Florida - Labelscar: The Retail History Blog

Tampa Bay Center; Tampa, Florida

Opened in August 1976, Tampa Bay Center was one of Tampa Bay’s biggest and brightest shopping destinations. Centrally located north of downtown Tampa along Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (called Buffalo Avenue then) east of Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa Bay Center was next to Tampa Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was the place to be during the late 1970s and 1980s; but, despite rapid growth in the fruitful Tampa Bay area over the coming years and decades, Tampa Bay Center’s fate was ultimately sealed by far too much competition. When it opened, Tampa Bay Center had over 700,000 square feet of retail space and two anchors: Tampa’s first Burdines store and Sears, which actually opened before the mall did, in March 1976. The two anchors at Tampa Bay Center were arranged at each end of the structure, and a two-level mall corridor connected them.

This one’s long gone, so enjoy.

When it opened, Tampa Bay Center had over 700,000 square feet of retail space and two anchors: Tampa’s first Burdines store and Sears, which actually opened before the mall did, in March 1976. The two anchors at Tampa Bay Center were arranged at each end of the structure, and a two-level mall corridor connected them.

Due to the mall’s early success, Montgomery Ward was added as a third anchor near center court in 1980, bringing the center to almost 900,000 square feet. It was the first and only major addition to the mall during its entire history.

A piece of random trivia: Tampa Bay Center opened one day after another long-gone Tampa mall, Eastlake Square, which was similarly sized and located 6.5 miles away.

Designed by Maryland-based Rouse, Tampa Bay Center featured a tall, latticework trussed ceiling design, flanked on both sides by skylights, which bathed the entire center in natural light during a time when dark, drab colors and drop ceilings were common. However, the dark tile floors at Tampa Bay Center were more period-appropriate, as were the fountains and the tall trees placed throughout the first level. In addition, a glass elevator at center court was the mall’s centerpiece, and a unique-for-Florida design included a slope to the property, which meant shoppers could enter either level of the mall directly from the parking lot.

In terms of competition, Tampa Bay Center’s biggest foe was nearby WestShore Plaza, which opened in 1967 as the Tampa Bay area’s first mall and was located only a couple miles away. WestShore and Tampa Bay Center had complementary anchors and thrived nearly side by side for years; however, WestShore was always the more upscale, more conveniently located counterpart to Tampa Bay Center’s stadium-adjacent austerity. Eventually, WestShore began to emerge as the winner while Tampa Bay Center slowly spiraled downward.

By the late 1990s, Tampa Bay Center was in serious decline. WestShore Plaza announced plans for a dramatic expansion, beginning in 1997, which was basically the beginning of the end for Tampa Bay Center. A larger WestShore, directly on I-275 and centrally located within the Tampa Bay area, would spell disaster for Tampa Bay Center.

In addition to the WestShore expansion, a huge brand new mall, Brandon Town Center, opened in 1995 to serve the fast-growing sprawl in eastern Tampa, and in 1999 another massive mall called Citrus Park Town Center opened to serve Tampa’s north and northwest areas.

Meanwhile, in June 1998, Burdines announced they were leaving Tampa Bay Center, due both to building a new Citrus Park store as well as having a store just a few miles away at WestShore. For eight years, Burdines had operated stores at both WestShore Plaza and Tampa Bay Center after Burdines took over the Tampa-based Maas Brothers chain in 1991, which had a WestShore location. In 1999, Burdines closed their Tampa Bay Center store in favor of opening one at the new Citrus Park Town Center.

In late 2000, Montgomery Ward issued Tampa Bay Center another blow, by going out of business nationwide. With only Sears remaining, stores began leaving in droves, favoring either Citrus Park or WestShore locations.

As if all this competition weren’t enough already, regional mall-developer Taubman swooped in and decided to develop yet another large mall, located adjacent to Tampa’s airport and directly in between Tampa Bay Center and WestShore Plaza – only a mile from each. Called International Plaza and Bay Street, Tampa’s newest mall to date was another large, two-level behemoth, and with Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Lord and Taylor as anchors, it was proposed to be even more upscale and successful than WestShore.

With International Mall and Bay Street set to open in 2001, Tampa Bay Center faced an incredibly challenging uphill battle. By early 2001, many stores had already left Tampa Bay Center, and by Summer 2001 the remaining few stores were on month-to-month leases.

The final death knell came in Fall 2001 when Sears, Tampa Bay Center’s final anchor, announced it was leaving. Recognizing they were underwater in the deluge of competition and no longer under the obligation to maintain the 892,000 square-foot mall after Sears announced its departure, Rouse kicked out the mall walkers and whatever stores were left and closed the interior of the mall in January 2002. Sears, the final anchor at Tampa Bay Center, closed in September 2002. Though, with the mall already closed, Sears wasn’t anchoring much. Sears left due to opportunity: International Plaza lured Dillard’s away from WestShore, WestShore had a vacancy, and Sears saw an opportunity to jump from a sinking (sunken?) ship.

After Sears left, Rouse decided to market the mall for sale, and DeBartolo indicated interest in purchasing the mall to build an open-air retail center, but ultimately declined. Rouse came to the conclusion the site was no longer viable for retail given so much area competition. Rouse then sold the mall on December 31, 2002 for $22.8 million in cash to the Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who intended to turn about half the site into a training facility to complement the neighboring stadium.

Of course, this meant no more mall, and Tampa Bay Center was demolished 2005. The Bucs moved into the training facility in time for their 2006 season. The rest of the site became home to an overflow lot for Bucs games, and in 2007 the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit West Tampa Transfer Center opened to wow bus crowds near and far, but probably mostly near?

I visited Tampa Bay Center in May 2001 and took the pictures featured here, a short time before the mall closed permanently – please ignore my teenage mug in one of them. Tampa Bay Center, while once a successful retail pillar of Tampa, ultimately succumbed to one of the fiercest levels of competition we’ve seen yet. As usual, feel free to leave your comments and experiences.

Elsewhere on the web:

Photos from May 2001:

Florida Mall; Orlando, Florida

If you’ve ever visited the Orlando area as a tourist, odds are you’ve been very close to Florida Mall. Located just minutes from Sea World, Disney, and Universal, Florida Mall is the largest mall in the Orlando area and one of the closest malls to all these attractions. In fact, from 1986-2002, it was the only major mall in south Orlando. Since its grand opening, the massive Florida Mall has enjoyed immense success serving not only locals, but tourists from around the country and across the globe.

Let’s step back in time a bit. Before Disney World opened, ushering in millions of tourists annually and spawning other theme parks to create the largest tourist-centric area in the entire world, Orlando was little more than a sleepy burg surrounded by acres of orange groves. Orlando began to grow rapidly as a retirement destination during the latter half of the 20th century, but it wasn’t until after Disney World debuted in 1971 that Orlando began to really blossom, growing exponentially in the decades following.

However, before Orlando became known as the tourist capital of the world, two enclosed malls debuted in the 1960s to an already-growing population of people beating those cold northern winters: Colonial Plaza, which was enclosed from a strip mall in 1962, and Winter Park Mall, which opened in1964. These malls, while significant at the time, would be classified as neighborhood or possibly regional, but not super-regional centers by using today’s schematic. This would all change in the 1970s though as true behemoth super-regional centers came to fruition.

Throughout the 1970s, as the population swelled from 450,000 in 1970 to 700,000 by 1980, Central Florida built two truly super-regional malls: Orlando Fashion Square, built two blocks away from Colonial Plaza in 1973 – and Altamonte Mall, built north of Orlando in 1974. As a response, Colonial Plaza was downgraded in importance almost immediately; and though Winter Park Mall soldiered on into the 80s, both malls withered in the 90s and were eventually torn down and redeveloped as outdoor centers.

By the mid-1980s, the population of Central Florida had shot up to almost one million residents, and developers were eager to capitalize on the lack of a dominant retail presence in south Orlando. They realized a mall in south Orlando was a long time coming, and various proposals for a mall there began as early as the late 1960s; though, little success was made until the 1980s when plans were finalized.

