Bradenton's Cortez Plaza

The Tampa Bay Area's first mall-type shopping hub was originally promoted with this logo.
Graphic from Eastern Shopping Centers, Incorporated

The 600-foot shopping concourse was covered by a series of concrete Hyperbolic Parabaloids. These "upside down umbrellas" provided some protection from inclement weather, but did not create an enclosed and air-conditioned space.  
Advert from Eastern Shopping Centers, Incorporated

The camera looks toward the east in this view of the mall's reflecting pool and Belk-Lindsey anchor store. This black & white photo, and those that follow, were taken in November 1959.
Photo from Library of Congress

Belk-Lindsey operated a 1-level, 40,000 square foot unit at CORTEZ PLAZA. Twenty-third in the Tampa-based chain, it was also the mall's largest store. 

Graphic from Belk-Lindsey Stores  

The camera's vantage point moves away from Belk-Lindsey in this snapshot. On the right is a building housing Walgreen Drug.
Photo from Library of Congress

In this vintage view, we peer toward the southwest. Stores along this section of the shopping concourse included the aforementioned Walgreens, as well as Ace Hardware, Mary Jane Shoes and Lerner Shops.

Photo from Library of Congreess

Michigan-based Kresge's opened their first Florida store at CORTEZ PLAZA. 708th in the chain, it carried several new product lines, including small appliances, power tools, lawn mowers, radios, small furniture and barbecue grills.

Graphic from the Kresge Company

The CORTEZ PLAZA Kresge's included a luncheonette, which -in 1959- offered a turkey dinner for only 77 cents!

Advert from the Kresge Company

The original supermarket at CORTEZ PLAZA was operated by New Jersey's Grand Union chain. The store was short-lived. After only 9 months in business, it had been bought -and rebranded- by Publix.  

Advert from the Grand Union Company

Crossroads of the Suncoast. The first of four CORTEZ PLAZA plans dates to 1960. From today's jaded vantage point, it seems almost unbelievable that, in 1960, a 185,000 square foot shopping complex could have been promoted as "mammoth," or that it was the largest shopping center on the entire west coast of Florida.

CORTEZ PLAZA TENANTS 1960:

BELK-LINDSEY (with Store For Homes) / PUBLIX supermarket / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / WALGREEN DRUG (with Walgreen Grill) / Ace Hardware / Adventurers Cafeteria (outparcel) / Associates Discount & Loan Corporation / Burke's Shoe Repair / Camera's Incorporated / Carter's Family Shoe Center / Coach Butterfield Toy Store / Corn Cabin / Cortez Bakery / Cortez Lanes bowling alley (outparcel) / Cortez Plaza Barber Shop / Florida Casuals ladies' wear / Fremacs For Men & Boys / Gordon's Jewelers / Inter-City National Bank / Lerner Shops ladies' wear / Mary Jane Shoes / One Hour Martinizing / Rita's Beauty Shop / Stauffer Slenderizing Salon / The Cotton Shop ladies' wear / Walter S. Hardin Realty & Insurance / Wash-O-Mat    

Cortez Lanes was built, as a freestanding structure, on a pad east of the mall. The facility, which featured 24 bowling lanes, a restaurant, bowling supply store and babysitting service, opened in July 1959. It would be a CORTEZ PLAZA tenant for over 28 years.

Postcard from the Manatee County Historical Records Library

A full color aerial of CORTEZ PLAZA, taken in the early 1960s. The structure in the lower left opened, in February 1960, as an Adventurers Cafeteria. By the late '60s, it had been rebranded as a William Tally House Coffee Shop.
Photo from the Russell News Agency / Bob Ford

The viewpoint in this circa-1959 image is oriented toward the northeast. We see the front facade of Belk-Lindsey. The store encompassed a modest 40,000 square feet, but was still the chain's largest single-level unit.
Photo from Library of Congress

In this vintage view, the camera is looking toward the southwest. A Gordon's Jewelers store is seen on the right.

