The Florida Mall

Address: 8001 South Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL, 32809

Hours:

10:00 - 21:00 ( Mon - Sat )  12:00 - 18:00 ( Sun )  

The Florida Mall is a large enclosed shopping mall in Orlando, Florida. It opened its doors in 1986. It is located on the southeast corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Sand Lake Road. The mall has over 250 stores, including its anchors Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, J.C. Penney, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and The Florida Mall Hotel. At 1,849,000 ft² (179,778 m²) GLA, it stands as one of the largest single-story malls in the United States.

The mall's Lord & Taylor store was the only store of that chain left operating in Florida. The Florida Mall store was opened in 2002 after an expansion of the anchor building chosen for the store. Although its impending closure was announced in 2003, the purchase of May Department Stores by Federated (now Macy's, Inc.) and the subsequent sale of the Lord & Taylor brand put closures to a halt. The anchor location where Lord & Taylor was located is exceedingly unlucky, as Robinson's, Maison Blanche, Gayfers, and Parisian have all failed at that particular location. Lord & Taylor started with the liquidation of the store in August 2006, and finally closed in September.

The Florida Mall's Dillard's store was added in 1993. Belk-Lindsay, a former mall anchor, was converted to a Saks Fifth Avenue in 1996. At the turn of the 21st century, the mall underwent a massive expansion and renovation project that brought in Burdines in 2000 and Nordstrom in 2002. In 2005, Burdines was converted to Macy's when Federated decided to end the Burdines nameplate.

Located close to Orlando International Airport and all the other Orlando attractions, The Florida Mall Hotel contains 510 guest rooms and suites. The hotel was originally owned by Sheraton but later became a Crowne Plaza and then an Adam's Mark. It became an independent hotel in 2004.

Among the major retailers in the buildings surrounding the mall are Toys "R" Us, Rooms To Go and OfficeMax, as well as a business plaza and several restaurants. The Florida Mall also controls an outdoor shopping plaza, The Terrace at The Florida Mall, next door to the east on Sand Lake Road. It features a Target, Marshall's and American Signature Furniture.

In late 2007 the mall's closed Lord & Taylor store was demolished and the land will be used to build a mixed-use outdoor shopping area that will include stores and restaurants. It is rumored to be the site of Florida's first H&M store although there is no verification of this.

# Dillard's (opened 1993, 252,300 sq ft (23,440 m²))

# JCPenney (opened 1986, 200,000 sq ft (20,000 m²))

# Macy's (opened 2000, 200,000 sq ft (20,000 m²))

# Nordstrom (opened 2002, 165,757 sq ft (15,399 m²))

# Saks Fifth Avenue (opened 1996, 105,672 sq ft (9,817 m²))