Finally, in 1986, Ohio-based DeBartolo Group (later merged with Simon) opened the first super-regional mall, Florida Mall, in south Orlando at the intersection of Sand Lake Road and South Orange Blossom Trail, the main surface route leading south from central Orlando. Florida Mall opened as a single level mall with retail anchors JCPenney, Sears, Robinson’s, and Belk-Lindsay. A fifth anchor, a 12-story Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, also opened with the mall and opens into it just as a retail anchor would.

Florida Mall’s original layout was also much smaller and less interesting than it is today. Sears, JCPenney, and Robinson’s flanked the western end of the mall, toward Orange Blossom Trail, the hotel anchored the south side, and Belk-Lindsay was the eastern anchor.

Throughout the years, there have been many anchor changes, renovations, and expansions at Florida Mall. Of the mall’s original anchors, only Sears and JCPenney have stayed put. The first change took place when Robinson’s closed in 1988 and was replaced by New Orleans-based Maison Blanche that same year. Then, in 1993, the first major expansion took place as a Dillard’s was added to the eastern end of the mall. In 1994, Maison Blanche closed and became Mobile-based Gayfers. In 1996, Belk-Lindsay closed and was replaced by Saks Fifth Avenue. In 1998, Gayfers – only open for four years – became Birmingham-based Parisian, and JCPenney renovated and expanded its store.

In 2000, Florida Mall embarked on a massive expansion and renovation project, transforming the mall into the behemoth it is today. A Burdines store was added that year, as well as a V-shaped loop of dual mallways connecting Burdines to the existing mall. Then, in 2002, a Nordstrom was added as the icing on the cake to the expansion, adding a shorter stub wing off the Burdines wing that was just built, with 8 more store spaces. The end result is an amazingly huge floorplan for a single mall – it’s not possible to walk the entire mall quickly, and it’s fairly easy to even get lost.

At the same time the renovation took place, Parisian – which had only been open 3 years – became a Lord and Taylor in 2001. The next change took place in 2005, when Macy’s acquired Burdines and retired that nameplate, converting all of the venerable Florida Burdines into Macy’s. The next year, in 2006, Lord and Taylor – the last remaining store in Florida – closed, and remained shuttered until it was demolished in 2007 to make way for the ever-popular outdoor/’lifestyle’ addition. As of early 2010, the outdoor expansion had only partially come to fruition, and features a large Zara store, H&M, as well as an XXI Forever. And that’s it. Some reason to make people go outside. The hotel has also changed names a few times too, going from Holiday Inn to Sheraton to Adam’s Mark to an independent hotel called the Florida Hotel, which it remains today.

Florida Mall also has other interesting accoutrements, including a two-level Starbucks in the middle of the mall, a massive food court, and a huge M&M’s store. There is also an operating CVS inside the mall, despite CVS closing most of their mall stores in the last decade. In addition, the mall technically operates a strip plaza across the parking lot, currently featuring a Target and a Marshalls, which is probably included in the mall’s 1.8 million total square feet. According to many sites, Florida Mall is one of the largest single-story malls in the country, and I believe it.

Florida Mall remains on top of its game due to its location – 2 miles from the International Drive tourist strip and 3 miles from Orlando International Airport, its selection of stores, sheer size, and its massive expansion from 2000-2002 – which proved to be an effective defensive tactic. While immune to the myriad of super-regional malls that plopped down in other parts of Orlando in the 1990s, such as in Sanford, Oveido, Ocoee, and Waterford Lakes, Florida Mall had an immediate threat coming in 2002 with the opening of The Mall at Millenia, a very large, upscale center which opened just three miles away along the busy I-4. Millennia, with its shiny nuances and upscale swing, would have almost certainly decimated Florida Mall if it weren’t for the carefully planned anchor upgrades and the massive expansion that Florida Mall completed the same year Millenia opened. Coincidence? Definitely not.

In addition to Millenia, a large enclosed center called Festival Bay Mall also opened nearby in 2002, anchoring the north end of the International Drive tourist strip at the intersection of I-4 and Florida’s Turnpike. Unfortunately, even with a great location Festival Bay never took off and is a massive failure, providing neither competition to Florida Mall nor Mall at Millenia – it appears developers oversaturated the market that year.

We visited Florida Mall in February 2010 and took the pictures featured here. As usual, leave your own thoughts and experiences with the mall on the comments page – we really appreciate it.

Westland Mall; Hialeah, Florida

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Hialeah’s mall, Westland Mall, is located on the west side of the city along Palmetto Expressway (FL 826) at the intersection of 49th Street (FL 932). It opened in the summer of 1971, expanding upon an already-extant Burdine’s store, adding JCPenney as a middle anchor, and Sears on the other end with an enclosed mall of stores connecting them.

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Hialeah, Florida is a large, hispanic-majority city of 200,000 residents located just 10 miles from downtown Miami. With a history in silent movie-making and horse racing at storied Hialeah Park, Hialeah’s role in Cuban immigration has solidified its place as a working class, affordable suburb today. With a 92% hispanic/latino population, Hialeah has the second-highest amount of Cuban and Cuban-American residents in the country. In addition, 92% of residents also report speaking spanish as their first language.

Hialeah’s demographics today are a direct result of Fidel Castro’s rise to power in Cuba in 1959. Following then, several waves of Cuban exiles – continuing through the 1990s – created what one historian has called an “…affordable Eden”, as well as “…a place where different groups have left their imprint while trying to create a sample of what life should be like.” Hialeah today is considered one of the most economically successful immigrant enclaves in the country, and one of the only industrial cities poised for economic growth.

Hialeah’s mall, Westland Mall, is located on the west side of the city along Palmetto Expressway (FL 826) at the intersection of 49th Street (FL 932). It opened in the summer of 1971, expanding upon an already-extant Burdine’s store, adding JCPenney as a middle anchor, and Sears on the other end with an enclosed mall of stores connecting them.

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The layout of the mall is a simple dumbbell, and has remained largely unchanged since Westland first opened 38 years ago. In fact, the only large-scale cosmetic changes to the mall have been the addition of a food court, partial renovations – such as flooring, and the changing of Burdines to Macys in 2005. As of January 2007, the alternating wood-paneled ceiling remained, as well as the unique skylight windows. Are they still there? Overall, these features were by far the most interesting features of this mall.

Although demographics informs some of the tenets of the mall – such as spanish signage and hispanic/latin restaurants – many of the mall’s tenants and atmosphere in general are your typical run-of-the-mill mid-tier mall stores, such as Lens Crafters, Victoria’s Secret, and Pac Sun.

Another change at Westland Mall recently was a change in ownership. Previously owned by the Mills Corporation, Westland was unloaded to Westfield America in 2007 after Mills was sold to Simon and Simon ostensibly didn’t want it. Immediately following acquisition, Westfield technically “renamed” the mall to “Westland Westfield” – but we’ll pretend that didn’t happen, at least in official recognition (see the title). It’s not like we have any major beef with Westfield, they’re a fine operator – but to rename every mall with a brand? Too much.

The pictures featured here were taken in January 2007. As usual, feel free to leave your own comments and experiences with Westland Mall.

Orange Park Mall; Orange Park, Florida

The Jacksonville region, also known as Florida’s First Coast, is home to over one million people and the anchor city for a large geographic area in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. The region is not only the coastal gateway to the state of Florida, but also a tourist destination known for its sandy beaches, warm climate, and numerous cultural amenities. In addition, the city of Jacksonville is the largest city in geographic area (758 square miles) in the continental United States; only Juneau, Alaska is bigger.

Built in 1975, Orange Park Mall has been the anchor shopping center for a suburban area of Jacksonville south and west of the St. Johns River for over three decades. In fact, it is the only large, regional mall on the west side of the river in Jacksonville; Regency Square (opened 1967), The Avenues Mall (opened 1990) and St. John’s Town Center (outdoor, opened 2005) are all on the east side of the river. Other smaller malls have also come and gone in Jacksonville, including Normandy Mall, Gateway Center Mall, and Roosevelt Mall, but these were always local, neighborhood-oriented malls and have either mostly been disenclosed or put to other uses.

