road in Plantation is currently now dead and slated for “redevelopment”. I do not know how much of the original structure will remain, if any, when they are finished there. And of course, the mighty Pompano Fashion Square is now gone, though the anchors remain. Not to mention hundreds of other unique, beautiful buildings that everyone has read about on this site, deadmalls.com, mallsofamerica.blogspot and other places online.

    Malls are the down towns for people who grew up in the suburbs in the 60s-today. When we lose our towns, we lose an anchor to our history. We lose something that can never be replaced, no matter how nice it is.

    One can say that the art deco buildings on Miami Beach are plain too. We very well could have lost them too at some point over the years. But instead new businesses were introduced into the area, and I’d say that worked out pretty darn well.

    It is so refreshing to hear when there is a “redevelopment” that attempts to save part of that history, while at the same time, breathing new economic life into a project. That seems to be the case here and that’s just wonderful. I will never understand why there aren’t more attempts to add big box retail and even mixed use residential/offices to these dead or dying malls. They saved most of the 163rd Street Mall after it was redeveloped and hopefully part of the Plantation Fashion Mall can be recycled as well.

    These buildings are all so much more unique than the nicest of town centers or big box power centers. What other building have the dimensions of a mall? The features? The atmosphere?

    Another thing, I am happy that the mall has been able to survive with all of the local businesses. Obviously the national chains have been both a blessing and a curse to malls all across America. I think this is proof that a mall can survive in this day and age with mom and pop shops. I think, as Cynthia tells it, there are people there who really care about their businesses and that certainly helps.

    Again, a town, or a mall will only survive if it is treated right. They are as good as we (the merchants and the consumers) want to make them.

    Hopefully there will be new national chains that move in, and some of the locals can continue to thrive as well.

    When it comes down to it, for a mall to survive, the conditions have to be just right. And its the same with people. Surviving in this world is hard and some luck is required.

    If more people decide they don’t want their malls torn down and replaced by Big empty Boxes and generic Town Centers, then they will continue to nurture these unique and important places.

    If we do that, then hopefully, like Batman, we will have Lauderhill Mall Forever!

40. Paul, since you sound like you’re still a local, what has become of the Hollywood Fashion Square on 441 and Hollywood Bouevard? The last time I drove by, it was empty and in a sad state. Also, I wasn’t aware that they has torn down large portions of the Pompano Square Mall–but it doesn’t surprise me. It soounds like it had the same thing happen to it that the Lakes Mall had done back in the late 1980’s through the late 1990’s. Back in the day, your choices for a “big” mall were Hollywood or Pompano. The Lauderhill Mall was “our” mall–it was close, and served the locals. We rarely went to the big malls–Christmas and maybe back-to-school shopping was done at the two big malls, but everything else was done at the two local malls.

    The other thing that Lauderhill had going for it was the other stores close by–the afore-mentioned K-Mart, the Lionel Playworld across 16th Street, and if you couldn’t find what you wanted anywhere around the Lauderhill Mall, you drove 10 minutes to the Lakes Mall. One way or the other, you could find what you needed. I won’t even go into all of the varied shops along Oakland Park Boulevard east of I-95….

    South Florida has become so overbuilt and over populated in recent years that I don’t recognize the place when I head down that way to visit. Lauderhill, along with the rest of the Lauderdale ‘burbs, has changed a great deal over the past 30-some years. It looks to be getting back on top again, because for a while it was a place to be avoided–the West side by City Hall (some called it “Deepside”) was a real mess, which was sad since I grew up a few blocks away.

41. Any news on the Lauderhill Mall redevelopment?

42. I was the manager of the J.B.Hunter store at the Lauderhill Mall. I was transfered from Memphis Tenn in 1972 to Lauderhill Florida. I was employed at this location until the store was about to close and Jordan Marsh would take it over.
    I left J.B. Hunter and joined Jefferson Stores where I was employed for thirteen years.
    I have many fond memories of the mall and the other anchors which were Richards and Woolco.

43. Like a few others before me, I also was raised in the area. We moved from Broadview Park (off of Peters Rd) to Plantation (East Acre Dr) in 1960. Norman Johnson then built the “Upside Down House” to draw home buyers to Sunrise Golf Village (now known as the City of Sunrise). My family was at the “Grand Opening” of the mall in 1966 as were MANY others. I was 12 at the time and vividly remember buying my first ID bracelet in Richards (it was the “in” thing). At the time of the opening, the neighborhood behind the mall was all middle class and very new. As the years passed, stores began to disappear. Zayre took over where Richards had been, Costco took over where Woolco had been, the Jordan Marsh store in the middle/rear of the mall closed down and was empty for a long time. The grocery store (then Pantry Pride) left as did the theater. It became obvious to me that the area was going down hill when my Sting Ray bike was stolen from in front of Woolco. Then Costco jumped ship and the afore mentioned K-Mart moved from the corner of Sunrise Blvd and 441 and that building sat empty for what seemed like forever (I believe it was still standing and empty in March 2006 when I moved away. It has since been leveled.) I can’t believe this mall is still standing! Especially when nice malls like the Hollywood Fashion Center have been standing empty for years and years. Well, enough rambling. I’m happy (and surprised!) that the mall is still there and I hope the re-developement does wonders for the area.

44. When I was two years old, my family moved from Harlem to unincorporated Fort Lauderdale ( near Parkway Middle School) in 1969. Our neighborhood was half white/half black but slowly turned mostly black by 1975. We were the complexion change. I can remember restaurants and shops along 441 from Broward Blvd to Oakland. Taco Viva, Fat Freddie Subs, Gold Triangle were just a few of my favorites. Wendy’s on 19th street was a treat back then. My older sister (8 years older than me) used to catch a bus at the old 7-eleven store on 441 to Richards. She could have walked but for some reason the city planners decided to build an overpass for Sunrise Blvd over 441. Anyway, Richards was her store for the latest fads in the 70s. Occasionally on Saturday mornings, my mother would pack us in the car and drive possibly a mile to the Lauderhill Mall, Lakes Mall was too far. My mom can cook but she did not cook breakfast on Saturdays and McCrory or Woolworth (I think…someone correct me), on east central side, had a small restaurant that served hot breakfast. We may have eaten there twice and it was the best, because eating out and being served were luxuries back then. My all time favorite was Orange Julius in the center of the mall. After OJ closed shop, I would not see an OJ for 20 years…now they have one at Sawgrass Mall. Funny, I think they stop using vanilla extract or use vanilla extract without the alcohol. Nothing like a good sleep after big Orange Julius and a hot dog for a kid. Teenage years in the early 80s were arcade time at the Mall. It was nothing to spend $20 at the arcade. Janet Jackson was touring with New Edition and she signed autographs and met her few fans in the Lauderhill Mall in 1982 or 1983. I purchased my class ring and rented my tux for prom from stores in the Lauderhill Mall. I have fond memories of this mall…this was my mall. Many times I would prefer to go to Lakes and later Broward Mall, but this mall was where I saw friends from my neighborhood. Someone mentioned the toy store north of the mall, but I remember a pizza joint in the same area. An Italian family that owned it were from New York and they were big into horse racing. Best pizza in the area…then Pissa Hutch opened. I think gambling on horses and Pizza Hut close proximity to 441 traffic killed this little slice of NY in the Lauderhill.

    If you are accustomed to well manicured lawns, shrubbery, fountains, cobble stoned pavement and high end stores, you will be disappointed. The foot traffic near the bus stop and near the Jerk Machine can be intimidating and can resemble a street in MoBay (Montego Bay). They have a washateria on the corner…so that made area extra domestic. They don’t call it Jamaicahill for nothing. My wife is from Michigan and she is African American too. She was hesitant at first visit to the Jerk Machine, but the food and the good nature of the people could not keep her away. She thought the mall was rundown but she discovered many local stores and community help centers in the mall. The Jerk Machine was one of the few places that opened quickly after Hurricane Wilma. Lauderhill Mall has always been relatively clean, but outdated (some of the tenants were not clean and some chains tolerated slow or no customer service..Winn Dixie). However, the mall is not blighted or dilapidated…no even close. I lived in New Orleans for 10 years and I can show you what blighted, dilapidated and abandoned area looks like. The neighborhood surrounding is still middle class and houses are valued at 200 to 300 thousands dollars. However, the condos on the west side of the mall are very cheap selling for less than 100 thousand dollars. This renovation would help the area. I would not be surprise if the developers and owners of the condos are working hand in hand to the increase value of these condos. There is a major development (baseball field or track) behind the old K-mart location. Does anyone know about this development? This maybe part of the whole redevelopment plan for this area.

45. Lauderhill Hall was the place I went to when I needed to get my driver’s license renewed. I had just moved up from Miami, and had never been to the mall before (this was in 1998.)

    It is not a ‘grand’ dead mall by any stretch of the word…but it is really eerie and odd. With the real estate market crashing in Florida (especially in condo-saturated South Florida,) I expect you’ll be seeing this mall, in its current condition, for quite some time.

    One of the main reasons I don’t really expect Lauderhill Mall to change much is that South Florida’s mall scene/retail scene is highly, HIGHLY competitive. Unless you throw a ton of money at the place, and the area gentrifies, and the ‘lifestyle center’ trend dies…AND the malls that have continually invested in themselves (like the mediocre Coral Square Mall, for example) stop doing so…Lauderhill will remain as-is.

46. A change may be coming…check this site at http://lauderhill-fl.gov/cra/index.html. According to the site, the existing Lauderhill Mall is working through the plan approval process to become Lauderhill City Center, a true downtown with 2,000 residential units, major retailers, and office space. In addition, the entrance will be transformed into an arts and entertainment walkable street with the ambiance of Los Olas Boulevard. This may be a hard sell with other condos surrounding the mall at rock bottom prices.

    Lauderhill Community Redevelopment Agency is trying rebuild the area. The cricket stadium is complete.

47. The correct address is: http://lauderhill-fl.gov/cra/index.html

    It’s nice that the existing mall will be mostly saved. Strange, at first I thought that at first it would be the “cultural mall”.

48. And three reasons why the redevelopment is cool…

    * The existing mall will be saved.
    * It’s a lifestyle center not surrounded by parking.
    * It doesn’t promote the “historic main street” or “European village” themes.

49. Wes, I remember the pizza joint–it was in the same shopping center as the Lionel Playworld store, just across NW 16 Street. I spent quite a bit of my youth at the Lionel Playworld (and the local area hobby shops). There was also a Pizza Hut in the parking lot of said shopping center.

    The redevelopment plan looks like people have taken some time to think it through. I think this will be good for the area. But 100K-300K for a house on (most likely) a 1/3 acre plot? That’s one reason I moved–we had a house built on an 11 acre plot in the middle of nowhere, and the hose and land cost less than what a small house is going for in Lauderhill….

50. One more thing on Lauderhill Mall. The dead end on Picture 16, the stage with the flags…that’s Jordan Marsh, right? Wikipedia says it became a library branch. So does the library branch not open into the mall?

51. I GREW UP IN MELROSE PARK 441 & BROWARD BLV.
    FAT FREDDYS, KINGS, GRANTS, HOWARD JOHNSONS, DORYS SEA FOOD ,THE RED BARN HOW ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS PARADE DOWN 441..
    DOES ANY ONE REMEMBER ( MICKEY ROONIES ) ON 441 IN FRONT OF PLANTATION HOSIPTAL. ACROSS FROM I-HOP ? IT WAS FOOD AND GAMES, THEN THERE WAS THE GAS LIGHT RESTARUANT, LUKE BOLTON FORD OH YEA HOW ABOUT .. THE BBQ SPOT BY THE GOONIE GOLF !! 62′-92′ NOW IN OCALA FL.