Photo from Library of Congress

From a southeastern vantage point, we see the mall's Center Court. Belk-Lindsey appears in the background. 
Photo from Library of Congress 

The mall's southwest entry is shown above. Mary Jane Shoes is on the left, with Lerner Shops on the right.
Photo from Library of Congress

The Inter-City National Bank was added to the south end of the complex. This financial institution was officially dedicated in June 1959.
Photo from Library of Congress

CORTEZ SOUTH, a freestanding store strip, was built on a pad adjacent to the Inter-City National Bank. The mini-center, completed in April 1966, housed ten tenants, with one of these being a Sears Catalog Store. 
Photo from Manatee County Historical Records Library

Our second CORTEZ PLAZA plan depicts the shopping hub as it was configured in late 1971. A freestanding Woolco discount mart, built on a 10-acre plot east of the mall, opened in September 1968. CORTEZ EAST,  a two-building strip center, was added. Its first store welcomed customers in October 1971.

 

A newspaper ad promoting the new Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema at CORTEZ EAST. The motion picture venue opened in December 1971. It operated under various names and owners until June 1993. 

Advert from http://cinematreasures.org

The open-air CORTEZ PLAZA basked in the sun, as the only mall in its vicinity, for over 14 years. In August 1973, the fully-enclosed DESOTO SQUARE MALL was dedicated, which was less than a mile away.

Graphic from the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation

After enduring 5 years of commercial competition from DESOTO SQUARE, CORTEZ PLAZA was run-down and virtually vacant. The past-its-prime property was acquired by a Coral Gables-based concern. They initiated a 1.5 million dollar face lift in July 1978. The mall proper and its southern store strip were refurbished with Spanish Colonial-style facades.  

Drawing from First Capital Companies

By the time of a circa-1980 plan, the mall's metamorphosis was complete. No new square footage had been added during the renovation, but Belk-Lindsey did relocate to DESOTO SQUARE. Miami's J. Byron assumed the vacant store space. The outparcel William Tally House, which had been rebranded as the Shillelagh Cafeteria, had been rebranded again. It was now the Windmill Smorgasbord. 

The shuttering of J. Byron, in January 1986, sent the mall into a downward spiral. A Texan company acquired the complex in mid-1987 and initiated a demalling project late in the year. Structures shown in black were retained and worked into an all-new CORTEZ PLAZA. The power center and adjacent CORTEZ PLAZA EAST now encompassed 403,000 leasable square feet. There was a total of fifty-nine stores and 1,605 parking spaces. 

Circuit City, once a prominent electronics retailer, was an original anchor of the demalled CORTEZ PLAZA. The store opened its doors in November 1989 and shut off the lights -for good- in March 2009.

Photo from Inland Southeast Property Management Corporation

PetSmart joined the CORTEZ PLAZA tenant list in September 1992. The store is in operation -in the same location- to this very day.

Photo from Inland Southeast Property Management Corporation

Chuck E Cheese's moved into space that was vacated by Walgreen Drug in September 1998. The family entertainment center and pizzeria began business in the spring of 1999. Presently promoted as "Chuck E. Cheese," it is still in operation at CORTEZ PLAZA.

Photo from New Link Management Group

Bed Bath & Beyond at CORTEZ PLAZA EAST assumed a vacant Service Merchandise space in January 2003. The housewares retailer operated in the shopping center for 20 years. It closed for good in May 2023.

Photo from www.loopnet.com / Franklin Street

CORTEZ PLAZA
14th Street West / US 41 and Cortez Road
Manatee County, Florida

The first mall-type shopping center in the Tampa Bay Area was built on a 23-acre tract, located 33.6 miles southwest of center city Tampa and 2.1 miles south of downtown Bradenton. The shopping center site was situated in an unincorporated section of Manatee County known as South Bradenton. CORTEZ PLAZA, a 3 million dollar complex, was developed by a joint venture of Yonkers, New York's Eastern Shopping Centers, Incorporated and Bradenton's Hardin Realty & Insurance.

