Regency Square Mall (Jacksonville, Florida)
Encyclopedia
Regency Square Mall is an enclosed shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, USA. Opened in 1967, the mall features more than 100 stores, including four anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....

s (Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...

, Dillard's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...

 Clearance Center, JCPenney, and Sears) and a food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...

. It is managed by General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties
General Growth Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust in the United States. It is based in Chicago, Illinois at 110 North Wacker Drive, a historic building designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White...

 of Chicago, Illinois.

History

Regency Square Mall was a $12 million project of Regency Centers
Regency Centers Corporation
Regency Centers Corporation is a Real estate investment trust based in Jacksonville, Florida and one of the largest operators of grocery-anchored shopping centers. About 90 percent of its shopping centers are anchored by grocers ranking in the top three of their market. Regency’s chairman and...

, constructed at an expanse of sand dunes. It initially featured three anchor stores: national chain JCPenney as well as May-Cohens
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...

 and Furchgott's, two local chains. The mall also included a Woolworth dime store as a junior anchor, as well as the single-screen Regency Cinema.

According to an Urban Land Institute study published by the Florida Times-Union in 1979, it was one of the most profitable retail centers in the nation, with yearly average sales of $156/ft² versus a national average of $88/ft². To give back to the community, the mall operators turned over thousands of dollars in coins from their decorative fountains to charities. All types of social events, from art shows to science fairs to horticultural exhibits were held there.

1980s

In 1981, a $30 million major expansion nearly doubled the size of the mall, adding Sears and Ivey's
Ivey's
Ivey's , a former department store chain, was acquired by Dillard's, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin Ivey.-History:...

. The existing May-Cohens was also enlarged. As a result of this expansion, the mall comprised two separate segments: the original mall between JCPenney and May-Cohens, and the new segment between May-Cohens and Sears. Furchgott's was closed in 1985 when the chain merged with Stein Mart
Stein Mart
Stein Mart is a nationwide department store based in Jacksonville, Florida. The company reported a profit of nearly $24 million in 2009 with operation of 264 stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Stein Mart has locations primarily in the Southeast and Texas. Stein Mart's stores carry...

. Unlike the other Furchgott's stores, the one at Regency Square did not become a Stein Mart, as the mall management considered the chain too low-end for the mall.

1990s

May-Cohens briefly operated as a May Company Florida before being acquired by Baton Rouge-based Maison Blanche
Maison Blanche
.Maison Blanche was a department store in New Orleans and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany....

 in July 1988. In early 1992, this store was sold to Mobile-based Gayfer's.

Dillard's, who had rebranded the Ivey's
Ivey's
Ivey's , a former department store chain, was acquired by Dillard's, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin Ivey.-History:...

 store in June 1990, built a new location onto the West Wing, which opened -along with 28000 square feet (2,601.3 m²) of new inline store space- in 1992. The mall's Woolworth closed in July 1997.

In 1998, the Gayfer's parent company, Mercantile Stores
Mercantile Stores
Mercantile Stores Company Inc. until 1998, was a traditional department store retailer operating 102 fashion apparel stores and 16 home fashion stores in 17 states. The stores were operated under 13 different nameplates and varied in size, with the average store approximating . Store names...

, was purchased by Dillard's. As was the case in most other markets where Dillard's and Gayfer's overlapped, the former Gayfer's store was then sold to Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...

, thus bringing that chain to Jacksonville for the first time. The store was in the process of a second expansion when the nameplate was converted. The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall. A substation of the Jacksonville Sheriff's office was also added, as was a food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...

. Old Navy
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing brand as well as a chain of stores owned by Gap, Inc., with corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It is one of the first major corporations to house headquarters in the new Mission Bay district of San Francisco.Gap, Inc. was run by...

 also came to the mall in the late 1990s.

Regency announced formal conduct and dress codes in 1999 to deal with offensive or intimidating behavior and gang activity. Because the mall is private property, management has the right to ask individuals not in compliance to leave the premises.

2000s

Montgomery Ward closed in 2001. Starting in 2003, General Growth began talking with other retailers, such as Kohl's
Kohl's
Kohl's Corporation is an American department store chain headquartered in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, operating , 1,089 stores in 49 states. In 1998, it entered the S&P 500 list, and is also listed in the Fortune 500...

 (which did not operate any stores in Florida at the time) to fill the space vacated by Montgomery Ward. Finally, in 2006, Homeworks Furniture opened in the former Montgomery Ward space, but it later closed.

Since 2000, crime has become a major issue at Regency Square. Over 1,000 incidents were reported in 2004, the highest ever. Between September, 2007 and September, 2008, 650 unlawful acts were documented by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is a joint city-county law enforcement agency, which has primary responsibility for law enforcement, investigation, and corrections within the consolidated City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida, United States...

, more than the combined total of crimes at Jacksonville's other two major retail centers, The Avenues Mall
The Avenues (shopping mall)
The Avenues is an indoor shopping mall located on the southside of Jacksonville, Florida at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Southside Boulevard near Interstate 95. The mall opened in 1990 with four anchor stores; Gayfers, Dillard's, JCPenney and Sears. The Gayfers anchor store was later converted...

 and St. Johns Town Center
St. Johns Town Center
St. Johns Town Center is an upscale mall in Jacksonville, Florida. It opened its doors on March 18, 2005 with five anchor stores including Dillard's, Barnes & Noble, Target, Dicks Sporting Goods and Ashley Furniture. The open-air regional mall at J...

. On January 26, 2008, a suspect was killed by an off-duty policeman who was called to pursue a fleeing man who had stolen a pair of jeans from the mall's Belk store. The shoplifter shot the officer four times before being fatally wounded himself.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK