Crystal River Mall

Crystal River Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Crystal River, Florida, United States. It opened in 1990 and is anchored by Rural King.

Crystal River Mall
LocationCrystal River, Florida, United States
Coordinates28.910531°N 82.603295°W / 28.910531; -82.603295
Address1801 US-19
Opening dateOctober 17, 1990
Closing dateAugust 30, 2022
DeveloperEdward J. DeBartolo, Sr.
OwnerUnited Realty[1]
No. of anchor tenants4 (1 open, 3 vacant)
Total retail floor area29,265 sq ft (2,718.8 m2)[2]
No. of floors1

History

Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation proposed Crystal River Mall in 1988, with an announced opening date of mid-1990.[3] The mall opened on October 17, 1990, with guest appearances from Phyllis Diller, Jack Jones, and The Lettermen. Upon opening, it included three anchor stores: Belk-Lindsey, Sears, and Kmart, with approximately 85 percent of the inline retail space occupied. The mall's floor plan was described by a DeBartolo spokesperson as "a giant wheel with spokes", with a food court occupying the center.[4] It also featured a 65-foot-high fabric roof, which required an exception from city council.[5] J. Byrons had originally been proposed as the fourth anchor.[6] Instead, the fourth anchor site was sold to J. C. Penney, which opened on September 30, 1992.[7] Regal Entertainment Group added a movie theater to the mall in 1998.[8] OfficeMax opened in the south area of the mall in 1999.

Decline

In the 2000s, the mall became increasingly vacant due in part to its location: while it was built to the north side of Crystal River, most of the city's retail development occurred to the south instead. By 2011, it was at 77 percent vacancy, making it one of the least-tenanted malls owned by Simon Property Group, which bought the DeBartolo corporation. Simon had also closed the mall office and neglected to maintain the building, which by 2011 had a leaking roof. The mall entered foreclosure in 2011 and was sold to Boxer Properties of Dallas, Texas.[9] Sears closed its store in 2012,[10] followed by J. C. Penney in 2013.[11] On August 2, 2013, it was announced Belk would be closing sometime mid-January 2014.[12] Rural King took over the vacated Sears in 2014.[13] On December 31, 2016, it was announced that Sears Holdings was closing some 180 additional stores, among which was mall anchor Kmart. This Kmart location closed its doors for the last time on Sunday, March 26, 2017, leaving roughly 60 employees without jobs, some of which could either apply at the few remaining local stores, or receive severance pay if they were employed full-time.[14] Regal Cinemas and OfficeMax both closed in 2020.[15]

Crystal River city council-elect Cindi Guy suggested putting a future City Hall inside one of the storefronts at Crystal River Mall, as a means of revitalizing possible occupancy inside of the mall.[16]

On July 5, 2022, it was announced that the mall would be closing on August 30, 2022, later changed to August 20th. Rural King will not be closing with the rest of the mall.[17][18]

References
  1. "Crystal River Mall: Venue continues rebound under new ownership".
  2. "Crystal River Mall" (PDF). Boxer Retail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  3. Morelli, Keith (19 August 1988). "Developers forge ahead with Crystal River mall". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  4. Munn, Julianne (9 July 1990). "Crystal River Mall prepares to open". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  5. Dougherty, Ken (10 August 1989). "Crystal River council accepts mall plan". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  6. Munn, Julianne (13 September 1990). "JCPenney likely for Crystal River Mall". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  7. "Riverland Neighbors". Ocala Star-Banner. 30 September 1992. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  8. Ross, Jim (9 October 2000). "Mall finds niche, still growing". Hernando Times. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  9. "Crystal River Mall in foreclosure". Citrus County Chronicle. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  10. Wiles, Shermir (30 December 2011). "Sears store to close". Citrus County Chronicle. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  11. Dangerfield, Dalia (20 March 2013). "J.C. Penney to close at Crystal River Mall". Bay News 9. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  12. "Belk closing at Crystal River Mall". Citrus County Chronicle. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  13. "Rural King to move into Crystal River Mall". Bay News 9. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  14. "Kmart stores to close in Crystal River, Central Florida - Tampa News". Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  15. "Regal, Office Max closings another blow to Crystal River Mall".
  16. Thompson, Buster (November 6, 2018). "Crystal River voters put Cindi Guy on city council". Citrus County Chronicle. Crystal River, Florida, US.
  17. "Crystal River Mall to close Aug. 30".
  18. "Crystal River Mall". www.crystalrivermall.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
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