Orange Park Mall, according to one user on Yelp, “is just your average suburban shopping mall,” and we couldn’t agree more. Malls like Orange Park offer a very typical middle-of-the-road retail experience, and are common across the nation, mainly in middle class suburban enclaves surrounding large cities. Typically, one (or more, if the metro is large enough) shopping center will have unquestionable dominance in a market big enough for several malls. Some examples of this are Woodfield Mall near Chicago, King of Prussia Mall near Philadelphia, and the Galleria in Houston. While these malls remain the super-regional draw in the metro, other regional malls may also exist in the market, typically serving a geographical “side” or area. And, if this area is middle class through and through, these malls tend to reflect this in their stores and services. Orange Park Mall is a great example of this. The mall is popular mainly because of its location; its proximity to shoppers is its main value because the mall is closer to them than other malls on an equal or better footing, and as such store vacancies are low and the mall is filled with many mid-line national and regional chains. It may have Hollister and Old Navy, but it probably won’t have Fendi or Lacoste.

It is because of this that we dub Orange Park Mall the official middle-of-the-road Everyman’s Mall of our site. Take a look; it doesn’t get any more average than this. Now, we impart no negativity on this distinction; it is what it is. It’s a utilitarian place for regional shoppers, offering few frills yet it’s still a large, enclosed, packed suburban icon. This is your everyday, typical suburban mall.

Orange Park Mall is currently anchored by Belk, JCPenney, Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Sears, with 120 stores, a 24-screen AMC Theater, and a 400-seat food court. The mall is located just west of the river along I-295 at Blanding, near a whole bunch of the type of big box strip you’d expect from an Everyman Mall area (like Best Buy…) and a bunch of chain restaurants. Shoppers who want a bit more upscale atmosphere can jump on 295 and head across the river to The Avenues, and a newer “Lifestyle Center” called St. John’s Town Center a bit farther afield has even more upmarket offerings.

The layout of Orange Park Mall indicates an addition was probably made at some point, and though it’s hard to say, it looks as if the JCPenney wing is “newer” – can anyone confirm? Today the mall stands at just under one million square feet of retail space, including anchors. Both its sheer size and the fact that it is the only mall west of the river should cement its popularity even despite the economic downturn and the fact that The Avenues is only a few minutes away across the bridge.

We visited Orange Park Mall in January 2008 and took the pictures featured here. We’d like to know more about the history of Orange Park Mall since it opened way back in the mid 1970s. We know the Dillard’s was once a Charlotte, N.C. based Ivey’s (until about 1990 when Dillard’s bought the Ivey’s chain) but we know little about the history of the rest of the anchor stores. As usual, leave your comments and your experiences here.

Palm Beach Mall; West Palm Beach, Florida

2004 photo of Burdine's at Palm Beach Mall in West Palm Beach, FL When the Palm Beach Mall opened in 1967, it was billed as the largest enclosed mall in the Southeast. Located in West Palm Beach, FL, the mall helped serve a community who didn’t necessarily need the opulence of Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue shopping area. It opened amidst spectacular gardens and fountains and was anchored by the Miami-based Jordan Marsh, JCPenney and the number three of the three Miami stores, Richards.

I don’t get many chances to travel by plane nowadays, so I’m thankful for people like Michael Lisicky, who have contributed a lot of great photos and information to Labelscar. This package of photos and history on the Palm Beach Mall in West Palm Beach, Florida, comes from Mr. Lisicky. I know I drove past this place in 2000 but I wasn’t able to stop (I had to catch a flight!) so I’m glad that some of the pieces have been put together–it seems it’s a fascinating case of a large, once-dominant mall losing its grip on the market in this South Florida city:

“When the Palm Beach Mall opened in 1967, it was billed as the largest enclosed mall in the Southeast. Located in West Palm Beach, FL, the mall helped serve a community who didn’t necessarily need the opulence of Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue shopping area. It opened amidst spectacular gardens and fountains and was anchored by the Miami-based Jordan Marsh, JCPenney and the number three of the three Miami stores, Richards. Palm Beach Mall thrived in the 1970s and beyond. So much so that the other Miami store, Burdines, left its downtown West Palm Beach location to join the Palm Beach Mall in 1980.

“But 1980 also meant more change to the mall. Richards, a unit of the troubled holding company City Stores, was forced to close all 8 Florida stores. This included not only the flagship in downtown Miami
but also the Palm Beach Mall location. Richards helped serve the more moderate end of the department store field in South Florida and therefore it found itself in less desirable shopping centers. However it was located in a couple of malls like Cutler Ridge and Palm Beach Mall where mall owners were threatening the company with eviction do to the lower quality of their merchandise. After Richards left, their anchor spot was quickly snatched up by Sears.

“The 1980s saw the infiltration of outside stores heading to Florida. Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Lord & Taylor joined Saks and Bonwit Teller to make the shopping environment more competitive. Burdines quickly defined itself as “The Florida Store” and solidified its place as the destination for loyal local and visiting shoppers. Jordan Marsh, which started Florida operations in 1956, was once the store for higher fashion. With newcomers heading into the state, the store lost focus and decided to downgrade in order to compete. It was a devastating decision for the company.

Lord & Taylor chose to come into the flourishing Palm Beach Mall during its massive invation into South Florida in the 1980s. Both Lord & Taylor and Jordan Marsh enjoyed high visibility from drivers on I-95. (Palm Beach Mall is actually the only mall visible from I-95 in all of South Florida.) But then things began to change. Jordan Marsh, floundering in bankruptcy, closed its stores in 1991. Lord & Taylor would end up retrenching years down the road eventually leaving Florida altogether. As the mall’s demographics changed the wonderful interior would be blandified over the years.

“In the late 90s one of the biggest changes to happen to Palm Beach Mall was the razing of the Jordan Marsh store in order for Dillard’s to try to make its stand in South Florida. Shut out by Burdines and sister stores, Dillard’s had limited choices on where to locate. This dramatically changed the center court. Though the high ceiling remains to this day, gone is the exotic drama of its former interior self. And with a vacant and visible Lord & Taylor building, the mall decided to raze the store and leave the site ready for future development, development that has never materialized.

“Burdines also suffered as the Macy influence gradually gained control. The store, even to this day, has a dramatic open feeling to its interior. This “Florida feeling” helped define to the public what
Burdines was all about. But in 2005 the store became a Macy’s. Up to the changeover, 2 of the 4 exterior entrances were sealed off. The parking garage leading into the upper floor of the store has even been closed off. Large portion of the store are walled off. Though the store has that great turquoise seashore feel, its merchandise no longer reflects the South Florida lifestyle. It has a true feeling of doom.

“Palm Beach Mall received a blow in 1999 when a young manager of the Chick-Fil-A store was murdered. Though it was deemed an inside job, few malls really can survive a high profile murder incident. (May I cite the Cloverleaf Mall in Richmond, VA?) More and more national merchants began to leave the mall in droves. The mall still is somewhat active but most stores seem to be on short term leases. Its current owner, Simon, seems to be in the mode to just fill the spaces, with anything. There is talk about the mall being ‘de-malled’. It’s fair to say its future is uncertain. There is too much competition in the immediate area to support this center. Time will tell.

“The pictures below were taken in late July, 2007. The interior store shots at the end are of the inside of the former Burdines, now Macy’s. The picture of the vacant lot next to the mall is where the Lord & Taylor was razed.”

The Burdine’s shots here are obviously not from 2007, they are 3 years older–from 2004. And the shot with the Jordan Marsh was from July of 1991; I know that it certainly takes me back, since Jordan Marsh’s New England stores (many of which are now being demolished, as they were abandoned by Macy’s) looked just like this. Michael also notes that the below Richards ad was from 1980, and was the last advertisement they ever ran in the Miami Herald. It also lists locations of their other stores at the time:

Update: The Palm Beach Mall is nearing the end of its life and will likely be closing soon. Reader Evan from Florida sent us a few photos of the current state of the mall in fall of 2008:

Lauderhill Mall; Lauderhill, Florida

It’s about Spring break time, so we’re headed south to the original Spring break destination of Fort Lauderdale, and to a little mall just to the west in suburban Lauderhill. Walking into Lauderhill Mall is like walking into a time vacuum and being sucked back 30 (or more?) years. It is not only a wonderfully-preserved example of retail times gone by, but it is possibly the most reliced property we’ve featured on this site which is still open – and not dead. At any rate, we feel that Lauderhill is an appropriate foray into the retail scene of south Florida, a rapidly changing and exponentially growing place with a rich and unique retail history.

This amazing relic sits on 40 acres of property along State Road 7 just north of Sunrise Boulevard in the small village of Lauderhill, just west of the city of Fort Lauderdale. Opened in 1966, it was billed as the first air-conditioned mall in the southeastern United States. Since opening, Broward County and south Florida in general have changed dramatically. For one, the population of Broward County was only 350,000 in 1966. Today it is 1.8 million and growing rapidly. In addition, with the massive population growth came larger, more modern malls and big box centers. These have effectively outmoded Lauderhill Mall and it has far outlived its original purpose. The only reason it still exists is because it was purchased decades ago by a privately held Canadian partnership which has done very little to the mall at all, leaving it looking almost exactly the same today as it did the day it opened. They do keep the place clean, however.

As far as tenants, or general information about the mall in general, little information is available. As the mall lacks a website, even current information is relatively difficult to find. Upon visiting the mall in January 2007, we discovered it was tenanted with many local and national retailers, many of which cater to an urban, lower-income market. Despite no longer having anchors, Lauderhill Mall has a low vacancy rate.

Clearly, the main event of this mall is its sheer existence in the face of obsolescence. We’re talking stores with cedar shingles, an ancient directory which is possibly several decades old and even yellowing due to age, mirror-backed storefronts, and wooden-flanked conversation areas with planters staged throughout the middle of the mall walkway. There is nothing modern about this mall, and it is possibly one of the best-preserved retail relics still open today.

But this won’t be the case for very long.

As the story commonly goes for outdated retail, massive changes are afoot for Lauderhill Mall. Announced in September 2006, it appears the wave of “new urbanism” will flood Lauderhill with new residential, office, and retail. This would, of course, involve tearing down most, if not all, of the 650,000 square-foot mall and replacing it with over 1 million feet of new space. The demolition could start later this year, and is considered a vital linchpin in the revitalization of the Route 7 corridor between Miami and Broward County and points northward. This redevelopment is all the result of the acceptance of an unsolicited offer to the Canadian partnership from a south Florida firm.

So say goodbye to Lauderhill Mall, at least the Lauderhill Mall which has existed for more than four decades. It’ll be gone after this year, but not before being documented here for perhaps the very first time. That’s what we’re here for, anyway. The pictures here were taken in January 2007 (though I probably could have told you 1977 rather convincingly). If you know anything about the mall, specifically about the history and the anchors here, leave some comments and let us know.

Festival Bay Mall; Orlando, Florida

Opened in 2002 near a former Belz Factory Outlets site, Festival Bay Mall is the Orlando area’s newest enclosed mall; however, it is anything but typical. For one, its location almost certainly dictates Festival Bay Mall’s positioning. Leased and managed by General Growth and owned by Belz, Festival Bay Mall is situated on the north end of International Drive (locally known as I Drive), a tourist-oriented strip loosely connecting Universal, Sea World, Orlando Convention Center and Disney areas. Most of the businesses along I Drive attempt to grab the dollars of tourists who came to see Orlando’s theme park offerings, and consist of destination stores, outlet malls, and even the world’s largest McDonald’s. In addition, two larger, more traditional malls with traditional anchors exist within 10 minutes of Festival Bay Mall: the massive Florida Mall and the very upscale Mall at Millenia, which opened in 2001.

As such, the positioning of Festival Bay Mall is themed with the tourist in mind. The larger anchor stores are destination specialty stores such as Ron Jon Surf Shop (with Surfpark opening in Summer 2007), Vans Skatepark, Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear, Putting Edge miniature golf, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Sheplers Western Wear, and a Cinemark 20-screen movie theater. There’s even a small outpost of Hawaii-based Hilo Hattie, which bills itself as the store of Hawaii. And although the anchors are non-traditional, the in-line offerings are much more typical of a suburban enclosed mall, with retailers like BCBG MaxAzria, Pac Sun, Icing by Claire’s, and Journeys. The food offerings at the mall are also typical, with Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Villa Pizza, A&W/Long John Silver’s, and Fuddruckers.

