Port Charlotte Town Center facts for kids
| Location | Port Charlotte, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°00′32″N 82°08′51″W / 27.00889°N 82.14750°W |
| Address | 1441 Tamiami Trail |
| Opening date | 1989 |
| Developer | Edward J Debartolo Corp. |
| Owner | WP Glimcher |
| No. of stores and services | 100+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 (5 open, 2 vacant by April 2021) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
The Port Charlotte Town Center is a large shopping mall located in Port Charlotte, Florida. It's a popular spot for people living in Port Charlotte and nearby towns like North Port, Englewood, and Punta Gorda. The mall has many different stores, including big ones called "anchor stores." These include Recreational Warehouse, Regal Cinemas (a movie theater!), Bealls, Dillard's, and JCPenney. There's also a vacant spot where Sears used to be, and Macy's closed in April 2021. All the main anchor stores are on one floor.
How the Mall Started
The idea for Port Charlotte Town Center began in 1987. A company called Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation bought a big piece of land, about 132 acres, from the General Development Corporation. They planned to build a huge mall with lots of shops.
At first, they announced that the mall would have about 600,000 square feet of space and three major department stores. One of these was confirmed to be J. C. Penney. They also planned for other smaller businesses around the mall.
Building the Mall
In September 1987, two more big stores, Maas Brothers and Belk-Lindsey, were announced as future anchors. A fourth anchor store was also planned, but its name wasn't shared yet.
The official groundbreaking ceremony, which is like a party to celebrate starting construction, happened on December 8. The plans changed a bit, and instead of building in two phases, they decided to build the entire 1,000,000 square foot mall with six anchor stores all at once! They hoped to finish it by the fall of 1989. At this time, Sears was confirmed as the fourth anchor store.
Some of the main stores, like J. C. Penney, Sears, and Belk-Lindsey, opened a little before the rest of the mall on July 29, 1989. The opening of J. C. Penney was a special event, even attended by Miss Universe Angela Visser!
The mall had a special "Gala Preview" party on August 1, 1989, with singer Jack Jones. The very next day, on August 2, 1989, the mall officially opened to the public. More than 25,000 people came to see it on its first day!
Changes Over the Years
Not all the original plans worked out perfectly. The Maas Brothers store, which was supposed to open in 1990, faced delays. Its parent company, Allied Stores, ran into financial difficulties.
In September 1991, two new anchor stores, Dillard's and Montgomery Ward, were announced. The spot planned for Maas Brothers was then considered empty. The Belk-Lindsey store at the mall was sold to Burdines in February 1994 and was updated that summer. Later, in 1999, a Regal Cinemas movie theater was built at the mall, giving people a place to watch movies.
New Stores and Closures
Montgomery Ward closed its store at the mall in 2001 because the company went out of business. The next year, Bealls opened in that same spot.
Burdines changed its name to Burdines-Macy in 2003, and then simply to Macy's in 2005.
On December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing its store at the mall as part of a plan to close many stores across the country. The Sears store closed in March 2019.
More recently, on January 6, 2021, it was announced that Macy's would also be closing its store in April 2021, as part of a similar plan to close stores nationwide.
