Florence Mall (Kentucky)

Florence Mall is an indoor shopping mall in Florence, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Built in 1976 by Homart Development Company, the mall originally featured Sears, Shillito's, Pogue's, and J. C. Penney as its four anchor stores. Florence Mall is managed and owned by Brookfield Properties Retail Group and features three anchor stores: J. C. Penney and two locations of Macy's, with one vacancy last occupied by Sears. The mall features over 100 stores and a food court. Another notable feature of the mall is the Florence Y'all Water Tower on the mall property; this water tower originally bore the mall's name, but was altered prior to the mall's opening.

Florence Mall
Center court of Florence Mall, August 2019
LocationFlorence, Kentucky
Coordinates38°59′44.97″N 84°39′0.51″W
Address2028 Florence Mall
Florence, Kentucky 41042
Opening date1976 (1976)
DeveloperHomart Development Company
ManagementBrookfield Properties Retail Group
OwnerBrookfield Properties Retail Group
No. of stores and services101
No. of anchor tenants4 (3 open 1 vacant)
Total retail floor area940,967 sq ft (87,418.7 m2)
No. of floors2
Websiteflorencemall.com
[1]

History
The Macy's wing of Florence Mall in 2019.

The Florence Mall opened in 1976 on a site along Interstate 75 just south of Kentucky Route 18. The two-story mall was constructed by Homart Development Company, the real estate division of Sears. Sears also served as one of the anchor stores, opening on March 10, 1976.[2] The mall itself opened 6 months later, with Pogue's serving as the second anchor.[3] Two more anchors, Shillito's and JCPenney, were added in 1977 and 1978, respectively. At the time of opening, the mall had 87 stores.[3] The mall's opening led to the development of several retail stores in Florence, and as a result, the city became a retail hub for northern Kentucky.[4]

While JCPenney and Sears remained the same throughout the mall's history, the other two anchor stores changed as chains were acquired and merged. The Shillito's chain was merged with Rike's and all former Shillito's and Rike's stores briefly carried the dual branding of Shillito-Rike's from 1982 until 1986, when the chain was merged into Lazarus. Pogue's was converted to L.S. Ayres in 1983, which in turn sold its store to Hess's 5 years later. Also in the mid-1980s, the food court was renovated.

Hess's closed in 1993, and one year later, Lazarus moved its home goods into the former Hess's space. During the 1990s, the mall underwent an $8 million renovation, including the addition of 64 new tenants.[5]

In 2003, the mall was acquired by General Growth Properties in partnership with the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois. General Growth had managed the property for several years prior.[6] Both Lazarus stores were converted to Lazarus-Macy's in 2003, then to just Macy's in 2005. The food court was renovated again in 2004.

On August 22, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing in November 2018.[7]

Water tower
Main article: Florence Y'all Water Tower
The water tower with the original wording

Prior to the mall's opening, a water tower with the words "Florence Mall" was built between the mall and Interstate 75. However, this commercial advertisement was considered a violation of federal and state laws since the mall had not opened for business yet. As a result, the "M" in "Mall" was partially painted over, converting it to a "Y" and an apostrophe was added, changing the text to "Florence Y'all".[8]

References
  1. "Florence Mall". Brookfield Properties Retail Group.
  2. Wilson, Denise (July 25, 2001). "Florence Mall marks 25 years". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  3. Driehaus, Bob (September 22, 2001). "Mall led way for regional shopping". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  4. Peale, Cliff (September 18, 1996). "At 20, Florence Mall is retail king". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  5. Friedberg, Mary (May 28, 1997). "New stores keep Florence Mall fresh". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  6. Paeth, Greg (December 20, 2002). "Florence Mall sold to firm from Chicago". The Kentucky Post.
  7. Key, Jennie; Reinert, Melissa (August 23, 2018). "Sears closings will affect future of Florence, Northgate malls". Cincinnati Enquirer.
  8. Schmitt, Erin (July 2, 2017). "The Shape of Water Towers: An Engineering History". Municipal Sewer & Water Magazine.
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