Bradenton's Edward Dean Wyke designed the facility, with assistance from New York City's Lathrop Douglass. The single-level structure, which encompassed approximately 185,000 leasable square feet, was built from the ground up in only 7 months. Its open-air shopping concourse was covered by a series of concrete hyperbolic parabaloids, similar to those that would be used in Minnesota's APACHE PLAZA mall.

CORTEZ PLAZA was officially dedicated on February 12, 1959. Radio station WTRL broadcast live from their Studio-On-The-Mall. Dick Doty, who handled public relations for the shopping complex, acted as Master of Ceremonies. An invocation was given by Reverend Fred T. Kyle, Junior. Next came speeches by C. Van Ness Wood (president of Eastern Shopping Centers), E. Colin Lindsey (executive vice-president of Belk-Lindsey Stores) and State Senator Edward Price, Junior (R).

Entertainment was provided by "Captain Hernan Cortez" (actor Milt Collion, wearing Spanish conquistador regalia), four Cortez Plaza Charm Girls, The Dandee Clown and WSUN-TV's Captain Mac.

Other dignitaries attending the grand opening included H.B. Cunningham (vice-president of the Kresge Company), William Dempsey (senior vice-president of the Grand Union Company), Edwin N. Homer (executive director of Eastern Shopping Centers), A. Sterling Hall (Mayor of Bradenton) and Walter S. Hardin (president of Hardin Realty & Insurance). A ceremonial ribbon was cut and ten CORTEZ PLAZA stores and services opened for business.

These were Fremacs For Men, The Cotton Shop, Camera's Incorporated, Carter's Family Shoe Center, Mary Jane Shoes, Coach Butterfield Toy Store, Walter S. Hardin Realty & Insurance, a 1-level (40,000 square foot), Tampa-based Belk-Lindsey, 1-level (21,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 and (24,800 square foot) Grand Union supermarket.

By June 1960, the tenant list of twenty-seven stores and services included Walgreen Drug, Lerner Shops, Gordon's Jewelers, Wash-O-Mat, Stauffer Slenderizing Salon and Rita's Beauty Shop. The Inter-City National Bank was built onto the south end of the mall. Two freestanding structures had also been constructed; Adventurers Cafeteria and the Cortez Lanes bowling alley. 

Grand Union had been converted into a Publix on November 3, 1959. This store was expanded by 1,800 square feet and thoroughly renovated. It re-opened on June 16, 1960. Belk-Lindsey grew into an adjacent store space and dedicated its new Store For Homes on December 4, 1959. Belk-Lindsey now encompassed 54,400 square feet. 

In the mid-1960s, the first major mall addition was completed. The (33,200 square foot) CORTEZ SOUTH store strip was built on a pad adjacent to the Inter-City National Bank. Flowers & Foliage by Eiss welcomed first patrons on April 6, 1966. A Sears Catalog Store was dedicated on April 14th. Other CORTEZ SOUTH tenants included Cinderella Bootery, Luiz Maynard's Yarn Shop and the freestanding Bob's Pure Oil service station.

The second major addition was built east of Publix and implemented in two stages. The first consisted of a 1-level (116,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart. which opened on September 23, 1968. An entity known as Bradenton Associates developed the second stage. A two-building store strip, known as CORTEZ EAST, was added to the existing Woolco. 

One of the first operational stores was Allied Radio Shack, which held its grand opening in October 1971. The Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema showed its first features on December 25, 1971. Other tenants included Fill-R-Up Systems, the Hallmark Store and Caravelle Ice Cream. The combined area of all CORTEZ EAST structures was approximately 174,300 leasable square feet. CORTEZ PLAZA and the two associated store strips now spanned approximately 392,500 leasable square feet. 

The completion of DESOTO SQUARE MALL, in August 1973, cast a shadow over the older, open-air shopping hub. Built across Cortez Road, the fully-enclosed DESOTO SQUARE encompassed around 700,000 leasable square feet and contained seventy-seven stores and services.