52. Roger, you forgot about Gold Triangle Department Store and J-Byrons. I think the triangle is still there but it is now HRS. That stretch from from Broward Blvd to 19th Street was the main consumer commerce for West Broward from the mid 60s to the late 70s. I still can remember a loud siren going off in the middle of day and all of Melrose Park, Parkway, Plantation and parts of Lauderhill could hear. I remember the parade, but I thought it was around Thanksgiving.

    Back to Lauderhill Mall, I just visited the area and visible changes have not occurred to the mall. Many folks called this mall a dead mall, yet the parking lot had more cars than Broward Mall around 11 am Tuesday, October 23rd.

    Wes

53. You didn’t mention Dan Dowds Steak house with the big cow in front. There was also a BBQ place with a dancing pig in front. I had forgotten about all of these places. I lived in the area between 70-80. Went back for a short visit this past July.

54. IT WAS THE GEORGA PIG BBQ.. DID YOU EVER DRIVE UP TO THE WATER PLANT UP THE STREET TO GET FRESH TAP WATER FROM SPICKET THEY HAD BY THE SREET? HOW ABOUT THE DAVIE BLV. DRIVE-IN, OR THE FT. LAUDERDALE DRIVE-IN ON BROWARD BLV.
    WE WOULD STOP BY THE PIZZA OVEN TAKE OUT FIRST !!

55. Wow – after reading this and having grown up in the Plantation area, I am somewhat overcome with emotion. I remember when Lauderhill Mall opened its doors for the first time. Reading all those comments brought back memories of places I shopped but had forgotten about…does anyone remember the “Orange Julius” stand?!? I think it was at the Lauderhill Mall. National Shirts was a great place to find just the right shirt. Richards was a nice store and I always liked Jordan Marsh too. I remember the Gold Triangle store on 441 just north of Broward Blvd…it was big on new and inovative electronic items – I saw my first digital radio/alarm clock there!
    I moved away from Plantation in 1994 but kept my house there and rented it out for 13 years until its sale this year. I still have friends and family in S. Florida so I’ll probably pay Lauderhill Mall a visit on my next trip to check the old place out!

56. I have fond memories as a young teenager of walking to the Lauderhill Mall in it’s early days. My friends & I loved to walk around the mall. I remember the record store (I first heard Jimi Hendrix “Purple Haze” there and in 1971 I had 2 albums put onto 8 track for my then boyfriend for Xmas) and the “head shop” that had lots of black light posters, incense, etc. My parents bought me a red velvet dress at Richards for a high school dance. Around 1974 there was a store called Britts where Woolco also was at some point. I liked to eat at the Black Angus. Ft Lauderdale has changed a great deal. I moved away in 1995 and still go back to visit my son & other family members. I hope that the mall is there next time I visit so maybe I can walk through it again.

57. HI STEVE,
    I LOVED THAT MALL… I USED TO GET ALL MY HAIR CUTS THERE DOWN BY WOOLCO, MAYNARD WAS HIS NAME IT WAS BY THE SHOE REPAIR SHOP.I MOVED FROM MELROSE PARK TO PLANTATION BEHIND PLANTATION MIDDLE SCHOOL IN 1974 OVER ON NW 73rd TERR. WE ALSO LOVED THAT STEAK HOUSE (THE BODEGA) ON SUNRISE BLV.
    I THINK ITS A CHURCH NOW !! BUT FAT FREDDY SUB SHOP WAS THE BEST. THE COLD CUT BOMB MAN CAN WE GO BACK IN TIME PLEASE…..

58. STOP! All the nostalgia, all the memories….

    I remember the Bodega on Sunrise. Never went there, but I do recall the place….

    A few more names to drop–it is close to dinner time, most are restaurants (I’m hungry, and this ain’t helping matters much! 🙂 ):

    Sweden House Smörgåsbord (441 south of Broward, good food, now defunct)

    The Purple Pickle (ditto–there were two locations, one at the Pompano Fashion Square, one at the Plantation Mall on Broward between 441 and University)

    Jewelcor (huge discount shopping palace, NE corner of Broward and 441, now defunct)

    Bobby Riggs’ Plantation Inn (north of Broward in front of Plantation General)

    Pirate’s Cove (IIRC–a decent restaurant, now defunct)

    Universal Hobbies (just south of Broward on 441, moved to LTBS then closed in the mid- to late-1990’s)

    Warrick Custom Hobbies (I found them when they were located in the Twin Oaks Center on Davie Blvd–they are now on University Drive between Peters Road and I-595. Best hobby shop in Broward County.)

    Lum’s (Davie Road in Downtown Davie. GREAT food!)

    Pat’s Place (Small restaurant. IIRC, NW47th Place. It was by Sunrise just east of the Turnpike, across the canal.)

    Zuccarelli’s Pizza. ‘Nuff said.

    I lived in the area from August 1971 until September 2001. Even though I’m technically not a Native, I still consider Lauderhill my home town. It pains me to go back and visit to see how built up the area has become. It is true–you can never go home (except in your mind’s eye)….

59. DAN’S SUBS ACROSS FROM THE MALL, McARTHER MILK GOING ON FIELD TRIPS THERE WITH SCHOOL, THE UPSIDE DOWN HOUSE, NEBAS ROASTBEEF, FUZZYS TIRES, BOBS BIG BOY 441/DAVIE BLV,
    SMITTYS BUTCHER SHOP 441 MELROSE PARK,THE RIB SHACK ACROSS FROM THE THUNDER BIRD DRIVE-IN, THE BROTHERS 3 LOUNGE ON OAKLAND PARK BLV BY FLORIDA MEDICAL JOE NAMMOTH WAS PART OWNERS ON THAT ONE..AND MARINA BAY ON S.R.84 BY I-95.. IM TIRED NOW MY BRAIN HIRTS !! LOL

60. Last time I checked Google maps, McArthur Dairy is no more. While I lived in west Lauderhill (NW 55 AV and NW 16 ST), we did a lot of our shopping at that K-Mart and at the mall (and at Searstown at Sunrise and Federal). When the Broward Mall opened, all commerce seemed to move west–and then even further west when Sawgrass Mills opened. (As an aside, does anyone remember the water park that was next to K-Mart behind the McDonald’s? I won’t even get into memories of Castle Park by the airport….)

    We’ll be down for a visit in December, and I think a drive to the Lauderhill Mall might be on the itinerary. As I said above, I think the last time I was actually at that mall was 1984….

    Roger, more names for ya–Mike’s Clam Bar on University and OPB in Sunrise, Pumpernik’s by Florida Medical (same plaza as Brothers 3, IIRC), any of the Char Hut locations (living or dead), Wag’s next to Ed Morse Chevy, Taco Viva on OPB by Forbidden City and Anything on Wheels, The Happy Buddha and Verdi’s on OPB between NW 55 AV and NW 56 AV, The Ground Round at 441 and Broward, The Treasury at 441 and OPB next to Service Merchandise (it later became a Home Depot, them closed and was leveled), The Bagel Nosh on 441 just north of the Lauderhill Mall….and ZIP’Z Ice Cream shops. *Memmmmmorrrieeeeeeeees*

    Ralph

61. Ralph,

    I remember that slide behind McDonald’s and it was the worst. Who would build a slide with a cement-like surface. If you fell off your 3×5 foam pad, you would lose skin. It did not stay open for long and I am pretty sure it due to this design flaw.

    I did not know this…but The Groud Round was(is) a chain restaurant like Chili’s or Olive Garden. With so many restaurants leaving 441 back in the 70s and early 80s, I always wondered if The Ground Round was burned down on purpose.

    Wes

62. That’s the slide–we went when it opened in 1978, and we never went back.

    The stretch of 441 between Davie Blvd. and Broward seemed to have a larger than normal number of places close overnight. They’d be there and open one day, and the doors were locked the next. There was a strip mall (probably one of the first of its kind) across from JByrons/Jewelcor (it would be the NW corner of 441 and Broward, next to the Gold Triangle), and that place had major problems keeping tenants–it seemed to always be less than 50% occupied. Things got better as you moved north from Plantation to Lauderhill, but soon after you ran into the same problem–just north of the Lakes Mall the same thing happened.

    When the Lauderhill Mall started to fall out of favor for the “serious” mall rat, you could see some of that–and most of the closings had nothing whatsoever to do with the mall, the management, or the location. Richards closed all of their stores in late 1980, and Woolco closed their stores in late 1982 (I distinctly remember that because I was home on Christmas break from my first year of college).

    At the other end of town, the Britt’s in the Lakes Mall had closed by then, and IIRC Jefferson’s had been morphed into a Montgomery Ward location, only to close later in the ’80’s. At one point, there was a Builder’s Square location (talk about direct competition–the Home Depot was across OPB at that point in time). Builder’s Square went tango uniform, and the location sat for a while vacant. The Lakes Mall went downhill quickly after the anchors closed. Once they were gone, the other stores closed. I suppose that the management there had problems attracting stores, and in the end most of the mall was razed–the only store from the original mall still there is the Sports Authority (in the old Jefferson’s location). The Linens and Things occupies a newer addition to the mall–IIRC, this was the old Builder’s Square location.

    Another name from the past that I remember well was Lindsley’s Lumber–it was just north of the Lauderhill Mall, NW 12 ST and 441. They went out of business soon after The Home Depot and Builder’s Square moved into town. They also had a location in Plantation, University Drive and Peter’s Road. I can’t be sure, but I believe the Plantation Lindsley’s location is now either the Whole Foods Market or The Hobby Superstore (aka Warrick Hobbies). As much as Lauderhill has changed, so has Plantation and Sunrise–when we moved to Florida in 1971, we still knew Sunrise as Sunrise Golf Village, and Lauderhill west of the Turnpike was barely developed. The only real development at the time was Wimbeldon, the rows of duplex and quads along and around NW 55 and NW 56AV, and the houses that were built along and between NW 55AV and the Turnpike. Royal Palm Elementary was new in 1972 (I was in second grade, the classes were taught at Village Elementary, my first year at Royal Palm was third grade). Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes was brand new (and having racial problems). Most kids in west Lauderhill attended Royal Palm for grades 1-5, Lauderhill Middle for grades 6-8 (anyone remember the Turnpike tunnel? They have a crosswalk now….), and (depending on when they started high school) either Plantation, Piper, or Boyd Anderson. By the time I went to high school, all of us attended BA.

    Boy, more stuff I never thought I’d remember….

63. The first pic in the fifth row doesn’t work.

64. HI RALPH,
    I ALSO WENT TO BOYD ANDERSON GRAD IN 80′ MY FATHER WAS THE CONSTRUCTION SUPERTENDENT FOR SNEED CONST. WHO BUILT ROYAL PALM ELM. I USED TO GO THERE WITH HIM AND WE WOULD SEE FOXES THERE EARLY IN THE MORNING..WE ALSO WOULD GO TO THE LINDSLEY LUMBER ON BROWARD BLV- 31AV.
    I LIVED AT – 441 & BROWARD BLV. – BEHIND PLANTATION MIDDLE SCHOOL NW 73 TERR. – ON BAILEY RD. NEAR 441 TAMARAC – KNOB HILL RD. AND SUNSET STRIP… ALL FROM 1965- 1992 I DO MISS THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE 70S-80S IT WAS A GREAT TIME BACK THEN !!
    I WORKED FOR PUBLIX BACK THEN.. 441 AND COMM. BLV AND 441 IN N. LAUDERDALE. I DID WORK THE GRAND OPENING OF THE PUBLIX ON OAKLAND PARK BLV. THAT STORE WAS COOL !! IT HAD THAT AIR THAT WOULD BLOW DOWN INSTEAD OF DOORS !!

