Few cities in America were impacted by the rise of suburban shopping malls as significantly as Jacksonville.
The city had already built up a reputation as a shopping mecca through its decades of thriving downtown department stores. It therefore came as no surprise that, when shopping malls boomed in popularity in the 1960s, mall developers set their sights on the Bold City.
Five enclosed shopping malls debuted in Jacksonville during the ‘60s, and another three were built in the decades since. Only two are still in operation as malls, with the rest having been either redeveloped for a new purpose or demolished.
We’ve put together a brief history of each of Jacksonville’s eight indoor shopping malls, as a reminder of how the city was once among the country’s finest shopping destinations.
Regency Square Mall opened in 1967 within the Arlington neighborhood, which at the time was the city’s fastest-growing area. Developed by Regency Centers, the $12 million mall debuted with three anchor tenants: J.C. Penney, Furchgott’s, and May-Cohens.
By the late ‘70s, Regency Square was one of the country’s most active shopping malls, and plans emerged a $30 million expansion that would double its size.
A new wing was constructed in 1981 on the opposite end of May-Cohens’ building, adding dozens of stores and two new anchor tenants: Ivey’s and Sears.
When Furchgott’s went out of business in the ‘80s, it was replaced with an AMC theater. May-Cohens also left in the late ‘80s, replaced by Maison Blanche.
By the ‘90s, Regency’s anchor tenants included AMC, Gayfer’s, Dillard’s, Sears, and Montgomery Ward. Unfortunately, the area surrounding the mall declined rapidly during this decade, requiring the addition of a JSO substation and a formal dress code that chased away many young shoppers. Yearly crime reports at the mall reached quadruple digits, leading it to develop a negative reputation locally. It also didn’t help that The Avenues opened just a few miles away in 1990.
The mall’s corridors became increasingly empty, and anchor tenants began exiting the property. By 2014, when the mall was sold to an investor, it was less than half-occupied. Its west wing was shut down and has been ever since – aside from an extremely brief attempt at a décor outlet in the space.
Today, only a handful of national retailers remain at the property. The former May-Cohens building was sold to a church for redevelopment, and Rimrock Devlin is seeking to redevelop the remainder of the property for mixed-use purposes.
The Avenues is not going anywhere. That mall is in a better side of town and is more convenient to all areas of Jacksonville & even nearby St. John’s County to the south. Although stores began leaving in recent years, the mall is generally very healthy. The departure of Sears in late 2019 didn’t really affect the mall. Another plus is that the store occupied 120,000 square feet and was leased by Sears rather than being a 200,000 square foot store owned by Seritage Growth Properties. I will say that many of those stores, along with the ones at Regency & Orange Park, are going to stay vacant longer than the Avenues location. Simon is very good at filling vacant boxes so they won’t have a problem finding a new vibrant tenant for the space. The difference between the Avenues vs. Orange Park & Regency is that the area of Arlington isn’t very well ran considering how badly rundown Regency is, & I’m not saying that Orange Park will go under, but that mall is more for the middle class, & whereas with the Avenues, the surrounding areas are more affluent. Don’t be negative at all, I do think the Avenues will better compete with St. John’s Town Center by getting another makeover and having a Von Maur to replace the former Sears in 2022. In general, Jax’s Southside is very innovative. One thing that the Avenues & St. John’s Town Center have in common is that they’re both owned by Simon, which also owns other high quality malls. Either way, right now is a very tough time for all retailers & shopping centers, so there’s a chance that things will get better as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic slows down.