CORTEZ PLAZA was sold to Coral Gables-based First Capital Companies in January 1978. A 1.5 million dollar renovation commenced in July that would update the mall's so-called "frumpy appearance." The main structure and CORTEZ SOUTH strip were refurbished with Spanish-style stucco exteriors and a lighted belfry was built. Most of the original mid-century modern design elements were either removed or covered over.  

Belk-Lindsey closed its CORTEZ PLAZA unit on June 15, 1979 and relocated to DESOTO SQUARE. Miami-based J. Byron assumed the vacant space and opened on September 11th of the same year. By this time, the mall had been re-envisaged as an "old world marketplace," with boutiques, push-cart vegetable and flower peddlers, strolling performers and magicians. 

Stores and services in the new and improved CORTEZ PLAZA included Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream, Publix, S.S. Kresge, Ace Hardware, Helyn Browns ladies' wear, June's Hallmark Card & Gift Shop, Camp & Hike Shop, Fun Machine, Jontie Magic Shop, Old World Tobacconist and T-Shirt World. Unfortunately, by the mid-1980s, the newness had worn off of the much-ballyhooed mall reinvention. It had become obvious that CORTEZ PLAZA could not compete with DESOTO SQUARE, no matter what new repositioning and redecorating concept was followed.

The shuttering of J. Byron, in January 1986, sent CORTEZ PLAZA into a downward spiral. Tenants bailed, leaving the complex seventy-percent vacant. Dallas-based Vantage Companies bought the struggling shopping hub in June 1987. They initiated a wrecking ball renovation in October. During the 10 million dollar demalling, the main mall structure and Cortez Lanes building were demolished. The CORTEZ SOUTH structure was left standing. CORTEZ EAST was not officially part of the complex.

A 276,000 square foot -thirty-one store- power center was built, which retained CORTEZ PLAZA as its name. The complex was anchored by a 1-level (87,000 square foot) Zayre discount mart, which opened its doors on September 9, 1988. Other major tenants included a (42,100 square foot) Publix, dedicated on December 1, 1988, and (11,100 square foot) Walgreen Drug.

Inline stores included Little Professor Book Center, Women's Discount Fashions, Buzzard's Nest Records and Courtesy Cleaners. The fourth CORTEZ PLAZA anchor was a (32,500 square foot) Circuit City SuperStore, which welcomed first patrons on November 16, 1989. A complex-wide grand opening was held on November 24th.

Zayre had morphed into an Ames discount store in October 1989. This unit was shuttered in September 1990. Montgomery Ward opened in the space on March 4, 1991 and was shuttered in March 2001. Burlington Coat Factory assumed the space and was dedicated on October 1st. By December 2003, CORTEZ PLAZA had changed hands three times. Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty purchased the property in February 2007. 

An affiliate of Richmond, Virginia's Hackney Real Estate Partners assumed ownership of CORTEZ PLAZA in October 2018. At this time, there were twenty-four operational stores and services. These included Burlington, PetSmart, Shoe Carnival, Chuck E. Cheese and LA Fitness.

Sources:

The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Florida)

The Herald-Tribune (Bradenton, Florida)

The Tampa Bay Times
http://www.nreionline.com / National Real Estate Investor (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.inlandse.com / Inland Southeast Property Management Corporation (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

http://www.ddr.com / Developers Diversified Realty (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://hackneyrealestate.com / Hackney Real Estate Partners
https://www.cinematreasures.org

Manatee County Historical Records Library

"Belk" article on Wikipedia

Florida's Seminole Mall

The original trademark of the fifth mall-type shopping center in the Tampa Bay Area. The complex was an expansion of a circa-1965 strip plaza.

Graphic from Seminole Center, Incorporated

A circa-'69 rendering of the mall-to-be. The existing SEMINOLE CENTER is seen on the right. A proposed enclosed concourse extends to the left. The concept of adding an interior mall to an existing strip center had been tried successfully at COLONIAL PLAZA in Orlando, and was also being done in Oakland, California.
Drawing from Seminole Center, Incorporated

In a circa-1971 site plan, the original section of SEMINOLE CENTER is indicated in black. This portion of the shopping hub was completed in November 1965. SEMINOLE MALL, dedicated in February 1970, is shown in gray.