65. Hi Roger, I also worked at the Publix on Oakland Park with the cool door. I started as a bakery girl then moved to blocker and eventually cashier and front office. I worked there from 77-81 while in high school. I went to Piper, class of 78. I moved out of Broward in 81 and have only been back a handful of times. The Publix I worked at was close to Inverrary.

66. HI NANCY,
    I HAD FRIEND’S THAT WENT TO PIPER AT THAT TIME, MARK BENNETT – DONNY COPACHINNI – NACE, CAN’T REMBER HIS LAST NAME.WE USED TO GO DOWN TO POPPYS PIZZA DOWN ON THE CORNER FROM PIPER… BEST GARLIC FRYS !!
    ROGER.

67. Great site!! And gotta love “Lauder-hood” Mall. I went there on break from college in the late ’90s and totally agree- it was frozen in time and reminded me of growing up in South Fla in the late ’70s-early ’80s. I moved back down after college but by then most of the other icons of that era were gone. I ended up working in the totally delapidated office building behind the mall off 16th (behind what’s now a Winn Dixie) in 2003, so would go there often during my lunch break. I remember the Eckerd Drugs there (before they got bought out by CVS) had a huge promo picture on the wall of Lynda Carter when she was spokeswoman for Maybeline, so that had obviously been there for 20 years LOL. I went back a year or so later to see if I could get the display but sadly was too late: They had closed the store and from what management said had gutted it and I assume trashed this great rare artifact 🙁

68. Hi Roger, I knew quite a few people from BA. I went to the BA prom in 1978 at the Breakers in Palm Beach. I also went to the class of 78 BA Grad Night at Disney. I went to Lauderhill Middle so when we moved on to high school some went to Plantation, some went to BA and the rest to Piper. I moved to Florida’s west coast in 81, it seemed like such a dead area, but is now getting as busy as lauderdale was back in the 70’s.

69. SOUND’S LIKE WE KNEW SOME OF THE SAME PEOPLE NANCY..
    I ALSO MOVED ALAY TO OCALA. A LITTLE SLEEPY BUT VERY NICE.

70. I grew up in south florida in the 80’s. I lived in Tamarac, and yes, I was a mallrat! I didn’t really visit the Lauderhill mall often, since it was a bit further from me, but I pretty much grew up at the Coral Square Mall from when it opened until the early 90’s (when I moved away).
    Does anyone remember (or have any pictures or other info) of the Coral Springs Mall of the 70’s and early 80’s? I used to go there all of the time with my grandmother. I remember there was a J Byron’s there, and possibly a Ross, but not too many other stores inside, as it was pretty much a dead mall at the time. I remember the food court reminded me of ‘it’s a small world’ at Disney for some reason, possibly because they tried to make it look like a little village. I know that they turned it into a school in the late 80’s, and it still remains a school. But I have yet to find any pictures of it from when it was a mall!
    Also I remember going to the Festival Mall when it was a mall and not a flea market, which I’m curious if anyone remembers. When it first opened, there were soo many stores, but many of them were mom and pop shops and not big retailers.
    I would even love to hear memories of the Coral Springs Mall of the 80’s, or see pictures. It looks to me like it is still thriving, but almost every single store that I loved is gone now. = (
    Ah.. those were the days.

71. Without talking about the old Lauderhill in ALL CAPS, I’m going to make a list of all the stores in Lauderhill Mall…past present and future. Descriptions would be nice. The first list is from the pictures alone. The old directory map…if someone could get a picture of that…that would be supurb. Descriptions and more stores coming soon. Stores with a (?) mean I’m not sure of the name.

    Jerk Machine
    Tropitaste
    Charlie’s Pastries
    Coin Laundry
    Insurance
    Subway (may not have mall entrance)
    Nothing But (?)(may not have mall entrance)
    South Shore Opticians
    Hair & Such
    The Pup Tent (K)
    Lauderhill Mall Branch Library (No Mall Entrance)
    Hip Hop Gear SBS
    Grace Gold (K)
    Shoe Repair
    A store that reads “Learn How to Write English” on the side
    Lingerie Sounds (?)
    Perfume (K)
    Too Man
    Rainbow
    Root’s Children’s Shops
    Broward County Supervisor of Elections
    Valentino’s Classic Menswear & Accessories
    Income Tax
    Immigration Attorney
    Veeko
    Foot Locker

72. Why do my comments always bounce? My goal was to make a list of all the Lauderhill Mall stores but it must of thought it was spam. Help!

73. My family moved to Lauderhill in 1971 I was 13 yrs old. The Lauderhill Mall was the place to be. Nancy I believe the name of the boutique store that sold posters and incense was Judy Rose. Nobody mentioned Just Pants I’m pretty sure I bought all my corduroys for high school there, lol. Now I’m not sure if the movie theater was a Lowes or a General Cinema, they may have been both, might have changed when the theater went from one screen to two screens. Most memorable movie I can remember see there was Jaws, we waited through two showing before we finally got in. Does anybody remember the jingle for the TV commercial for the Lauderhill Mall? “The wonderful world of air conditioned shopping, Lauderhill Mall, Lauderhill Mall”. Takes me right back to watching Speed Racer on TV51 WKID and a Friday night trip to Pirate’s World. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane thanks this made my night.

74. Marie, I remember the Coral Springs Mall, which opened in 1977. The two anchors were JByron (later Upton’s) and Pantry Pride, which did not open to the mall. When it opened, almost all of the stores were filled, but the management firm charged very high rents, which hurt occupancy. When Coral Square opened in 1984, Coral Springs Mall went into a death spiral. The company that owned the mall did a major redevelopment , including the brick walkways with the trees running down all three legs of the mall and adding the food court (which never had more one or two restaurants). They also added a Ross (which moved into the Pantry Pride space, and added an entrance to the mall). However, they were charging almost as much for rent as the much bigger Coral Square, so the vacancy rate continued to climb. I think the only store in that mall that lasted the whole life of the mall was Ziggy Boutique, right in the center of the mall. They always seemed to have business. The Movie theater and the game arcade also lasted a long time, although Loew’s sold the theater to another company. The mall was foreclosed by the city in the late 90’s, and the school opened (I think) in 1998 or 1999.

75. It was a General Cinema. My granfather was Joseph Moriber who along with his partner Herbert Sadkin (later developer of Bonaventure) built and owned the Lauderhill Mall (Lauderhill Improvement Associates). I too had fond childhood memories of the mall. The Orange Julius stand was famous. The hamburgers at Barton’s were great. Dan Dowd’s down the block was a great restaurant. Its sister restaurant in Hallandale, Manero’s, just recently closed.

76. This mall, if I’m not mistaken , is also the home of the Saturday-open Broward DMV. I used to work up the street from this place, off Commercial and 22nd, and you could write an entire report on this area’s malls, strip malls, and other assorted 1970’s faded glam.

    However, since so much of South Florida is churn-and-burn, it’s hard to see a dead mall or even a ‘vintage’ but functioning mall. Coral Square, in Coral Springs, has the bones of an 80’s mall, but the guts of a late-1990s renovation, for example.

    A great period mall in Florida (which I unfortunately have no photos of) is the Daytona Beach Mall across from the speedway in Daytona Beach. I was up there, working through a hurricane, and they actually have a PIANO STORE in the mall…STILL. Very mid-1970s, from ship to stern.

77. Aaron, that mall in Daytona Beach across from the Speedway would be the Volusia Mall–it is still in operation (I lived most of my life in Lauderhill, but I went to college in Daytona Beach). The other mall (Daytona Mall on the corner of Nova Road and International Speedway Blvd) is looking pretty tatty, it appears to be going the way of the Lauderdale Lakes Mall. The last time I was in the Daytona Mall was several years ago, and it was in near ruin then, only the Books-A-Million seemed to be open (along with the ever-present Chinese buffet).

    Daytona is an interesting place, and I can see the same thing happening to it as happened in Broward County during the 70’s and 80’s–the population base is shifting west (I-4 between Daytona and Orlando used to be largely undeveloped marsh and woodlands-I was astounded at the rate of construction when I went to Orlando last November), and the development is following. The “old” areas are becoming run down shadows of what they used to be. Even the area around the Speedway has changed drastically since I first went there in 1982 for my freshman year at Embry-Riddle.

    As they say, you can’t go home again….

78. Thanks for the correction. The Volusia Mall, at least for me, was like a walk into the past: very cheeky and early 80s. However, you’re right: it’s not a ‘dead mall’ as it’s still used and still has many upscale retailers. Lauderdale Lakes Mall is indeed DEAD.

    Another good Florida dead mall choice would be Westland Mall in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami. It’s been nicknamed ‘Wasteland Mall’ by the locals, and has had that moniker for YEARS. http://westfield.com/westland/

    What I find interesting about Florida, especially South Florida, is that because there is such a high population density and no real land left, even the ‘dead malls’ are pretty lifelike. Lauderhill Mall, while not exactly hopping, is never abandoned entirely.

    I wonder if, in the era of expensive gas and diminished natural resources, if the Sunbelt will experience a population decline like the North did over the past half-century, and if all the new and sparkly malls that are currently successful, will be just as dead as those in the NE and Midwest?

79. Oh, and a good ‘Dead Mall’ walking would be this:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Mall_%28Tampa%2C_Florida%29

80. Back in 1970 I worked at the Lauderhill Mall. The two anchors for the mall were Woolco’s department store and JByrons, another department store. I worked at Woolco. When Woolco went out of business the store was vacant for some time. Eventually Kmart moved in. Kmart moved out a few years ago. I believe that space is still vacant. I haven’t driven by the mall in some time.

81. WOW!!! Is all I can say.My name is Shaun and I grew up in Sunrise from about 1975 to 1986.Went to Nob Hill Elementary, Bair Middle, then Piper High. This site brings back soooo many memories. I remember all of the places you guys have mentioned.

    The small water park slide with the rock hard cement.
    Orange Julious.
    I used to shop more at Broward Mall but did the others too like Coral Springs. My Grandparents(like all the other New York Retired) lived in Ramble Wood East.
    Miss the Sizzler,Swiss Chalet,Ranch House, Mr Gumps, and that cool place called the 95th Aero Squadren.
    I now live in Indianapolis and miss the BBQ in South Fla…
    Sunnys and BBQ Spot.

    Anyone class of 89 Piper High or close????

82. lauderhill my sucks go to sawgrass are broward mall wooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooo…………………….rock yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

83. The 95th Bomb Squadron, 94th Aero Squadron, and whatever other names it has gone my appears to be once again vacant. When I moved away, it was a supper club called “Joseph’s”. I used to work aircraft maintenance at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport, and every mechanic I worked with used to say the best thing to happen to that place would be for it to turn into a topless bar–they’d have a full house every day at lunch!

    I assume Wilma didn’t help matters any, because that place was there when we moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1971….

