Volusia Mall is a super-regional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

. It is the largest retail shopping center in the

Volusia Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

- Flagler market. Opened on October 15, 1974, the mall comprises more than 120 stores on one level, as well as a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. I ...

Anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

s are

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

and three

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

locations. The mall is owned and managed by

CBL & Associates Properties CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The company is ...

History

Volusia Mall opened in 1974 at a site on U.S. Highway 92, adjacent to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

and U.S. 1. It was originally built with

Ivey's Ivey's (J.B. Ivey & Company), a former department store chain, was acquired by Dillard's, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin (J. B.) Ivey. History J. B. Ivey opened the first Iv ...

, May-Cohens, and

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

just like at

Orange Park Mall Orange Park Mall is a shopping mall located in Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace, an unincorporated suburban area just west of Orange Park, Florida, United States. It features Dillard's, JCPenney, Belk, Dick's Sporting Goods, and AMC Theatres as ancho ...

a year later, but also started out with a

. Ivey's opened with the mall, in October 1974. May-Cohens came inline in December. Sears was the next to open, in February 1975, followed by JCPenney, in August 1975. Like

Coastland Center Coastland Center is a shopping mall located in Naples, Florida. Opened in 1976, it features Macy's, JCPenney, and Dillard's as its anchors. It hosts a food court and many other specialty stores. The food court is the main attraction. The mall it ...

, all of the anchors except for JCPenney were built as two-level stores. The first expansion of Volusia Mall was completed in March 1982, when two-level

Burdines Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew i ...

and Belk-Lindsey stores were added to the existing structure. Shortly after May Cohen's changed to May Florida in 1987, the chain was acquired by

Maison Blanche Maison Blanche (''White House'' in French) was a department store in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany. Maison Blanche is perhaps best remem ...

a year later. This store in turn was taken over by Fairfield, Ohio-based

Mercantile Stores Mercantile Stores Company Inc. until 1998, was a traditional department store retailer operating 102 fashion apparel stores and 16 home fashion stores in 17 states. The stores were operated under 13 different nameplates and varied in size, with t ...

in early 1992, thus converting to

Gayfers Gayfer's was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Based in Mobile, Alabama, the chain of stores operated from 1879 until 1998 when it was taken over by Dillard's. History C.J. Gayfer migrated to Mobile, Alabama, from ...

purchased Ivey's in June 1990, followed by Belk-Lindsey in November 1996, and Gayfers in late 1998 as their parent Mercantile was bought out. These made the mall the first (and only) mall in the entire country to have three separate Dillard's stores, with the former Ivey's housing women's departments, the former Belk-Lindsey housing men's and home departments, and the former May-Cohen's/May Florida/Maison Blanche/Gayfers housing juniors and children's departments. Burdines was dual-branded as Burdines-

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

in 2003, and simply Macy's in 2005. Original tenants in Volusia Mall included a

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, an ...

pharmacy and a tri-screen

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

. After Walgreens relocated outside the mall, its space was converted to another mall entrance, while the theater became a storefront church. Center court housed a large fountain and wishing well a couple hundred feet in size. The structure featured multiple geysers as well as a jogging path and was also used to stage special events. This feature was downsized in 1997. The Volusia Mall is the largest mall in the Daytona Beach area. On December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 80 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 10, 2019 . On April 22, 2019, Transform Saleco LLC purchased the

building for $5.9 Million. It is unknown what is planned for the future of the former Sears. On January 6, 2021, it was announced that Macy's would also be closing as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 21, 2021.

Transport

Votran Votran, officially the Volusia County Public Transit System is the public transportation system in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The system was established in 1975. Votran provides fixed bus and paratransit service throughout the entire ...

routes 10, 11, 18, and 19 serve the mall from Monday to Saturday during daylight hours (except those days that fall on holidays). Votran Night Service Route 10 serves the mall at night from Monday to Saturday with a limited schedule on Sundays and holidays.

References

External links

* {{CBL Properties Shopping malls established in 1974 Buildings and structures in Daytona Beach, Florida Shopping malls in Florida CBL Properties Tourist attractions in Daytona Beach, Florida