Lakes Mall was an enclosed

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

Lauderdale Lakes, Florida Lauderdale Lakes, officially the City of Lauderdale Lakes, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 35,954. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach Metr ...

. Opened in 1972, the shopping center initially featured Jefferson Ward and Britt's discount stores, and later included the first locations for the retail chains

Office Depot The ODP Corporation is an American office supply holding company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. ...

and

Sports Authority Sports Authority, Inc. (formerly The Sports Authority) was an American sports retailer. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the ret ...

. The complex was torn down in 1995 and redeveloped as a strip mall.

History

Lakes Mall opened in 1972, anchored by discount stores Jefferson Ward and Britt's, with other major tenants including a Pantry Pride supermarket and a McCrory dime store. By the 1980s, the mall was losing business to larger shopping centers in town. Also, Britt's closed in 1981, Pantry Pride in 1984, and Jefferson Ward in 1985. By 1986, the center had more than 25 vacancies; a year later, 42 of its 83 storefronts were vacant. Despite the increasing vacancies, the first

opened in the mall in 1986, and a

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal ...

filled the former Britt's. Shortly after the Office Depot opened, the owners announced that they would begin renovating the mall with a "main street" theme.

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

bought the former Jefferson Ward building, converting part of it to a

Builders Square Builders Square was a big-box home improvement retailer headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. A subsidiary of Kmart, its format was quite similar to The Home Depot, Menards, and Lowe's with floor space of about , and inventories in excess of 35, ...

home improvement store, while the rest became the first location of

, a

sports equipment Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

store. Since Office Depot, The Sports Authority, and Builders Square did not open to the mall, traffic within the mall itself continued to decline. By 1989, the only other retailers inside were McCrory (which closed on December 31 that year), two restaurants, a men's clothing store, and some offices and service tenants. Also, the mall's owners filed a mortgage on it, but the mortgage holder was charged in a foreclosure suit because it also owned space in the mall and could no longer afford to pay rent. The city building inspector declared the building unsafe in April 1990. Builders Square closed its store in July 1990 so that Sports Authority could expand both its retail floor space and headquarters. A month later, the last two tenants (an optician and dentist's office) moved out following a roof collapse, leaving only Sports Authority and Office Depot. In 1992, renovation plans were announced that called for demolition of the structure, except for those stores. The mall was finally torn down in 1996, with Linen Supermarket, Mac Frugal's (which converted to

Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states. History The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation ...

in 2002) and

Smart & Final Smart & Final is a chain of warehouse-style food and supply stores based in Commerce, California, which developed through a series of mergers and expansions. The oldest of the combined companies, Hellman-Haas Grocery, was founded in 1871 in Los ...

opening on portions of the former lot. Sports Authority moved out in 2003, moving its headquarters to suburban

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and Big Lots closed the same year. Smart & Final also closed its Florida stores in 2003. The complex was purchased in 2008 by UrbanAmerica LP of New York City, and Florida Career College moved into a portion. In 2009,

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 sto ...

opened on the north side of the mall, and

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...

opened at the south end in 2010. Yoram Izhak, also the owner of Lauderhill Mall, bought the property in May 2012.

References

{{Broward County Malls Shopping malls in Broward County, Florida Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1972 Shopping malls disestablished in 1995 1972 establishments in Florida 1995 disestablishments in Florida Buildings and structures demolished in 1996 Demolished buildings and structures in Florida