84. Does anyone know the actual date the mall was opened. I am doing research and everyone seems to know the year but not the date.

85. jen i came to fort lauderdale by davie blvd in 1964 and am still here i agree on how things have changed i to remember the lauderhill mall infact there was a time when my aunt and uncle did there traveling ice skating show in the lauderhill mall around christmas time does anyone remember the show how about royal castle on 441 north of broward how about the live cows at the mcarthur dairy and milk delivered to your door in glass bottles the bowling alleys on 441 and broward blvd the grand union supermarket on 441 and broward by jackson byrons i better stop this is making me feel old

86. Thanks so much for the information on this mall. I have been looking for it for years and I couldn’t even remember the name. I moved to Coconut Creek in 1966 as a HS Junior and this was the only mall around and great for a weekend cruise through. It had a great music store with a lot of obscure “underground” music you couldn’t find elsewhere (John Mayall, Rotary Connection, Grateful Dead before anyone know who they were etc). Does anyone remember the name? Wasn’t there a bookstore also? It pales in comparison to today’s “cities under a roof” but it was great for its time. Great memories

87. The Microsoft Live Search Maps has great aerial photos of the mall as it is today. Which of the buildings is the theater?

88. Sounds of Music , Was the record store at the mall… down near Woolco.
    Hey, does anyone rember the upside down house out is sunrise back in the late 60s-early 70s ? THAT WAS COOL !!

89. The Lauderhill Mall is…creepy. I mean, I want to embrace the happy, niche status that the “Cynthia Baker” posted about, but the place looks spooky. I read old Google News reports on shootings and robberies, and the interior of the mall, albeit occupied, is occupied with gloomy-looking storefronts, immigration offices, questionable lingerie stores, bootlegged Disney characters, dead ends, sad-looking kiosks, and a Foot Locker. I’d suggest adding lots of skylights, colorful paint, and palm trees to look more “Caribbean”, but it would be tacky.

90. it sort of reminds me of the mall in either louisana Or mississipi that you profiled a while back And for it’s fugly design here in virgina staunton mall in staunton va also has that same trapped in a time warp look even through they were trying their damndest to upgrade it.

91. Joy’s Roti serves Caribbean/Indian type food, website here: http://www.joysrotidelight.com/

    Local reviews are mixed.
    http://www.southflorida.com/dining/64275,0,847071,reviews.venue

    Some say the food is great with good prices and good staff. Others say it has terrible service and is a typical “rum shop”.

    Tropitaste has ice cream and drinks, as from here:
    http://vitalinformation.blogspot.com/2005_01_02_archive.html

    Again, good reviews, but it still mentions the “ruffians” hanging out at Lauderhill. And the pastry shops.

    Conclusion: Lauderhill Mall has good ethnic food, but not really a good place to be anymore.

92. Great memory! Judy Rose, You’re so right that was the poster store! My husband and I took a ride over to Lauderdale last week and of course we went by the Lauderhill Mall area. Nothing like it was for us as kids. First of all it seems much more congested than when we were kids. The Playworld store is no more! The meat market next door to it is Chinese food. The pizza hut is a check cashing place and black angus is something else too. I couldn’t find wags, The Treasury store is a walmart and Kmart is a park. I bet we all know each other since it seems like we all lived in the area at the same time. I lived in an apt called Taj Mahal in 1970 and attended Lauderhill Middle……Does anyone recall that complex on NW 21st Street?

93. I lived in Lauderhill from 1971 until 1989, moved to Wilton Manors in 1989, then to Tamarac in 1992. Lived in Tamarac until 2001, then moved to Pembroke Pines for a few months. I attended Royal Palm Elementary from 1971 (half a year at Village Elementary while they built Royal Palm) until 1975, did 5th grade at Peters Elementary (1975-76), Lauderhill Middle from ’76 through ’78 and Boyd Anderson from ’78 until ’82. After that, did my college years at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach from ’82 to ’88. Moved to South Carolina in September 2001.

    We had been in SC for three months when my mom had bypass surgery and we went to visit–the traffic seemed twice as heavy as it was when we left. It gets worse every time we visit. A lot of the places I used to go as a kid are now either vacant or have been demolished and are now occupied by the big-box guys.

    I can’t recall the name of the place, but our neighbor helped to build one of the apartment complexes by the Lauderhill Golf Course.

    I knew that the Playworld and Pizza Hut were long gone. They had just finished tearing down the old K-Mart at Sunrise and 441 the last time we were there. Wag’s is now a doctor’s office or some such (it sits next to the Chevy dealership across from the old Playworld location). I didn’t realize that the Treasury location was a Wal-Mart–they had just torn that whole strip of stores down last I remember (the Home Depot moved down the road and Service Merchandise was out of business). Doesn’t surprise me, though….

94. I lived in Davie back in the early 80’s and worked at Luke Bolton Ford. Memories yes indeed!

95. HI JOE, YOU SAY YOU WORKED AT LUKE BOLTON..
    MY MOM WORKED THERE ALSO HER NAME IS DOREEN, SHE WORKED ON THE SWITCHBOARD.DID YOU KNOW HER?

96. Jonah….in the early 70’s there was GNC and Tells Originals, also.

97. I WENT TO THE SHOE REPAIR AND ALTERATIONS INSIDE THE LAUDERHILL MALL AND THEY WERE EXCELLENT I RECOMEND EVERYONE TO TRY THEM OUT , ITS NO WONDER WHY THEY HAVE BIN THER SO MANY YEARS YOU KNOW ITS THE ONLY ORIGINAL STORE LEFT IN THE MALL .BET YALL DID’NT KNOW THAT.

98. The barber shop at the lauderhill Mall…

    Does anyone remember the barbers that used to work there? Was there a Vincent or a Jimmy? What happen to those guys? Maybe Marcoccia?

99. To Roger Ash,

    Roger I worked at Luke Bolton Ford beginning in 1984 I did not work any where near the office. I was a new car get ready man. I eventually worked in the body shop as a helper. I remember a old friend of mine Dwayne Randall worked in the parts department. Hey what ever happened to Luke Bolton Ford? Anyone?

100. Wow Flashbacks! i remember Gold Triangle Lauderhill mall i used to hang out there and the lakes mall where they had Sids records and tapes Does anyone remember a Skating rink back in the early 80s off oakland park on federal highway i remember i used to work there they actually served Beer and wine in the beginning until they realalized drinking and skating didn’t mix Lol

101. I worked at luke bolton in 1981-82 actually it was for a company called polyglycoat who did new car prepping and undercoating

102. THE BARBERS NAME WAS : MAYNARD.. HE WAS THE OWNER AND GAVE ME MY FIRST HAIR CUT !! WHEN HIS SHOP WAS AT THE GRANTS PLAZA ON 441 & BROWARD BLV. B-4 HE OPENED AT THE MALL. THE OTHER BARBERS NAME WAS BILL, TALL DARK HAIRED GUY.WHEN THEY MOVIED FROM THE MALL THEY WERE AT THE PLAZA WHERE KINGS WAS.. ACROSS FROM GRANTS BACK IN THE CORNER. OVER BY FAT FREDDY’S SUBS !! HE WAS A GREAT GUY.. ( I DO REMBER THE SKATING RING.. ) CONCRETE FLOORS NOT WOOD..

103. i had a diareah attack at lauderhill mall, right in the center of the mall. I remember the janitor getting mad when he had to clean it up.

104. starting south to north:
     Pantry Pride/Food Fair
     Loews
     Numero Uno Pizza
     Mister Donut
     Richards Department Store
     Doctor Pet
     Dipper Dan Ice Cream
     Zales
     Orange Julius
     Walgreens
     Bartons Cafeteria (Al must have ate there)
     McCrory
     City Bank of Lauderhill
     JB Hunter/Jordan Marsh
     Broward Sports
     Judy Rose
     Lansons Mens Shop
     Woolco
     all I can remember

105. DOES ANYONE REMBER THE XMAS PARADE THAT STARTED AT PETERS RD. WENT UP 441 AND STOPED AT THE MALL?
     WE WOULD SIT AT HOWARD JOHNSONS AT 441 & BROWARD BLV.
     ( LIVED IN MELROSE PARK 63-74 )

106. Wasn’t there a lunch counter at the McCrory’s?

     The shoe repair shop and barber shop were on the east branch at the Woolco (north) end. On the corner of the main mall at the west branch on the north end was a Radio Shack.

     Roger, I remember that parade–the Civil Defense sirens would sound, and the parade would start.

107. I remember the Orange Julius stand the most. It was run by an older couple from NY. I remember that his name was Marty. I went to Dillard High from 1878-82. I would catch the #36 Sunrise Blvd bus at NW 27th Avenue about a block from Dillard. I would take the bus to Lauderhill Mall, and I had about a 1/2 hour wait to get the #29 S.R. 7 bus to take me to my home near Riverland Road. My neighborhood was zoned for Stranahan, but I wanted to go to Dillard with my friends from Melrose Park. Melrose was zoned for Dillard, and we moved from Melrose to Riverland just as I started high school. Back to the point, Nothing tasted better after standing out in the Florida sun and then riding on a hot un-airconditioned city bus than an Orange Julius and a hot dog. My friend Ervin and I would save our lunch money to spend at the mall. There’s a few other things. The mall was built in 1966, but was actually remodeled in 1980. It was really cool before the renovations. Really 60s style. White concrete fountains with purple tile and colored water sprays. Lots of white stucco walls with the little embedded pebbles. Funky terrazzo walkways. The outside signage had that “space-age” look, and there was even a drive-up post office in the middle of the parking lot. The best way I can describe the 1966-1980 mall decor is “Fountainbleau” or Miami Beach Modern. Lots of very late 50s – early 60s touches. After it was renovated in 1980, it looked like California earth tone. Does anyone have any old pics prior to 1980? BTW- The theatre was known as “Loew’s Lauderhill” until approx. 1972, when it was purchased by General Cinemas.

108. The first mall in the area is a gonner. Such as so many, MANY others that hold dear to our hearts and memories..establishments that is. The Davie blvd Drive-in,, The hollywood….THE AIRPORT!!! 10 screens! The Bar-b-q Spot on 441…Gold Coast Skating Rink. Was raised in Lauderdale but moved away in ’76. Oh the memories….New River Jr high..Rogers…Stranahan..I was actually the mascot for New River when i was 3. Beating the tom-tom while the cheerleaders (one of whom was my sister) danced around me.I hate sites like this!!! 🙂

109. HI MARK,
     I ALSO LIVED IN MELROSE PARK 1963 -1974.
     541 E. DAYTON CIRCLE JUST ON THE CORNER OS GLENDALE BLV.
     IT WAS THE 2 STORY HOUSE, I WENT TO FAITH LUTHERAN, WESTWOOD HIGHTS, THEN MOVIED TO PLANTATION,TAMARAC,PALM BEACH NOW IN OCALA.
     MELROSE PARK WAS REALLY THE PLACE BACK THEN !!
     ROGER

110. it was great. you had working class, middle class, retirees, and snowbirds. the houses were nice and it was laid out where you could play in the street without getting killed by the cars. we lived on wyoming ave right at the bend between indiana ave and 10th st. hated to move. melrose never really went downhill. in fact, alot of people priced out of eastern ft. laud have been moving in. alot of teachers, etc. middle class but watching every dime. i’d move back now myself, but i’ve made a life for myself in Springfield, MA. ironically, the further east you go in broward county, the higher the prices. was the opposite back in the 80s and 90s. everyone was moving west. now, even lauderdale manors has started to come back. go figure!