The layout of Festival Bay Mall is also unique. The main entrance is off I Drive, and features a man-made lake which extends from the outside into the building’s center court, which is at the main entrance. This is the first mall I have seen with a body of water which exists both outside and inside. The center court also feels very grand and impressive with the lake as the centerpiece. The floorplan of the mall itself is also atypical. A hallway runs around the perimeter of the center in a circle, in addition to hallways which begin at center court and cut directly through the mall and reconnect at the circle. Take a look at the directory picture for a reference. It was definitely kind of fun getting lost here.

Another atypical feature of Festival Bay Mall is the vacancy rate. For being less than five years old, the mall is alarmingly empty. So much so, in fact, that there have been numerous mentions of this on both the mall’s deadmalls.com article and its Wikipedia entry. Most brand new malls open with almost no vacancy as retailers clamor years in advance to put their stores in the new mall. I would venture to blame the mall’s location and tourist-positioning for its relative inability to find stores. Until now, that is. It appears that Festival Bay Mall is finally on the upswing. Many new stores are opening or are planned to open in 2007, which will hopefully fill the place up. That said, at least one of the radials from center court is almost completely vacant.

The pictures featured here were taken in January 2007. Feel free to leave your own comments about Festival Bay Mall and how it’s progressing.

Orange Blossom Mall; Fort Pierce, Florida

This one was truly amazing. Located along Okeechobee Road in the west part of Fort Pierce, Florida, Orange Blossom Mall sat for decades. It seems to have died a slow, drawn out retail death, leaving behind a massive hulking structure which was open to walk but not really to shop. When I visited in May 2001 only a few stores were operating. The mall was, at one point, anchored by Sears and a Belk-Lindsay, so says the mall’s directory. Both were shuttered by the time I visited the mall in 2001. Also unique about the directory is the notation of ‘future dept. stores’ and ‘future expansion’, spelling out a woeful tale of unrealized glitz and glamour. Check it out below.

The mall’s interior corridor was shaped in a ‘9’ figuration, and was listed at 423,000 square feet in 1998. Upon my visit in 2001, Sears was closed and the east end of the mall was inhabited by a Cincinatti-based call center, Convergys Inc. In 2005, Convergys Inc. closed their location at the Orange Blossom Mall, leaving it even more dead if that’s possible.

As you can see in the pictures below, the Orange Blossom Mall’s condition was horrendous. The number of retail stores operating is listed beside the directory. I count 10 of them and no anchors. There was also a gym called Barbell’s (I think? It was over five years ago) operating at the west mall entrance closest to the former Sears. Of note, check out the Labelscar for The Gap! For all who don’t know or remember, this was their ancient logo before the ‘Gap Classic’ stores emerged in the early 1990s. Does anyone have any information about any of these older Gap stores still in operation? I remember shopping at one as a small child in the Machesney Park Mall near Rockford, Illinois, sometime in the late 1980s. Also, check out all the other dated storefronts. Maybe some of you will clue us in as to what they were.

A bit more about the known history of the mall. From what I could dig up, the mall was sold in 1998 by Met Life (who also owned many beleagured malls at the time, including Euclid Square Mall in Ohio and Rhode Island Mall) to a company called Zamias Services, who managed it for a while and then divested it. It currently operates as Orange Blossom Office Center, but I’m not sure if any conversions or demolitions of the structure have taken place yet. Does anyone know if most of the mall is still standing or able to be walked? I returned to visit a year later in June 2002 and the mall was in virtually the same condition, but I have not been back since.

Also, we’re wondering about the mall prior to present times. I can conjecture that people abandoned the mall to shop at the nicer Treasure Coast Square about 20 miles away in Jensen Beach or the massive retail strip along Route 1 up and down the Treasure Coast. In addition, Fort Pierce is itself a marginally depressed city, economically, and that probably also contributed to the mall’s demise. Demographically, the city has a very diverse socioeconomic makeup much different from that of the surrounding metro area. The metro area includes St. Lucie, Florida, which was named in 2006 as the fastest growing city above 100,000 in the country. It shot up from 88,000 in the 2000 census to an estimated 150,000 as of early 2006. Wow! We’d like to hear from some people who know more about the area than we do. When did the mall die? Was it ever successful? As always your comments are appreciated.