The Florida Mall

The Florida Mall

One of the mall's entrances
Location Orlando, Florida
Opening date March 12, 1986
Developer Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. and JMB Realty
Owner Simon Property Group (50%)
No. of stores and services 250+
No. of anchor tenants 4
Total retail floor area 1,849,000 sq ft (171,800 m2)
No. of floors 1 (2 in Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, Sears, The Crayola Experience, H&M, and XXI Forever.)
Public transit access Lynx (Orlando) 07, 37, 42, 107, 108, 111, 418, 441
Sand Lake Road Station
Website Official website

The Florida Mall is a super regional enclosed shopping mall located in unincorporated Orlando, Florida, on the southeast corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Sand Lake Road; it opened in 1986. The facility was developed by Eddie DeBartolo of DeBartolo Realty; it is currently managed by Simon Property Group, which owns 50%, having fallen to Simon following the 1996 merger of Simon and DeBartolo Realty into Simon DeBartolo Group. With 1,849,000 sq ft (171,800 m2) of gross leasable area and over 250 retailers,[1] it is one of the largest single-story malls in the United States.

Among the major retailers in the buildings surrounding the mall are Toys "R" Us and Rooms To Go, as well as a business plaza and several restaurants. The Florida Mall once controlled but sold in 2013 an outdoor shopping plaza, The Terrace at The Florida Mall, next door to the east on Sand Lake Road. It features a Target, Marshalls and American Signature Furniture.

The mall is anchored by Dillard's, Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, The Crayola Experience, and Sears,

Location

Aerial view of The Florida Mall

The Florida Mall is located close to Orlando International Airport and many other Orlando attractions including Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando. The Florida Hotel contains 510 guest rooms and suites. The hotel was built by E.J. DeBartolo and owned in partnership with Pratt Hotel Corporation of Dallas, TX. Originally branded as a Crowne Plaza, then as a Sheraton Plaza, the hotel was sold to Adam’s Mark in 1996. In 2004 the hotel was purchased by a group headed by the Bank of Scotland.

History

The mall opened on March 12, 1986. In the late 1990s Dillard's opened one expanded two-story location on the east end of the east-west oriented mall with JCPenney (opened with the mall in 1986) at the opposite end. The old second location of Dillard's across from Saks Fifth Avenue was demolished and a new extension of the mall was added with two parallel north-south oriented hallways with a Burdines (now Macy's) at the south end where both hallways merge and end. Another hallway was added later on the one further east with a Nordstrom (closed August 2014, now divided into Crayola Experience and Dick's Sporting Goods) at the end completing this expansion. American Girl opened in fall 2014.

On February 24, 2012 Orange County Sheriff's deputies were called in with riot-gear to disperse a rioting crowd of over 3,000 people waiting for the release of the new Nike Galaxy Foams at Foot Locker.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The mall is serviced by Lynx buses (links) 7, 37, 42, 107, 108, 111, 418, and 441.

Right next to the mall stretches the Florida State Road 528 which has an exit at the Orange Blossom Trail (exit 4). The exit is only few exits away from the Orlando International Airport.

Tenants

Anchor stores

Store Opened Notes
Anchor stores[2]
Dillard's 1993 Originally occupied two anchor locations, quickly redeveloped into one two-story location.
JCPenney 1986 Renovated/expanded in 1998.
Forever 21 2009 Opened in 1986 as Robinson's, converted to Maison Blanche in 1988, expanded and converted to Gayfers in 1993, converted to Parisian in 1998, converted to Lord & Taylor in 2001. Closed in 2006, demolished/redeveloped in 2007 as an open-air shopping area.
Macy's 2005 Opened in 2000 as Burdines, converted/rebranded to Macy's in 2005.
Dick's Sporting Goods 2015 Opened in 2002 as a Nordstrom. Closed August 16, 2014. Some of the former Nordstrom store was subdivided to create The Crayola Experience[3] while most of the former Nordstrom store became converted into a Dick's Sporting Goods.
Dining Pavilion 2015 Opened as Belk-Lindsay, converted to Saks Fifth Avenue in 1996. Closed March 2014,[4] replaced by new Food Pavilion on June 1, 2015.
Sears 1986

Junior anchor stores

Former anchors

Former Lord & Taylor, now H&M & Zara.
Former Nordstrom, now Dick's Sporting Goods & The Crayola Experience.

Planned development

Hamley's will be opening soon in the mall, in the former Playmobil, along with American Girl.

References

  1. ↑ "Mall Directory". The Florida Mall. Simon Property Group, Inc. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
  2. ↑ "Florida Mall; Orlando, Florida". Labelscar. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  3. ↑ "Nordstrom to close at the Florida Mall". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  4. ↑ "Rumor: Saks Fifth Avenue to close at Florida Mall in 3 months - Orlando Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
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