111. Is the Bar-B-Q Spot gone? When did it close? I know they recently remodeled the Gold Coast skating rink to celebrate it’s 60th anniversary. On another note. The old New River Jr. High was torn down and replaced with a new bldg. that looks like a prison. Stranahan is in the process of demolishing and replacing the school. The only original bldg. that will be preserved is the 2 story main bldg. Rogers is now an adult education facility and looks pretty much the same. The old Edgewood Elem. is Rogers satellite campus.

112. I would come down to Lauderhill to visit my grandmother (Nana) every now then starting when I was 8 years old (1979-1988). My 3 favorite things were Mr. Gump’s (or was it Mr. Grump’s or was it both?), Swensen’s Ice Cream in the Broward Mall and the waterslide on Commercial Blvd. near I-95 and the beach that you could go down head-first without a mat.

113. This blog posting brings back lots of memories. This was my grandmother’s favorite Mall. She was a snowbird and she sold her mobile home in 1982.

     I remember going there from 1976 to 1982. Great Mall.

     I remember more the K-mart at Sunrise and 441. That was my favorite store.

     Sweden House Smörgåsbord, The best buffet restaurant I’ve ever went to.

     Golden Triangle, went there often.

     The publix at Commercial and 441 is still there, also the Big Daddy near Prospect road. The Ihop is still there on 441.

     This area did changed alot,

     Thanks again,

     Mario

114. HEY MARIO,
     I WORKED AT THAT PUBLIX BACK IN 76′ – 85′ THAT BIG DADDYS WAS GOOD… ALSO THE GROUND ROUND.
     I ALSO GREW UP IN THE LAUDERHILL MALL THEN LATER THE LAKES MALL. GOOD TIMES BACK THEN !! NICE MEMERYS..

115. OMG….I just stumbled on to this page. I grew up in Sunrise from 1964 to 1978. Thank you everyone for bringing me back to some of the places I hadnt thought about in years, since I no longer live in Florida. I too lived in Sunrise when it was first called SGVillage, with a very large golf ball on a T at the top of the village. Sunset Strip brought you all the way to University Drive (that was it). The ball parks at Sunrise, the U-totem, how about the Farm Store on Sunset Strip….I loved to ride my bike to the top of the village to Super X Drugs and Dairy Queen. Or I’d ride thru Gold Key Village. Imagine letting your kids do that??? Never. I was probably like 9/10 doing this. Someone mentioned the Turnpike tunnel. When we would walk to school, Lauderhill Middle that is from Sunrise, we’d cut thru this tunnell…that was a very long walk if I recall. How about in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, the Clown at Car Circus….it would bow up and down, is it still there?? I remember going to the Inverrary Golf Classics and skip school and get all the celebs autographs…that was fun. I remember the Lakes Mall, didnt it have this neat escalator that didnt have steps?? What about the Mai Kai Hawaiian restaurant….I loved the Bodega rest. the whole new idea of a salad bar was introduced in the early 70’s. I loved Birch State park, riding the train in the park. I have lots of mischievous times but wont publish them!! Anybody remember “Charlie Chips”…the best potato chips and pretzels delivered to your house. I too remember McArthar Dairy delivering bottled milks to the house….why, it was Florida…the heat??? and going there on field trips….I remember the little ice cream cups with the wooden spoon from there….yummy! But one thing, the Upside Down House in Sunrise…I went there a few times as a young girl, it was neat, dont remember what happened to it, probably it got torn down. I remember on 441/Davie, wasnt there a Gooney Golf and Pirates Town (amusement park that had a steeple chase ride)….I remember the drive-ins having these air conditioner hoses….how cool it was to watch several movies at one time….I’ll probably think of many more places of interest, but thanks for the walk down the fantastic lane….

116. Man, I could go for some Taco Viva right now.

     I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the waterpark JRock refers to, but I was there (through school) when the KidsWorld TV show filmed a segment there.

117. Hey ROGER,

     Cool post, One of my favorite restaurant was in the mall at 441 and Commercial.

     Chicken Unlimited, Believe or not they used to make the Best and I mean the Best Taco’s.

     I think I just had chicken there once or twice.

     Nice Memories.

     Mario

118. I lived in Fort lauderdale from 1977-1997 and have visted the frequently espeially in the 1980’s It had a movie theater were I saw Octopussy a James Bond movie 1983 there. AS far as anchors Zears not Sears if you remember that store and also a K-mart never a JC Penny. But Zears was the first to close then K-mart in the late 80’s easly 90’s. The mall never progressed and everyone would rather go up the street to plantation to the Broward Mall and the Fashion mall right cross the street of Broward Mall, but it also was a flopp.

119. @Eddie, There was no Zears in the mall, It was called Zayers.

120. HEY MARIO,
     DO YOU REMBER TAG’S PIZZA JUST BEHIND
     Chicken Unlimited ?
     AND CHAR-HUT Ummmm. BEST BURGERS AND DOGS !!
     I WENT TO BOYD ANDERSON HIGH, DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL AROUND THERE ?

121. Roger,

     Unfortunately I don’t remember Tag’s Pizza but I remember a Pizza place so It must be that one.

     I am almost sure it it was called Chicken unlimited, weird name.

     Char-hut I don’t remember that one.

     I did not go to School there because I used to bring 6 weeks of home work from my School in Montreal.

     It was easy to do that until High School because I had only had one teacher until High School.

     I did that once in 8 grade and some teachers refused to give advanced home work.

     My Grand Mother passed away in 1982. She used to live in a nice Mobile Home park at the corner of Prospect road and 441.

     Her Mobile Home is still there even after the Hurricane of 2005.

     I went inside the park in 2007 to see if some tenants were still there.

     Do you remember the Red Lobster at the corner of Prospect and 441?

     Mario

122. Hi Mario,
     There was a Chicken unlimited there also..
     it was good..
     I know the moble park, i lived just up the street at Baily rd. and 441.
     Good times back then !!
     ROGER

123. @KW, I remember the ice cream with the wooden spoons. They always served them on Thursdays when I went to Sunset Elementary. Nowadays, the kids would probably turn those spoons into shivs/shanks.

124. yes i used to go to that record store too it was called sids records

125. Yes good times Roger!

     Too bad the Area changed a lot.

     Only exceptions were:

     Big Daddy
     Publix
     Gigi’s Of New York

     It was not the same last time I was there. The people changed around that neighborhood.

     I used to hang around a lot that 2 story strip mall on the corner of 441 and Prospect road besides the old Red Lobster’s.

     There was no tenant that is still there since the 70’s and 80’s. I did not recognized one tenant.

     They used to have a craft store, a ballroom dancing place, Cumberland Farms and Doctor my Grandma used to go see.

     Mario

126. @Mario I,
     THERE WAS A NICE REST. IN THAT CENTER, UP STAIRS. IT WAS ( THE LOFT.. )
     I THINK THE GROUND ROUND WAS ALSO JUST NEXT DOOR…
     ROGER

127. Anyone remember Pandemonium poster shop on A1A and Sunrise, behind that on side st. Upper Level Headshop. Concerts at Pirates World on Fri. and Sat. nites,, Greynolds Park Love Ins on Sun.?

128. @ROGER,

     Yes the Loft, that’s right. You bring back memories,
     I don’t remember the ground round, maybe after my time.
     My grandparents mobile home park was just behind that center.

     Did you go back there lately ?

     Do you know why the area changed a lot (besides normal changes) ?

     I mean it looks more poor a bit !

     Thanks,

     Mario

129. @Mark, Where was Sunset Elementary?? Village Elementary was in Sunrise….did you have Portables?? those “Army” barracks were soooo hot and had a distinct odor to them!!

     Chicken Unlimited had the best BBQ sauce ever!! And I agree, Taco Viva, now that is where the buritto was born! 🙂

130. @Jeff in Okeechobee,

     HEY JEFF,
     WASN’T THE PARRIOT LOUNGE ALSO ON THAT STREET ?
     YES.. CONCERTS AT PIRATES WORLD UNDER THAT TIN ROOF !
     ALSO AT THE SPORTATORIUM OUT BY THE SPEEDWAY.
     HOW ABOUT : WSHE 103 , SHE’S ONLY ROCK & ROLL, ZETA 4, 96X, AND Y100.
     ROGER

131. Pandemonium – I got my first black light poster there… orange and black – it was called “Op Art”. The Lauderhill Mall was the place to go to get your Earth Shoes in either 74 or 75 (can’t remember, looked at the poster too long). Pirates World – concerts, Ronnie the Clown. Ft lauderdale Airport Drive-In. I left Ft Laud in 77 and came back in 87 and have been trying to find a new place to go to for a while now. But we did have some great times growing up here.

132. @ROGER, Thanx for the reply,, I believe the Parrott Lounge was in that area,, pretty sure,, remember Tommy Judge, DJ on WSHE? He also opened some concerts at Pirates World. I still have quite a bit of memorbilia,, posters, and handbills from that area,, Greynolds Park Love IN’s etc. Nice collection.. I was living in Margate in late 60’s early 70s.. Remember the fluid projection light shows at Pirates World? Miami Pop Festival, Gulf Stream Park? Jeff

133. @Pat, I bought alot of posters at Pandemonium,, I too have OP Art. I found it on ebay under blacklight posters,, not a reprint but original. I remember there was one hanging in the window of Pandemonium facing Sunrise. Remember the incense in the big ol mugs for sale,, 4 for a quarter,, Exotic blend,, you could smell it down the street when doors were opend. I’ve still got quite a few blacklight posters in storage . You would recognize quite a few.

134. That mall was a great place to visit back in the day…My dad used to take us to ride the bumper cars in the parking lot when I was probably about 10…They also had a great slide you could go down with a burlap sack…It sure was a great time back then…I lived behind the Lauderdale Lakes mall…I used to walk across the construction site to school when that was being built…I remember there was a Li’l General convenience store just west of 441 on Oakland, I stopped there almost everyday on my way to Castle Hill elementary to load up on candy…My dad owned the barber shop in the plaza on the NE corner of Oakland and 441…It was a awesome place to grow up…

135. @Shawn, HEY SHAWN,
     I USED TO GO ON THAT SLIDE ALSO….
     WE WOULD GO TO BLACK ANGAS STEAK HOUSE IN THE SAME PARKING LOT.
     THEN AFTER WE WOULD GET TO GO ON THE SLIDE !
     I ALSO REMEMBER THE LI’L GENRAL STORE.. NEXT TO THE TREASURY STORE.
     I USED TO LOVE THE ORANGE BOWL PIZZA IN THE MALL !
     YOUR DAD WORKED OVER BY THE REEF MOVIES ?
     THEN ( DRAFT HOUSE ) MOVIES
     HOW ABOUT DOLPHIN BOWLING LANES !!
     GREAT TIMES…

136. Fort Lauderdale was simply the place to live in the mid 60s – 70s. The homes were up for sale for little as nothing, but it was a development where everyone wanted to relocate, build, and raise their children. The middle class back in the days was very hard to match up to, most were considered law enforcement, teachers, doctors, dentist, and some preachers. If anyone did not live in Fort Lauderdale they were not considered good enough or apart of a classification of people in the neighborhood. Most African Americans took pride in building their own homes from scratch and continously renovating their properties to bring up the value. As I remember living in Dania Beach and Hollywood Florida in the minority and poorly developed neighborhoods, I questioned my parents quite often, why we cannot live in Fort Lauderdale. My girlfriends use to ride out 10 speed bicycles to the Sunland Park. It seems everything was going on and KC and the Sunshine Band was there playing their tunes for the crowd. The radio stations were set up to make some noise. Yes, we can use some of that old time religion and old school behavior. I believe that the kids today should conduct themselves the way we did, we partied, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves. But of course there is always a handful who have to spoil the fun with devilment. Want to see change and friendly faces in this community. There is a lot of anger and hate as I examine those I encounter on a daily basis. Good Luck.

