Burlington Pike and Florence Mall Road
Florence, Kentucky
Greater Cincinnati's first 2-level shopping mall was built on a 51.7-acre plot, located 24.5 miles southwest of downtown's Fountain Square, in the Kentucky suburb of Florence. Ground was broken for FLORENCE MALL on December 31, 1973. The 2-level, fully-enclosed structure was the fifteenth mall built by Chicago-based Homart Development, a Sears subsidiary.
The first operational store, a 2-level (154,000 square foot) Sears, was dedicated on March 10, 1976. Cincinnati-based Pogue's built a 2-level (113,000 square foot) store, which welcomed first shoppers on September 4, 1976. A mall-wide grand opening was held on September 22nd, with eighty-five stores in operation. The festivities were hosted by WKRC's Rich King. "Miss Boone County 1976" participated in an official ribbon cutting. Music was provided by the Boone County High School Band.
Cincinnati's Shillito's ["shil-uh-towz"] chain dedicated their 2-level (148,000 square foot) store on February 26, 1977. The final operational anchor, a 2-level (139,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, began business on August 2, 1978.
FLORENCE MALL now spanned approximately 856,000 leasable square feet, with a tenant list of 120 stores and services. Charter tenants in the 30 million dollar complex included Waldenbooks, Frederick's of Hollywood, Paul Harris ladies' wear, Kinney Shoes, J. Riggings men's wear, Casual Corner ladies' wear, Lane Bryant ladies' wear, Spencer Gifts and the Tilt Game Room.
The first cinematic venue in -or around- the mall was built across Florence Mall Road from the complex. The National Amusements Florence 1-2-3-4-5-6 Mall Road Cinemas showed its first features on December 22, 1976.
At the time of its completion in 1978, FLORENCE MALL was the largest shopping center in Greater Cincinnati. It held this distinction until the late 1988 dedication of KENWOOD TOWNE CENTRE {in Hamilton County / Sycamore Township, Ohio}.
The only Kentucky-side competition for FLORENCE MALL came in 1981, with the completion of CRESTVIEW HILLS MALL {4 miles northeast, in Crestview Hills, Kentucky}. This retail venue was much smaller, not a true destination-type center, and was demalled in 2004. It reemerged as CRESTVIEW HILLS TOWN CENTER, a lifestyle-type venue, in 2005.
Meanwhile, Shillito's had become the first anchor at FLORENCE MALL to sport a new nameplate. In June 1982, Federated Stores merged the chain with Rike's, its Dayton-based division. Stores were rebranded as Shillito/Rike's (with the nameplate eventually morphing into "Shillito Rikes"). On March 16, 1986, this division was rebranded under the Columbus-based Lazarus nameplate. These stores were rebannered as Lazarus-Macy's, on August 1, 2003. All were fully "Macy-ated" on March 12, 2005.
The FLORENCE MALL Pogue's went though a lengthy series of changes, as well. The first came on October 29, 1984, when Associated Dry Goods merged the chain with their Indianapolis-based L.S. Ayres division. It appears likely that the FLORENCE MALL store operated under the Louisville-based Ben Snyder's moniker for a short time.
In 1986, Associated merged with May Department Stores and sold various locations to Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Hess's. The former Pogue's was rebranded by Hess's in February 1988. The store, shuttered in late 1993, re-opened as a Lazarus Home store in 1994. It was rebranded, as a Lazarus-Macy's Home Store, in August 2003 and as a Macy's Home Store, in March 2006.
The mall was given an interior makeover in 1994. Chicago-based General Growth Properties acquired the center, in a joint venture with the Teacher Retirement System of the State Of Illinois, in December 2002. 4 years later, a new 12-bay Food Court was completed, which replaced a previous 18-bay installation. FLORENCE MALL now encompassed approximately 889,200 leasable square feet. There were 134 stores and services under its roof.
In September 2007, work commenced on the National Amusements Showcase Cinemas de Lux, which was being built adjacent to the mall's southeast parking area. The 14-screen megaplex was dedicated on June 27, 2008. It was rebranded as a Rave venue in 2009 and Cinemark operation in 2013. The original Florence Mall Road Cinemas had been shuttered in September 2008.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, FLORENCE MALL became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio. This proved to be a temporary arrangement.
By this time, the mall was struggling to retain tenants. Brookfield stopped making loan payments in June 2020 and ended up surrendering the deed -to the lender- on January 1, 2021. Chicago's Jones, Lang LaSalle were hired to manage the complex until a buyer could be found. Meanwhile, Sears, a circa-1976 charter anchor, went dark in November 2018. On June 2, 2022, a joint venture of Great Neck, New York's Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management acquired the shopping facility.
Sources:
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Kentucky Tribune (Louisville, Kentucky)
http://mallmanac.blogspot.com
www.cinematreasures.org
www.florencemall.com
https://www.wcpo.com
https://www.mallscenters.com
Boone County, Kentucky Property Value Administrator
"Florence, Kentucky" article on Wikipedia
