Lakeland Mall
Lakeland, Florida - 1972
Nice photo of the very carpeted, if not a little drab looking (in this view anyway), interior of Lakeland Mall in the early '70s. A Jean Nicole store is visible on the left, and some human beings on the right.
I can't seem to find much info about this mall, so I'm not sure what year it originally opened, but according to this article it seems to have closed in '94. Anyone know if that's the case for sure (and what year she opened)?
Mall history: ? - 1994 (dead)
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none
(image © & courtesy of State Library and Archives of Florida)
posted by Keith @ 10/12/2006
13 Comments:
This was your run-of-the-mill look for most Florida malls in the early 70's. It looks very similar to the old Lakes6 mall in Lauderhill that also was ironically demolished in '94. Except it didn't have those hanging hourglass light fixtures.
I can see they erected this at the height of mall popularity. No thought or money put into a decent structure. For pete's sake, no skylights! It's a drop ceiling with florescent lights similar to an office. Now that I've finished ripping on it, it's a nice photo! ;)
Scott
Scott, that's how many smaller Wisconsin malls that popped up in the 1970s were built as well, in the same way you describe. Low ceilings and fluorescent lighting. A few had normal flooring though, not carpeted floors.
By smaller, I mean malls that had 2 anchors and around space for 30 shops, sometimes less than that. They only served the immediate city, not an entire county and its surrounding areas.
Also take note of another oddity you don't see anymore....wider storefronts needing more than one sign. It was mostly Marianne or Lerner in my state that had the habit of sticking two signs up on their storefront.
Yet, this Jean Nicole needs THREE of them.
This mall was anchored by a Montgomery Wards and Woolco. It also contained a movie theatre. When Woolco closed, it was replaced by a SAM's Club. In 1988, The Lakeland Square Mall opened and most shoppers left for the new mall. The SAM's Club stayed there until 1994, but the mall itself was basically dead. Then in 1998, First Baptist Church of Lakeland purchased the vacant 400,000 sq ft mall. The church is now known as First Baptist Church at the Mall.
Drab???!!! No way, not when Jean Nicole is in the photo. I have been dying to see a Jean Nicole storefront in a photo and so far this is the first one I have come across. I miss this tore so much.
Maybe those Jean Nicole people were getting a jump on those recent "Head-On" ads... you know, "Head-On, apply directly to the forehead. Head-On, apply directly to the forehead. Head-On, apply directly to the forehead."
I'm from Orlando but sometimes my mother and I would end up here and it was the most boring place on earth, I hated shopping anyway so going here wasn't pleasant. The name Lakeland puts me to sleep.
That is a big Jean Nicole. I agree the three signs rather than one large one is a bit weird. My first job was at one as a stockboy...our in IL opened in 1978 and the signage was different then.
This was my old junior high stomping grounds. During the late '70s, all the cool kids would have their parents take them to Tampa to shop, leaving me and my equally uncool pal to skulk around this already dying crap box.
The theater was one of the old Jerry Lewis cinemas. The only stores worth going to were the music store (Camelot?) and some head shop (I can't believe I forgot the name of that one!).
And, yeah: First Baptist at the Mall--a megachurch wannabe. What a cheesy end for a cheesy little mall.
Good times, though.
the head shop was jems & junk ...
mood rings & black light posters ... those were the days !
There was also a SupeRX drug store in the mall a Ponderosa steakhouse out front...
I know that back in 1984 there was a Chuck E Cheese restaurant that was also located adjacent to the mall.
From what I've gathered, 1994 was indeed the end for this failing mall in a declining area.
Sadly, I'm beginning to see these same signs popping up at the Lakeland Square Mall nowdays. It makes me wonder how many years left that place has in it!
Back in the 70's there was a store called "The Plum Tree" and two clothing store called "Britches South"and "Fox n' Hound". This was a small complex with limited offerings by todays standards. Previous postings are correct in their assesments.
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