137. Hi ROGER,
     Yeah my dads barber shop was there in the reef plaza facing Oakland Park Blvd…I used to go to the reef theater all the time back then…There was also a drug store in that plaza..I think it was called Super-X…Me and my brother used to go in there a lot and buy slingshots and candy and then we would hit the Carvel in the other end of the plaza….I used to bowl on the Bantam league at Dolphin Lanes when I was about 10…It’s funny my Mom just gave me my bowling shirt from back then with the patches I won still sewn on it…Me and my brother used to finish almost everyday right behind the bowling alley in the C-13 canal….We had such a good time growing up there…Staying out all day riding bikes and fishing…Sadly I lost my brother and best friend the day after I posted my last message on this board….He had just turned 48…Luckily I have a lot of great memories growing up there in Lauderdale Lakes with him…Like a lot of kids that grew up back then, it was the best time of my life…

138. @Shawn, HI SHAWN, IM SORRY ABOUT YOUR BROTHER..
     THAT IS WITH OUT A DOUBT THE BEST TIME FOR ME ALSO ! GO OUT AND RIDE YOUR BIKE ALL DAY AND YOUR MOM WOULD NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOU. TILL DINNER TIME.. LOL
     YOU ARE ALSO BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH GREAT MEMORIES.. IF ONLY WE COULD TURN BACK TIME !
     ROGER

139. I was there when Lauderhill Mall opened. It was the place to hang out. We would go to the movies on the south end and then walk to the north end and go on the slide. I got my first engagement ring in the Zales at this mall. I can’t believe it has lasted this long. Lots of memories there. RIP Lauderhill Mall.

140. ONE OF THE ANCHORS AT THE LAUDERHILL MALL WAS JB HUNTERS WHICH WAS LATER TAKEN OVER BY A NORE UPSCALE CHAIN, JORDAN MARSH WHICH EVENTUALLY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS – NOT TO BE COBFUSED WITH THE JORDAN MARSH IN THE BOSTON AREA. BURDINES WAS ANOTHER STORE THAT CLOSED AFTER BEING TAKEN OVER BY MACVY’S

141. @anonymous, Anchors for this mall were Richards dept store, JB Hunters, Woolco, McCrory’s and Food Fair Grocery Store.

142. @Bobby, middle store was JB Hunters

143. I moved to Lauderhill in 1972 as a young lad. I remember Al’s misfortune and the poor kid was actually sick from eating everything that we could get our hands on that day. It wasn’t Bartons that put him over the top, it was a hamburger at Walgreens Restaurant.

     Al is now a grandfather of a bunch of children that enjoy eating garbage like their grandfather.
     True story

144. Me and Irv still keep in touch. That day we skipped school (Paul Turner Elementary) and ate Borden Burger at NW 19 St. and 441. We went to the mall and had a slice at Numero Uno. Went to the movie at Loews and ate a bunch of garbage there.

     We had an Orange Julius for a drink, Irv ate a green hot dog there, I went to the pretzel place for a hot one. At around 5:00 (our parents thought that we were at cub scouts) we ate at walgreens.

     I remeber the stomach cramps as I ran for my bike by woolco, but didn’t make it. What a great day.

145. What a great site. I grew up in Plantation through the stoner seventies. Great times. Fishing in every gully and canal. Working weekends at the Swap Shop on Sunrise. Riding the god awful cement waterslide behind McDonald’s. Go karts and reefer madness at Grand Prix race O rama. Hot dogs boiled in beer at Lums. Pantry Pride scratch off card games. Buying our Plantation Middle School PE clothes at King’s. The giant Boat shaped fishing section of Golden Triangle. My brother worked the counter at Fat Freddie’s. Free Steak Bombs! Watching the Broward mall get built on the same cow pastures where we would pick mushrooms before seeing Jethro Tull at the Hollywood Sportatorium. Come to think of it, how am I remembering all this? Not to mention The Song Remains the Same at the Midnight movie at the Plantation Theater. The one by The Ranch House and Taco Viva.
     But the Lauderhill Mall still ruled. Wollco had baloons you could pop to get the price of your banana split. Once paid only a dime. Highlight of childhood. Used to go there to buy ringer T-Shirts with your name spelled in ironed on felt letters before it was ironic. When it was just South Florida.

146. @Eddie, it’s Zayre’s, not Zears.

147. My family moved to Coral Springs in January, 1984. Because it was still a developing city at the time, and nowhere as developed as it is today, we had to venture out all over northern Broward to do our shopping. I remember the Lauderhill Mall very well – even into the early 2000s as I went there to get quick and cheap stuff after work (I taught at Broward Estates Elementary). I absolutley lived for the egg nog ice cream at Tropitaste, and Charley’s Pastries was always good too…

     As a kid in the 1980s, my parents did a lot of their car shopping in the dealerships along 441 between Oakland Park and Sunrise Boulevards. I remember begging my mom to take me to Lionel Playworld. We also shopped at the Lakes Mall on 441 and Oakland, I remember the Service Merchandise there very well and being sad when it was torn down as I loved to go there after school. The WalMart that is there now is ALWAYS an absolutle MESS…

     Mom would also would get her hair done at the Lauderhill Mall as there were very few Black stylists near Coral Springs. She wanted me to have a Black Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas when they were all the rage (1984-85), so she drove down to the K-Mart when it was next to the McDonalds on 441 and Sunrise as it was virtually impossible to find Black dolls in Coral Springs. I remember that store being so huge and having everything…

     I, too would like to know if anybody has info on the Coral Springs Mall. Who can forget its quick decline after Coral Square was built? I went to elementary school across the street at Maplewood, so I remember the excitement of the ‘new mall’ coming to town. Once Coral Square opened, the Coral Springs Mall never recovered and it was sad to see it sprial into nothing. I also shopped there in High School when I didn’t want to be bothered with going somewhere busy. I shopped a lot at Sid’s music store as they still had a lot of old music on records (before the days of Napster and YouTube). A high school friend of mine’s father opened a restaurant where the Denny’s used to be, but it didn’t last long. I also enjoyed shopping at the Ross and J. Byron’s always had good stuff.

     I don’t know why information is so hard to find on Coral Springs Mall with all the info on the ‘net about dead malls floating around… Funny thing is, the Fashion Mall in Plantation seemed to decline even quicker, as nice and ‘modern’ as it was… Actually, my first job was at Sears in Coral Square…

     I do remember loving to eat Taco Viva at Coral Square… Does anybody remember the fountain at the Broward Mall with the naked kids going swimming? I remember wondering who made the decision to have that in the middle of such a busy shopping area…

     Someone mentioned the Red Lobster on Prospect, it closed about 7 years ago due to mismanagement. My college sweetheart’s sister got her first job there, and I used to go to church down the street and my friends and I would have lunch there after church often.

     You guys brought back some great memories… Thanks 🙂

148. I’M TRYING TO FIND A FRIEND OF MY WHO USED TO WORK WITH ME AT THE CORNER OF GRIFFIN ROAD AND UNIVERSITY DRIVE…HE AND I USED TO WORK TOGETHER AT THE OLD SUNOCO… TELL HIM “IF YOU WANT A SCREW…WE WILL DEFINITELY TAKE CARE OF IT…WOULD YOU LIKE A PLUG WITH THAT?” IF HE IS THE RIGHT GUY…
     I WILL KNOW. HIS NAME IS DUANE RANDALL, AND HE PLAYS ELECTRIC GUITAR. ALSO, TELL HIM “BIG BLOCKS RULE!” -JOHN HANNON

149. Just an update,

     Lauderhill mall is still kicking. The heart is still pumping. The urban consumers are enjoying the bargains we get there versus some huge updated mall. I wouldn’t know what to do if it was to be demolished.

150. @Charisse, I was born in Ft Lauderdale in 1970 and lived in Sunrise until 1981.

     I remember well the fountain with the naked boy sculptures. I went to a summer-camp type of day care called “The Little Place” that was not far from the OLD Sunrise City Hall (on Sunset Strip near Sunrise Blvd – now gone). Every once in a while we would take field trips to the Broward Mall and all us kids would giggle at the naked boy statues.

151. @Tony B, I think I remember that water slide. Was it the one built on the artificial “mountain”? I never got to go there, but I remember my brother and I seeing it from the car window on a regular basis and bugging my mom to let us go.

152. @Brant,
     It’ so interesting to me that none of my friends remember that statue. I feel vindicated now that someone does! 🙂

     @Toya,
     There was a place there that had good chicken wings. Are they still there? I should visit them and Tropitaste if they are still in business when I come home!

153. Hey Gang,

     How is the area now?

     Is it still nice and with almost no crime like the 70’s and 80’s?

     When I went back in 2007, I noticed that it changed a lot but that is normal I guess.

     Asking that because, I would not mind buying a condo around North Lauderdale, Lauderhill or around the 441 between Sunride Blvd and Prospect road?

     Thanks,

154. I have a friend that lives in Lauderhill (behind the mall) and he says the areas around 441 are basically working-class and quiet. Lauderhill is very diverse and has a large Jamaican community now. The area seems to be very stable and quiet. I haven’t been there in years. My family lived in Davie after we moved from Melrose Park, until 2005 (they moved to North Carolina), but we never had much reason to go to Lauderhill when I would go down on vacation. I didn’t drive when I visited and was at the mercy of my parents as far as sightseeing. We mostly drove through our old neighborhood in Melrose Park and through Lauderdale Manors (I went to Dillard and had many friends in Melrose Park, Melrose Manor, Riverland and Lauderdale Manors). Lauderdale Manors looks rundown, but there are still some nice homes. The eastern part was getting somewhat gentrified until the real estate market crashed. Melrose Park is still pretty nice. If I moved back to FL, that’s where I would buy a home. Does anyone remember those condos along 16th Street? They were full of retirees (they were restricted to age 55+). I’ll have to ask my friend if they’ve changed. I know the ones in Lauderdale Lakes are still pretty much the same.

     Hope that answers some of your questions.

155. @Mark, HEY MARK,
     I GREW UP INN MELROSE PARK IN THE 60’s AND 70s. THAT MAY BE BEFORE TIME…
     I LIVED AT : 541 E. DAYTON CIRCLE THE CORNER HOUSE ON GLENDALE BLV.
     WHERE DID YOU LIVE ?
     I WENT TO SCHOOL AT WESTWOOD HEIGHTS ELM. PLANTATION MIDDLE, AND BOYD ANDERSON HIGH.
     THAT WAS THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE.. GROWING UP THERE !!
     REGARDS, ROGER

156. @Mark,

     Thanks Mark, for your info !

     Is there someone that knows how is the North Lauderdale area is?

     Around Prospect and 441?

     Is it rundown ? The same as in the yearly 80’s?

     I mean in terms of the population, ( rich or poor )?