SEMINOLE MALL TENANTS 1971:

WOOLCO (with Red Grille) / J. BYRON / BELLAS-HESS / PUBLIX supermarket / DRIFTWOOD CAFETERIA / J.G. McCRORY 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Ace Hardware / Bailey Jewelers / Barbor Gourmet Foods / Bill Schoof Realty / Center Electronics / Colony Shop / Consumer Finance / Deco Paints / Dipper Dan Ice Cream Shoppe / Esquire Barber Shop / Fifth Avenue Card Shop / Florida Shoe Service / Frank's Stag Shop / Fremacs for Men / Fugazi Travel Service / Funding Corporation of America / GallenKamp Shoes / GNC / Gilberg's Fabrics / Goody's Shoes / Gordon's Jewelers / Grant's Bakery / Hearing Aid Service / Import World / Leeds Jet Shoes / Loft's Candies / Newell's Music / One Hour Martinizing / Orange Julius / Oriental Shops / Parklane Hosiery / Perm Town / Phillip's Coiffures / Royce Shoes / Seminole Coin Laundry / Seminole Community Room / Seminole I & II Cinema / Seminole Optical / Smoker's Paradise / Snak Shack / Squire Formalwear / State Farm Insurance / Stuarts ladies ready-to-wear / The Golden Closet ladies' wear / The Juice Bug / The Vogue / Trans-Pacific Imports / Western Auto

A vintage view inside the shopping facility. The beautiful Seminole murals, which surround the court area, were done by local artisan Les Macklem. He also did artwork for Clearwater's SUNSHINE MALL.

Photo from Florida Natural Color, Incorporated

A collection of SEMINOLE MALL logos. These span the years between 1965  and 2003.

SEMINOLE MALL was modestly successful for nearly 30 years. Minor renovations were done in the 1980s (in gray), with a major face lift completed in 1992. A vacant Woolco was filled by Zayre-T.J. Maxx, Ames and -then- Kmart. The J. Byron's building housed an Uptons, with Bealls moving in in 1999. Unfortunately, the mall was in a downward spiral by this time.

A circa-2007 photo of SEMINOLE MALL. This shows the Main Entrance, which was built as part of the early '90s face lift. 

Photo from http://www.rmcpg.com

What ended up being the final logo used to promote the mall. At a late 2013 meeting of the Seminole City Council, the complex was officially designated a "blighted and contaminated site." A wrecking ball renovation was certain to follow...

Graphic from www.seminole-mall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The demolition that had been anticipated for years commenced in mid-2015. The rendering above shows SEMINOLE CITY CENTER, which replaced SEMINOLE MALL. Stores in the new power plaza opened for business between April 2016 and November 2017.
Drawing from http://www.seminolecitycenter.com

A third -and final- SEMINOLE site plan depicts the "dynamic & unique" CITY CENTER of today. The demalled retail hub encompasses around 200,000 leasable square feet and houses forty-four retail, restaurant, entertainment and financial tenants.

Original drawing from http://www.seminolecitycenter.com

A Bradenton-based Bealls ["Belz"] was the first operational tenant at SEMINOLE TOWN CENTER. The store welcomed first shoppers in April 2016.
Photo from http://jray.com / J. Raymond Construction

Earth Fare, an Asheville-based natural foods grocer, opened a SEMINOLE CITY CENTER store in September 2016 and shuttered the same in February 2020. In 2021, Earth Fare re-opened and closed again. The Fresh Market renovated the building and welcomed first shoppers in September 2024.
Photo from http://jray.com / J. Raymond Construction

SEMINOLE MALL

Park Boulvard North and 113th Street North
Pinellas County (Seminole), Florida

Ground was broken for Pinellas County's SEMINOLE CENTER on April 13, 1965. The twenty-seven-tenant first phase complex was was built on a 39.3-acre plot, located 10.6 miles northwest of center city St. Petersburg. At the time of its official dedication, on November 4, 1965, the retail hub was entirely within unincorporated Pinellas County. The city of Seminole, which took in the mall site, came into existence on November 15, 1970.

