West Oaks Mall (Orlando) facts for kids
.jpg)
Exterior view of West Oaks Mall, April 2017
|
|
| Location | Ocoee, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 28°33′25″N 81°30′56″W / 28.5569°N 81.5156°W |
| Opening date | October 2, 1996 |
| Developer | Homart Development Company |
| Owner | Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC |
| No. of stores and services | 61 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (2 open, 1 vacant, 1 used as a SunPass Center) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,077,481 sq ft. |
| No. of floors | 1 ( 2 in some anchors) |
| Parking | 5,500 spaces |
| Public transit access |   54, 105, 125, 611, 613 at the West Oaks Mall SuperStop |
| Website | www.westoaksmall.com |
West Oaks Mall is a shopping center located in Ocoee, Florida, which is a city near Orlando. It is a popular spot for shopping and entertainment in the area.
The mall has several large main stores, called "anchors." These include the Dillard's Clearance Center, J. C. Penney, a SunPass Customer Service Center, and a Bed Bath & Beyond Call Center. West Oaks Mall also features a food court where you can grab a bite to eat and a 14-screen AMC movie theater for watching films.
Contents
Discover the Mall's History
How West Oaks Mall Began
The idea for West Oaks Mall started in April 1995. It was first going to be called the Lake Lotta Mall. A company named Homart Development Company bought a large piece of land, about 130 acres, to build the mall.
The mall was designed by a company from Atlanta. They planned for it to be very big, about 950,000 square feet. It was meant to have major stores like Sears, Dillard's, Gayfers, and JCPenney. There would also be 125 smaller specialty shops and a movie theater.
By June 1996, another company, General Growth Properties, took over managing the mall. They announced that 73% of the store spaces were already rented. The opening date was set for October 2. Before it opened, they even added a fun 600-square-foot playground for kids.
The mall officially opened its doors on October 2, 1996. About 30,000 people came to see it on its first day!
Movie Theater Plans
In December 1996, AMC Theatres wanted to make their movie theater even bigger. They planned to expand their 14-screen theater to 24 screens, but this idea was not approved. The 14-screen theater opened as planned on March 19, 1997.
Changes in Main Stores
Over the years, some of the main anchor stores at West Oaks Mall changed.
- In 1998, the Gayfers store became a Parisian store.
- Then, in February 2004, the Parisian store changed again to McRae's.
- About a year later, in April 2005, the McRae's store was sold and became a Belk store.
- However, in 2008, it was announced that the Belk store would close by the end of February.
New Uses for Old Spaces
In 2012, the Sears store at the mall also closed. This large space remained empty for a few years. In 2016, it was turned into a customer service center for SunPass, which helps people pay tolls on roads. This center is run by Xerox Corp.
In November 2012, a company called Moonbeam Capital Investments bought West Oaks Mall for $15.9 million.
More recently, in 2017, a call center for Bed Bath & Beyond moved into half of the old Belk store space. This new center planned to create 500 jobs by 2018, bringing new life to the mall.