     Expensive or cheap to live in?

     I used to live with my Grandparents in Village Park near Prospect.

     Thanks,

     Mario I

157. I have not heard anyone mention the Waldenbooks that used to be in the mall! I spent a lot of time in that store in the mall and the Lauderdale Lakes library. I remember a teacher had a second job working in that store. I thought it was the greatest job in the world. Probably why I’m a mangaer for a bookstore now. LOL

158. @ROGER, We lived on Wyoming Ave between Indiana Ave. and SW 10th Street, I went to Sunset Elem, Nova Elem, Rogers Middle and Dillard High. We left Melrose in my Freshman year of school (1978-79) and moved to Davie. Since I had started at Dillard, my Dad let me continue there until I graduated in ’82. Also, I didn’t want to go to Cooper City High. That school was rank! We used to joke that if Cooper City had an “Inbreeders Club”, half the student body would be eligible for membership – lol.

159. @David,

     I’m pretty sure that Waldenbooks was at Lakes Mall, which was at 441 and Oakland Park Blvd.
     I don’t remember there being a Waldenbooks at Lauderhill Mall.

160. @Mario I,

     DON’T GO BACK… YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT VERY MUCH.
     THERE IS A LOT OF LOW LIFES LIVING THERE NOW !!
     ITS SO SAD TO SEE SUCH A GREAT AREA GO DOWN HILL LIKE THAT.. ( SORRY )

161. @ROGER,

     That’s too bad, It was such a great Place.

     Yes, I saw a lot of them near the Big Daddy. There were some before but theses low life’s looks more serious.

162. The owner of the mall was shot by deputies after a weapons standoff!

     http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/owner-of-browards-lauderhill-mall-shot-by-deputies-815092.html

163. @Pseudo3D, oh damn, what could’ve happened?

164. Prior comments I can definitely relate to…

     • At the time of the opening, the neighborhood behind the mall was all middle class and very new
     • Fishing in every gully and canal [and crabbing]
     • Hot dogs boiled in beer at Lums [where my bro briefly worked]
     • The giant Boat shaped fishing section of Golden Triangle [they sold some killer fishing reels]
     • Sid’s records
     • Pandemonium [but there was a paraphernalia stand at the end of checkout at a K-Mart during the late ’70s!!! The same checkout line that displayed Playboys next to the Enquirer! Mom complained, drat her.]
     • Dan’s Sub Shop [‘Having counted my coins, I’ll take a steak sub, please’]

     Adding…
     • My dad buying a clunky TI SR10 calculator at the Lauderhill Radio Shack for $150 [$780, inflation-adjusted.]
     • Buying all the Doc Savage novels at Lake Mall’s bookstore…50 cents, per.
     • The Lakes Mall was definitely the shiny newer toy when it opened up, but Lauderhill continued to holds its own.
     • But how about the slot-car emporium across from SearsTown?
     • How about Paul’s Magic Shop in SearsTown? Classic.
     • The movie theatre by Gold Triangle. Many a parent packed their kids off to that place during the summer to watch ‘Ben’, monster flicks or whatever [I’m Michael’s age, though in much better shape.]
     • Skateboarding around Saks Fifth before the Galleria bulldozed it.
     • Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlor across from the Galleria [way too bad I overslept the night I was supposed to meet one of their waitresses after her work.]
     • Playing hookie to watch the Poseidon Adventure at General Cinema when it came out in ’72.

     I will say that I’m concerned by the lack of a middle class in Lauderdale. There’s a bifurcation happening in this country that we should all work hard to avoid. Victoria Park is still Victoria Park, while the same can’t be said further inland. That said, there was lots of poverty decades ago, too, and some of the shanties I saw being rented and lived in on Broward left uber-poignant memories. On a somewhat related note, I can only hope the retirees out in Sunrise (or wherever there are today) are a bit more willing to support education than they seemed to my adolescent eyes. K12 education in Florida has always been problematic, though.

165. I went to this mall on 10-27-10 and it does look pretty much identical to the pictures. However there is one fatal flaw to this mall. The demographics. Let’s just say that if you are white and intend to find this mall you’ll be very surprised at the amount of black people who shop there. From my perspective the demographics of the mall are as follows.

     99.7% black
     0.1% white
     0.1% Hispanic
     0.1% Asian

166. @Brian, Why is this a “fatal” flaw? There are plenty of minority-majority malls that do perfectly fine, and this mall is actually pretty short on vacancies and appears to be holding its own. Though, with that said, many of the stores do market to an African-American/Caribbean clientele, so if you are white you might not necessarily find a cultural fit with many of the stores. Please be careful to objectify comments such as these or they’ll be misconstrued as racism!

167. @Prange Way,

     Name a mall or shopping center that has a 99% black population that has nice stores, is safe, and is very clean. It doesn’t exist.

     As Chris Rock says, once the white population goes to “the new mall” all that is left in the old mall is a woolworths and running shoe store”. Oh excuse me – “Woolworfs”.

168. Here’s a link to a site that has pictures of Big Daddy in the Lauderhill Mall. I am taking it they were from the mid to late 1970’s.

169. @JBN, there are almost no places in the United States (if any, for that matter), that have a “99% black population,” so it stands to reason there are no malls/shopping centers with those demographics.

     In fact, there are many successful malls in African-American majority areas, in particular in Los Angeles (Westfield Fox Hills) or Atlanta (many of the malls located in the city’s east side).

170. @Mark, This CC cowboy from the 70’s was too busy double-shifting in that overstuffed school to think about those who thought we were “rank”. (Yes, our football team was horrible,,,,)

     I was too busy working after school “where shopping was a pleasure” (except Sunday’s when we were closed) pushing carts to the cars and unloading sacks but not taking tips in our nice green aprons…

     Love this site – haven’t been back to Broward in years, but have memories of the LL and LH area, especially going with the family to the “Bell Phone Center” store (I think this was in Lauderhill Mall) in the mid-70’s to “rent” our brand-new touch tone phones for our new house. We bought our fishing gear at Gold Triange, ate at Char-Hut (next to Amoco in Davie for a while on University – is it still there?) and I miss Swiss Chalet Chicken + Ribs and that great sauce they had. Still have family in the area, and they complain about not having a Sonic drive-in or a Red Robin, but I will trade them for a Farm Stores (still there hopefully) and a restored Kapok Tree Inn….

171. @Brant,

     I remember “The Little Place” only because we used to have our Boy Scout meetings (Troop 114, Sunrise, FL) there…

172. I remember in the late ’60’s-early ’70’s, walking through the mall, flipping pennies and nickels in the fountains which smelled so strongly of chlorine. It had a pet store, an Orange Julius, I believe. The outdoor slide was, like, 200 feet high.

173. @Paul,
     YEA PAUL THE SLIDE WAS COOL.. WE WOULD GET TO GO ON IT IF WE ATE ALL OUR DINNER AT BLACK ANGUS ACROSS FROM IT.
     YES THERE WAS A PET SHOP ON THE SOUTH END. I USED TO GET DRAGED TO GET MY HAIR CUT AT THE BARBER SHOP DOWN BY WOOLCO.
     THAT WAS THE MALL BACK IN1970’S.. GOOD TIMES !

174. @Caldor, I live in Fort Lauderdale and have gone to the Lauderhill mall to get tags for my car. The mall looks exactly like the photos on this site. It is actually well maintained inside despite its outdated interiors. Most of the stores cater to the African-American/Caribbean clientele. Lauderhill is located in central Broward County and is probably 80% black 10% white and 10% other races. The problem with Lauderhill Mall is that it is in a very dangerous area. The majority of the city south of Oakland Park Blvd is very old and run down and is gang central, lots of shootings, drug busts, hit and runs, you don’t want to be there at night. The city is working on upgrading state road 7 which runs along the mall’s east side. A new Super Walmart opened north of the mall about a mile or so and along with that came some other new businesses, Walgreens, Burger King etc. The mall is definately a community mall and serves the people living near it, but it’s not a place you should go out of your way to see.

175. Wow i didnt know that that mall is that old.. 1966 thats older than my mom lol… I drive by there all the time and its always busy!

176. I need to contact the developer of this blog site. I am working on a Mall website and you have some informtion that I would like to have your permission to use. Please call me at 954-741-2234. Karlene

177. This mall would be a great location to film a movie about the 1960’s. You would just have to change the stores to resemble 1960’s brand names. Someone with a brain should use this mall for a filming location. Just make sure that the extras are from white areas to give it that old 1960s feel. You wont find whites in Lauderhill, Fl. So you’ll have to go to Hollywood, FL and recruit them.

178. The orange Julius’ and the Lauderhill Mall sign 🙂 I will never forget the Lauderhill Mall. It was the best and biggest thing at that time!

179. Why is there so many black people in this mall?

180. @Rough road, it’s a Caribbean-flavored mall!

181. This mall now has a website! No, the redevelopment never happened, and yes, it’s still kicking that 1960s decor. Most of the stores mentioned and shown are still around, including Root’s Childrens Store, Foot Locker, Tropi-Taste, Jerk Machine, and more.

     I’d love to try some of the food here, but it’s not a good neighborhood.

182. @Caldor, I agree! Riverchase Galleria in Alabama is well-maintained and a super-regional draw, but there’s lots of minority shoppers (real shoppers, not hoodlums).

183. @anabwi, It actually is just Zayre (no ‘s)

184. Hi all! This website is great! I love listening to all of your stories and memories! My family has strong ties to a lot of the areas you mentioned. Especially during the lauderhill mall’s glory days. Myself I grew up in Sunrise from 1977-2000. I was wondering if any of you remember a restaurant called Scarlett O’ Haras in sunrise? I can’t remember exactly where it was as it burned down sometime during the early 1980’s. Any help sure would be greatly appreciated!

185. When I was 15 I worked at Lanson’s Men Store each weekend. I,too, remember the big slide, and loved it when the traveling fair would set up in the parking lot. Me and my friends would ride the “Himalaya” over and over to the song Judy in Disguise with Glasses. I loved the strawberry pies that Woolco made. Thanks for the memories.

186. While waiting on my first career job with Xerox, I worked at the Mall for JB Hunter as a department Manager. I worked for Joel Penny, the store manager, who had twin sons. In 1996 his son was killed in the line of duty, he had worked for the Ft laud police dept. I saw Joel 24 years later at his son’s funeral. Lauderhill was turning bad around the time I started; I lived just west of the Turnpike in 72 and knew a shortcut under the turnpike that was a tunnel for pedestrians. I always thought that Mall was a dump. It was designed wrong, had no identity and was a bad place to leave your car if you valued the vehicle. The Bagel Nosh was down the road and I knew the owners who opened it in 1974. These NY Wise guys were part of the crew that went down in the movie Donnie Brasco. It was Lefty that was sent down to South FL to open these joints and oversee their operations. I bought my first car at Luke Bolton Ford a 1968 T Bird and got ripped off big time by a slimebag named George, used car salesman. I bought it in 1970 and paid almost twice for the car based on the interest rate he shoved down my throat. This was the first screwing I got and the last buying anything. Lauderhill 40 years ago was an interesting place and a small town rural area that turned into what the rest of S Fl Looks like, a parking lot.