The complex was developed by Jesse W. Johnson, Richard C. Johnson and Stuart S. Golding. Clearwater's Frank Mudano designed the shopping facility. Its first phase encompassed 100,000 leasable square feet and was anchored by a (23,000 square foot) Publix supermarket and Driftwood Cafeteria. A small open-air mall was included.

A climate-controlled mall was added to the northeast side of the mall structure. Construction commenced on this second phase in February 1969. When completed, SEMINOLE MALL spanned approximately 340,000 leasable square feet and housed sixty-two stores and services, An official dedication was held on February 12, 1970.

The primary anchor, a 1-level (60,000 square foot), Miami-based J. Byron, opened at this time. A 1-level (115,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart made its debut on March 11, 1970. Charter stores and services included Gallenkamp Shoes, Fremacs For Men, Dipper Dan Ice Cream Shoppe, Gilberg's Fabrics, Import World, a J.G. McCrory 5 & 10, and Kansas City, Missouri-based Bellas Hess department store. The American Multi-Cinema Seminole 2 Theatres showed first features on June 19, 1971.

Miami-based Burdines and Jordan Marsh of Florida considered adding stores to SEMINOLE MALL in the late 1970s, but eventually abandoned these plans. Meanwhile, competition had become fierce on the over-malled Pinellas Peninsula. The primary retail rivals of SEMINOLE MALL were TYRONE SQUARE (1972) {4.6 miles southeast, in St. Petersburg} and PINELLAS SQUARE (1977) {6.3 miles east, in Pinellas Park}.

The SEMINOLE MALL Woolco was shuttered on January 31, 1983. Two Framingham, Massachusetts-based retailers were recruited to fill the vacancy. Zayre, occupying a majority of the structure, opened in August 1983. T.J. Maxx began business in March 1984. An outparcel movie house, the American Multi-Cinema Seminole Cinema 8, was dedicated on July 25, 1986.

In September 1988, Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Ames absorbed the Zayre discount chain. The SEMINOLE MALL Zayre was rebranded -as an Ames- on October 26, 1989. This store closed in 1990. T.J. Maxx had been shuttered by early 1992. The entire building was then leased to Kmart, which opened its (103,000 square foot) store on November 2, 1992.

A mall renovation, started in 1980, enclosed a small, open-air segment of shopping concourse at the front of the complex. The center was expanded with fourteen inline stores in May 1984, with its gross leasable area increased to approximately 425,200 square feet. A Food Court, refitted into existing mall space, was dedicated on March 15, 1986.

A 6 million dollar renovation was completed in 1992. This project added new exterior facades, entrances and landscaping. Moreover, the mall's interior and parking lot were refurbished. Meanwhile, stores came and went. Bellas Hess was gone by 1976. J. Byron was shuttered in July 1996. Its space re-opened, as a Norcross, Georgia-based Uptons, in August of the same year. This store was rebranded by Bradenton, Florida-based Bealls ["bellz"] in November 1999.

A Myrtle Beach-based Waccamaw's HomePlace (in the old McCrory spot) morphed into a Pleasanton, California-based Ross Dress for Less in 2003. Jacksonville-based Stein Mart opened on April 2, 1998, taking space originally occupied by Bellas Hess.

SEMINOLE MALL had been in a downward spiral since the mid-1990s. In December 2006, the struggling center was acquired by El Paso-based Hunt Management Investment, under the auspices of the Downtown Seminole, Limited Liability Company. Their "dated indoor mall" became the subject of much discussion.

A redevelopment was envisaged, whereby the complex would be largely demolished and replaced with a big-box-based "town center". Costco and an 18-screen multiplex were mentioned as potential anchors. However, the mall's owner balked at this plan.

