Florin Road and Stockton Boulevard
Sacramento County, California
Sac-Town's first fully-enclosed shopping mall was developed by a joint venture of the city's James J. Cordano Company, Los Angeles' Earl Cohen and the Aetna Life Insurance Company. A single-level shopping center was designed by Robert Liles and Charles Luckman Associates.
FLORIN CENTER was built on a 70-acre parcel, located 8 miles southeast of the California State House. The mall site, in an unincorporated section of Sacramento County known as Parkway-South Sacramento, had previously been utilized as the Sky Ranch Airfield.
The first operational FLORIN CENTER store, a 3-level (157,000 square foot), Sacramento-based Weinstock's, held its grand opening on October 9, 1967. Eddi Duckworth, "Miss Sacramento 1967," cut a ceremonial ribbon. The mall, which encompassed 900,000 leasable square feet, held its grand opening on February 21, 1968.
A 3-level (287,900 square foot) J.C. Penney had been inaugurated on January 24, 1968. The mall's 2-level (259,000 square foot) Sears was dedicated on February 21st. Charter tenants included Mode O'Day Frock Shop, Thom McAn Shoes, Parklane Hosiery, National Shirt Shops, Barricini Candy, a 2-level (20,000 square foot) Joseph Magnin and 1-level (11,900 square foot) S.H. Kress 5 & 10.
The only physical expansion of the shopping center was completed in the late 1970s. A 1-level (50,000 square foot) addition was built at the Main Entrance. The thirty-store South Wing made its debut in October 1979. At this time, the name of the shopping hub was changed to FLORIN MALL.
Stores new to the complex included The Wild Pair jeans, Orange Julius, Roger's Jewelers, Wicks 'n' Sticks, Casual Corner, Foxey Lady Deli and Down Home.
FLORIN CENTER easily eclipsed its nearest competitor, SOUTHGATE CENTER (1960) {.8 miles southwest, in Sacramento County}. However, by the 1980s, FLORIN MALL was becoming notorious as a haven for shootings, stabbings and car thefts. Local gangs had made the complex a regular hangout spot by the early 1990s.
Customers began to frequent other regional centers, such as ARDEN FAIR (1961) {6.9 miles north, in Sacramento}, DOWNTOWN PLAZA (1971) {6.3 miles northwest, in Sacramento} and SUNRISE MALL (1972) {14.9 miles northeast, in Citrus Heights}.
A remodeling of the FLORIN MALL Weinstock's in 1989, and a face lift mall renovation in 1990, did little to dispel the negative image that the retail center had taken on. With Federated Stores' acquisition of the Weinstock's parent company, in August 1995, it was decided to shutter the FLORIN location, rather than rebrand it as a Macy's.
The store closed in March 1996. This may now be seen as the first nail driven into the proverbial FLORIN MALL coffin. J.C. Penney's demotion to an Outlet Store, in November 1998, could be viewed as the second. Penney's shuttered the store on April 26, 2003.
The bulk of FLORIN MALL was purchased by San Francisco's Jim Kessler and the Prudential Insurance Company of America in October 2005. The complex closed for good on February 28, 2006. The wrecking ball was brought in in July, leaving Sears, its Auto Center, and five outparcel buildings standing. These were worked into an open-air complex, dubbed FLORIN TOWNE CENTRE. When completed, the shopping facility would encompass 484,500 leasable square feet and house forty-two tenant spaces.
The first newly-built TOWNE CENTRE store, a 1-level (80,000 square foot) Mervyn's, was dedicated March 6, 2008. Mervyn's was joined by Famsa Furniture, Dollar Tree, 24 Hour Fitness and a 1-level (218,500 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter. This store welcomed its first shoppers on June 17, 2009.
Mervyn's went dark in December 2008. Old Navy made its debut in August 2008. It was eventually shuttered and re-opened, as a PetSmart, in the fall of 2011. Sears pulled the plug on their 51-year-old FLORIN store in early 2019. Meanwhile, the inline store sections of the power plaza had been sold to the Los Angeles-based Robhana Group in September 2017.
Sources:
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Business Journal
www.sacramentopastperfect-online.com
www.florinroad.com
www.naibtcommercial.com
Comment post by Randy
www.sacramentopastperfect-online.com
www.florinroad.com
www.naibtcommercial.com
Comment post by Randy