187. I’ve got a case of nostalgia something major here… I lived in Sunrise from the late 70’s all the way to the end of the 80’s and I remember the Broward Mall a lot more than the Lauderhill Mall. The biggest thing I remember about Lauderhill was Royal Sounds Record Store. It was run by Billy Hines, whose son, Adrian made “Bass Rock Express” and pretty much kicked off the Miami Bass craze. Too bad it wasn’t called Lauderhill Bass, which would have been more appropriate, since this was really the heart of the scene. I was too young to remember much, but I do recall going to Horizon Elementary & Bair Middle and the DJs for our school dances in Sunrise were always the Lauderhill guys. For those who think the mall caters to the more urban clientele, I have news for you. It was always that way, even back in the 80’s. That’s part of what made it so cool, and probably why it has lasted unmarred for so long. Place like this never held the pretense of a fashion mall that dies as soon as the goofy architecture becomes dated.

     Oh, and to Jamie: Scarlett O’Hara’s was on Oakland Park Blvd between Pine Island and Nob Hill Rd. in the heart of Welleby. I remember playing in the burned-out ruins in my youth before they tore it down. We used to sneak in and play in the dumb waiter. For a while after there was a tennis club and a community pool (which my friends and I used to play pranks on by moving their furniture in the middle of the night: on top of the roof, bottom of the pool, by the canal, on the highway median, etc.) Not really sure what’s there now, though.

     I myself grew up near Nob Hill & Sunset Strip and remember going to Cards Unlimited to buy comic books before I discovered the Comic & Gaming Exchange. I used to walk down & buy stink bombs and fake dog poo at Shank’s Rock n’ Roll, and play in the field – that’s what we called the woods between my neighborhood & Nob Hill Elementary: just “The Field” – before they built a bridge over the canal and made Nob Hill Rd. continue south into Plantation.

     I think my friends and I helped eliminate the local turtle population in the 80’s we caught so many. We snatched hundreds of baby turtles from the canals down there back when you couldn’t buy or sell them at pet stores because of the salmonella scare of the 70’s. We thought we were going to keep them and take care of them, but most of them died in captivity. We were just idiot kids.

     Malls were a great place to hang out in South Florida as a kid up until 1981, and then everything changed. The Adam Walsh murder (he disappeared from the Hollywood Mall) really affected parents & children in South Florida pretty intensely. Suddenly we weren’t allowed to go wander through the mall on our own, we had to stay close to mom because there was a killer on the loose. The care-free attitudes we had up until that point suddenly vanished, and the malls became the places where our older brothers and sisters could explore, but we had to be dragged into the boring stores to buy housewares. And if we complained or wandered out of sight, we were lectured again about the gruesome fate of Adam Walsh.

188. This is the Adam Walsh mall.

189. No it isn’t. That mall was in Hollywood, FL.

190. GREW UP IN MELROSE PARK, 441 & BROWARD BLV. S.E. CORNER. HERE ARE SOME PLACES FROM THE 60s-70s

     BROWARD BLV. –

     KENNYS SHOES
     A&W
     THE RED BARN
     FARM STORE
     HAROLDS CHICKEN
     DORYS SEAFOOD
     GRANTS
     THE HOBBY SHOP
     HOWARD JOHNSONS
     KINGS
     GRAND UNION
     FLAMINGO LANES BOWLING
     McCROYS

     441-

     BBQ SPOT
     GOONIE GOLF
     DAIRY QUEEN
     BOBS BIG BOY
     GOLD TRIANGLE
     PLANTATION MOVIES
     THE GAS LIGHT
     MICKEY ROONIES
     BLACK ANGUS
     THE CLOCK
     PLAY WORLD
     THE GROUND ROUND
     SWEDEN HOUSE
     DOLPHIN LANES
     RICHARDS
     WOOLCO
     BORDENS REST.
     FUZZYS TIRE
     LUKE BOLTON FORD ( MOM WORKED THERE )

     WOW THAT TAXED THE OLD BRAIN….

191. In ’72 I got a BJ in the shidder at Woolco by a black chick that I met there. Then we went to the snack bar for a coke and popcorn. Never saw her again.

192. Judy Rose was the ‘head shop’ in the mall during the 70’s in case no one else posted this. Black lights, posters, beads, patches, etc…incense…great little store.

193. @Tony B, Holy sh*t, I picked mushrooms on the cow field where the Broward mall is now, too. I went to Plantation high, class of 76, what about you!? Hilarious, your comment brought me back!

     Terri

194. @Nessie, did you live in Lauderhill behind the Lindsley Lumber and went to Lauderhill Middle I lived on 44Ave next door to Maryann Huges and down the street from Steve Caro

195. @Nessie, Did you live behind the old Lindsley Lumber in lauderhill I lived on 44Ave a few houses from Steve and Kim Caro

196. @Nessie,

     HEY NESSIE.. MARK B. SAID YOU HAD SEEN MY POSTS. LOL SMALL WORLD !

197. @JP, Loews was a huge single theater when the mall opened. Sometime in late 70’s , early 80’s it became a double theater. I remember seeing First blood with Sly Stallone there in 82. Also saw Willy Wonka ther when i was a kid. It was an awesome mall in its day. I remember the new model cars would be on display in the mall. every year. What happen to this place ?

198. @ROGER, Yes Sir those were the days. I remember every one of those places. Pizza was the best and the mall had a great arcade. Saturdays were movies, pizza, and pinball.

199. @Nancy, Judy Rose was the poster, incense shop

200. @Ralph, Marios. good pizza too.

201. @ROGER, goonie golf. oh yeah

202. @Pete M, dont forget Sweden House

203. @Nancy, The Georgia Pig. Still going strong

204. @Elaine, Britts was in the lakes mall. north end.

205. @Ralph, Zipz. we used to hang out there.

206. @Wes, Before it was ground round, it was Howard Johnsons. What a place it was. What happened to South Florida ?

207. SWEDEN HOUSE was the best!!!

     I remember also black angus and gold triangle.

     Good memories.

     Mario I from Montreal

208. @Nancy, did you live across the street form Rick Garrett

209. @Nancy, yes I lived on 44 ave I remember when the built them I lived behind the Lindsey Lumber

210. I remember the Pinball Arcade that was at the Southwest end of the mall back next to the package-pickup grocery store back in the 70’s 80’s

211. HI all! I was wondering if anybody can help me remember the name of a seafood restaurant in Lauderhill? It was located on the corner of Oakland Park BLVD and Rock Island RD and was an outparcel building at the Inverrary Publix plaza. I remember that it had a lot of nautical decorations outside like full size buoys, wharf pilings among other things and was located there in the early 1980’s. ANY help would be greatly appreciated!! I spent a better part of my life in that area back then but I just can’t remember the name of it. Maybe it’s true what some say “if you can remember that far back then you weren’t really there.”

212. @Jamie, I believe it was the New England oyster house it was in the parking lot with Publix and McDonald’s and I think then it changed the shells seafood

213. @Roger ash, THANKS FOR THE INFO!!! YOU SAVED MY SANITY!!

214. Didn’t know where to put this video. This is just one of several massive development projects rising in the center of Miami.

     Miami WorldCenter…

     [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efETFMpRSiI&w=560&h=315%5D

215. Related, Resorts World Miami. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfnLzgNi3VQ&w=560&h=315%5D

216. one more upload.

     [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U738MYMkk_I&w=560&h=315%5D

217. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3g5aXMLKNM&w=420&h=315%5D

     The nearby Aventura Mall is adding an aditional 241,000 square feet of retail space, a fifth parking deck & a consolidated transit center for both the mall & the city. This will bring the total size of the center to just under 3,000,000 square feet.

     The video is a bit dated.

218. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LHmBHXri0I&w=420&h=315%5D

     A more recent one.

219. Wow! I just found this site by luck. First thing first, the store that wasn’t mention was the World Bazaar, dad call it the hippy store due to the incense smell. I too grew up and still live in Broward. Nothing but fond memories of both Lauderhill and Lakes malls. I must have bought every plastic airplane model at Woolco, shopping for clothes at Richards. Seeing Jaws at the movie theater, I believe the last movie I saw at that theater was 1941. Buying Chuck Taylors at Broward sports. Here’s my list of restaurant not mention yet. Minnie Pearls fried chicken, south of LM[the building still stands] Burger Castle on Davie Blvd &441[empty lot now] Chuck’s Steak house, just south of Broward Blvd, The Round Table on 441 south of Oakland Pk Blvd, Ding Ho across the street from Gold Triangle,[round building is still standing, it’s a pawn shop now] Just wondering! before it became Bagel Nosh, wasn’t it called Barnaby’s?

220. @Ralph, I have lived in the daytona beach area since birth in 1973. I know of the mall on the corner of Nova Road and International Speedway Blvd. That mall went to pot and is now demalled and a strip mall now. Books-a-million left for the volusia mall and now a Burlington coat factory exists there.which takes up from where books-a-million was all the way over to where Circuit City used to be as well. That mall used to have a Montgomery Wards back in the early 80s as well as a Zayre. I still remember Funtime USA the arcade inside of it just south of the entrance to Zayre in the mall. I can’t believe how things have changed. I could take a picture of where Zayre was and you can still see that it was a Zayre at one time. There is a Save-a-lot there and some other odds and end stores but the whole mall is a tatty shadow of its former self. Depressing to see it go like that. Also the chinese buffet closed down months ago.

221. @ROGER,
     Do you remember the Swiss Chalet restaurant in Margate, just north of Coconut Creek Parkyway. Nearby intersection had Albertson’s, Norris Catfish, frank’s Nursery, D’Lites Emporium, and the drive in theatre a little bit to the south of Swiss Chalet on the opposite side of 441.
     I can’t find any information about the old Margate Swiss Chalet. I know there were several locations.
     Commercial and 18th Avenue: Barnaby’s with Chuckles the Clown on Wednesday’s., Sub City, Chicken Unlimited, the Wharf, Stan’s Lounge on commercial and the Intracoastal, Nuccio’s Subs, water slide on Commercial and Dixie Hwy, Fourth Dimension. Taco Bravo, Zip’z ice cream, Nature’s Delites, Proffesor Pretz on federal hwy. Morrison’s, Jefferson’s, Beefsteak Charlie’s (free cocktail shrimp for happy hour)….memories,

222. I grew up in Plantation and went to Lauderhill Mall regularly. Loved that place. Speaking of restaurants…the Purple Pickle, Dan Dowds Steakhouse and Jacks Old Fashioned Hamburgers! Awesome…oh…Fat Freddies Sub Shop!

223. I worked as an usher at the Lowes theater there in 1967 when I was going to high school(Stranahan). When I worked there the mall was nearly complete but not yet fully tenanted. I remember thinking at the time how modern and clean it was. One of the anchor stores, Richards, was across the entrance hallway from our theater on the south side.

     Before the Lauderhill mall, I used to hang out at the old Galleria mall on Sunrise Blvd on the way to the beach.

     When I got out of the Army in 1970, I briefly went back to work as an usher at the Lowes theater because I was desperate for a job. I used to go out at night with a big rolling ladder and block letters and change the Marquis sign for the theater on the east side of the parking lot along 441.

224. @ROGER, I used to live just west of 441 near Riverland Road and would go to that shopping center all the time. I remember a gas station at the SW corner of Broward & 441 and a Radio Shack or Lafayette electronics store about a block south of the gas station.

     I used to take my Ford Pinto to Luke Bolton Ford and I worked at the Plantation Movies for awhile when I was in high school(Stranahan). I ushered in that theater when “Where Eagles Dare” played there. I also ushered at the Lowes theater in Lauderhill mall in 1967.