The Tampa-based RMC Property Group was brought in, in the interim, to manage the property. Publix, a 1965 charter tenant, pulled out of the mall in December 2009 and moved into a vacant Alberstons across the street. Dollar Tree went dark in January 2011. SEMINOLE MALL, with ninety retail spaces, now had thirty-one operational stores.

As a result of The Great Recession, the owners of SEMINOLE MALL were left with an upside down mall mortgage. 26 million dollars was owed on a shopping complex assessed at 12 million. The property was foreclosed on in February 2011, with an auction arranged for the following October. At the last minute, the property was pulled from the auction, leading observers to conclude that some type of resolution had been reached. Meanwhile, the mall's Kmart was shuttered on September 30, 2012.

In October of the same year, it was announced that the mall had been sold to Seminole Mall, Limited Liability Company, a joint venture of Primerica Group One and the North American Development Group.

In October 2013, two office buildings adjoining the mall were acquired; this to consolidate all land parcels and expedite redevelopment. A further step was taken the following November, when the Seminole City Council voted to designate the property as "blighted and contaminated." This was done to help secure state funding for an environmental clean up of a former gas station and dry cleaner on the property.

Demolition commenced on the mall's freestanding cinema in April 2015. The wrecking ball began tearing away at the mall proper in July 2015. Construction soon got underway on a 200,000 square foot,  open-air power plaza. The new SEMINOLE CITY CENTER would be anchored by a state-of-the-art cinema megaplex. Bealls, which relocated from an existing SEMINOLE MALL store, became the first operational CITY CENTER tenant on April 1, 2016. Stein Mart, who had also been a part of the mall, began business on October 27 of the same year.

Earth Fare, a North Carolina-based organic grocer, dedicated a SEMINOLE TOWN CENTER location on September 28, 2016. Ulta Beauty welcomed first customers on October 21, with LA Fitness opening on June 10, 2017. Dallas, Texas-based Studio Movie Grill, a full-service, in-theater dining exhibitor, dedicated the SMG Seminole 12-plex on November 9, 2017. 

Sources:

The St. Petersburg Times

The Tampa Bay Times
http://www.tampabay.com
http://www.seminolemall.net (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://tbnweekly.com
http://seminolechamber.net / Seminole Chamber of Commerce
http://www.seminolecitycenter.com

https://stpeterising.com

Daytona Beach's Sunshine Mall

The original logo of Greater Daytona Beach's first shopping mall.

Graphic from Sunshine Mall, Limited Liability Company

A SUNSHINE MALL logo montage features trademarks of stores that operated in the original retail center.

The SUNSHINE MALL Woolco, dedicated in September 1970, predated the actual shopping center by over a year. A second anchor, shown in gray, never panned out. Many years later, an indoor ice arena was built on a portion of the allotted area.

SUNSHINE MALL TENANTS 1972:

WOOLCO (with Red Grille) / PANTRY PRIDE supermarket (outparcel) / WALGREEN DRUG (with luncheonette) / Allied Radio Shack / American Handicrafts / Anderson's Import-Export Gift Shop / Clothes Tree / Comet Dry Cleaners / Commercial Credit / Creativity Decor / Farrell's Jewelers / Federal Bake Shop / Fifth Avenue Card Shop / Fremacs For Men / Gallenkamp Shoes / International Men's Barber Shop / Jack & Jean's Beauty Shop / Jolly Dip Ice Cream / Koin Tiki Laundromat / LaMarick Wig Hut & Beauty Salon / Leeds Qualicraft Shoes / Margie's Dress Shop / Men's International Barber Shop / Mother-To-Be Shop / Pier 9 Imports / Royal Palm Men's Wear / Singer Sewing Center / Shift Shack / Squire's Tires / The Western Store / The Vicky V (Vogue's Ladies' Wear) / Toy King / Trans-Lux Inflight Twin Cine (Blue & Gold Theatres) / Treasure Hunt Gifts / Triton Sewing Circle