Eagle Ridge Mall facts for kids
| Location | Lake Wales, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°57′14″N 81°36′57″W / 27.9540°N 81.6157°W |
| Opening date | 1996 |
| Developer | General Growth Properties |
| Owner | Tabani |
| No. of stores and services | 89 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 (1 open, 2 vacant by around October 2020) |
| Total retail floor area | 624,579 sq ft (58,025.3 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Eagle Ridge Mall is a large shopping mall located in Lake Wales, Florida. It opened its doors in 1996. This mall is a popular spot for shopping and fun.
It has several stores, including Dillard's. The mall also features a Regal Cinemas movie theater with twelve screens. For entertainment, there's a big center with a bowling alley and a video arcade. You can also find a restaurant and meeting rooms there. On the north side of the mall, there is a food court and a fun carousel.
Contents
Mall History
Early Years and Challenges
Eagle Ridge Mall opened in 1996. Two years later, in June 1998, something unusual happened. A large hole, called a sinkhole, appeared in the children's play area. This hole was about 80 feet (24 meters) wide and 14 feet (4.3 meters) deep.
While workers were fixing this first sinkhole, another one opened up inside the Sears store. Both sinkholes were repaired, and all parts of the mall were reopened safely.
In 2000, another department store, Belk, thought about moving to the mall. However, they decided to build a new store somewhere else instead.
Changes in Ownership
In April 2009, the company that owned Eagle Ridge Mall faced financial problems. They filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. This meant they needed help to reorganize their finances. At that time, the owner, General Growth Properties, Inc., owned many malls across the United States. This was a very large real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history.
After this, the mall was sold to a company called Madison Marquette. Then, in 2013, it was sold again to the Tabani Group, which owns it today.
Recent Events and Store Changes
In late 2016, the Sears store at Eagle Ridge Mall announced it would close. This was part of a larger plan for Sears stores across the country.
In January 2018, a small incident occurred when two signal flares were set off inside the mall. This caused a lot of smoke, but luckily, no one was hurt.
More recently, on June 4, 2020, JCPenney announced it would be closing its store at the mall. This closure was part of a plan to close many JCPenney stores nationwide. After JCPenney closed, Dillard's became the main department store left at Eagle Ridge Mall.
