Florence Mall (Kentucky) facts for kids
| Location | Florence, Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°59′44.97″N 84°39′0.51″W / 38.9958250°N 84.6501417°W |
| Address | 2028 Florence Mall Florence, Kentucky 41042 |
| Opening date | 1976 |
| Developer | Homart Development Company |
| Management | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| Owner | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| No. of stores and services | 101 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (3 open 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 940,967 sq ft (87,418.7 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
Florence Mall is a large indoor shopping center located in Florence, Kentucky. This city is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. The mall first opened its doors in 1976. It was built by a company called Homart Development Company.
When it first opened, Florence Mall had four main "anchor stores." These are big stores like department stores that attract many shoppers. The original anchor stores were Sears, Shillito's, Pogue's, and J. C. Penney. Today, Brookfield Properties Retail Group manages and owns the mall. It now has three anchor stores: J. C. Penney and two Macy's locations. The spot where Sears used to be is currently empty. The mall also has over 100 other stores and a place to eat called a food court. A famous landmark near the mall is the Florence Y'all Water Tower. This water tower originally had the mall's name on it, but it was changed before the mall even opened.
A Look Back: The History of Florence Mall
Florence Mall first opened in 1976. It was built right next to Interstate 75, just south of Kentucky Route 18. The mall has two floors and was built by Homart Development Company. This company was the real estate part of Sears. Sears itself was one of the first big stores to open there on March 10, 1976.
The rest of the mall opened about six months later. Pogue's was the second big anchor store to open. Two more large stores, Shillito's and JCPenney, joined in 1977 and 1978. When the mall first opened, it had 87 different stores. The opening of Florence Mall helped the city of Florence grow. It became a major shopping area for northern Kentucky.
Changes to Anchor Stores Over Time
While JCPenney and Sears stayed the same for a long time, the other two anchor stores changed. This happened as different store chains bought each other or merged. For example, the Shillito's store merged with another chain called Rike's. For a short time, from 1982 to 1986, these stores were called Shillito-Rike's. Then, they became part of Lazarus.
The Pogue's store also changed. In 1983, it became an L.S. Ayres store. Five years later, L.S. Ayres sold its store to Hess's. Around the mid-1980s, the mall's food court was updated.
Hess's closed its store in 1993. A year later, Lazarus moved its home goods section into the old Hess's space. During the 1990s, the mall got a big update that cost $8 million. This update added 64 new stores to the mall.
In 2003, a company called General Growth Properties bought the mall. They partnered with the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois. General Growth had already been managing the mall for several years. Both Lazarus stores changed their names to Lazarus-Macy's in 2003. Then, in 2005, they became just Macy's. The food court was updated again in 2004.
On August 22, 2018, it was announced that the Sears store at the mall would close. It officially closed in November 2018.
The Famous Florence Y'all Water Tower
Before Florence Mall even opened, a water tower was built nearby. It was located between the mall and Interstate 75. The water tower originally had the words "Florence Mall" written on it.
However, this was seen as an advertisement for a business that wasn't open yet. This was against federal and state laws. So, to fix the problem, the letter "M" in "Mall" was partly painted over. This changed it into a "Y." An apostrophe was also added. This made the text say "Florence Y'all" instead.
