Edison Mall is an enclosed, super-regional shopping mall in Fort Myers, Florida. The mall opened in 1965, and has been expanded three times since. Edison Mall is owned by Washington Prime Group, which took over the mall along with Boynton Beach Mall, Seminole Towne Center, Orange Park Mall, Paddock Mall, and Melbourne Square after its spinoff from Simon Property Group in 2014. The mall's anchors are Dillard's, JCPenney, two Macy's stores, and Sears and also includes more than 160 stores and a lifestyle center section. The mall itself is situated on just one floor, but all of the anchor stores except for Sears have two floors.
History
Shopping Inside Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida - George Sanders developed the Edison Mall, which opened in 1965 on US-41 at Colonial Boulevard on the south side of Fort Myers. It was the first mall in the ...
George Sanders developed the Edison Mall, which opened in 1965 on U.S. Route 41 at Colonial Boulevard on the south side of Fort Myers. At the time, US 41 was only two lanes wide, and the only other businesses near the mall were a Publix supermarket and a drive-in theater, (which later became the site of a Kmart store, and is now a Floor & Decor). The mall's opening led to more commercial development south of downtown Fort Myers.
Upon its opening, the Edison Mall featured rival chains JCPenney and Sears as its anchor stores, making it the first mall in the United States to include both stores in the same mall. Both JCPenney and Sears stores were relocated from previous stores in downtown Fort Myers. JCPenney's previous store downtown was located in the Langford Building, and Sears' downtown store was located across the street in the Heitman Building. The Edison Mall also notably included a Woolworth's five-and-dime store.
The Tampa-based department store Maas Brothers also opened in 1965 as a third anchor in the center of the mall. This would be Maas Brothers' first store to anchor a shopping mall as they previously only operated freestanding stores in downtown areas. Maas Brothers would later go on to open more locations in malls on Florida's Gulf Coast starting with WestShore Plaza and Tyrone Square Mall. As with their previous stores, Maas Brothers operated a restaurant within the store on the second floor.
George Sanders sold the mall to Aster Realty in 1979, and the mall received a major expansion the same year, thus resulting in a new wing with a second mall entrance to Maas Brothers. The new wing also included the addition of a fourth anchor, Miami-based Burdines. JCPenney was also expanded in 1979 with the addition of a second floor.
Another expansion in 1985 added J. W. Robinson's of Florida, whose Florida locations were acquired in 1987 by Maison Blanche, which in turn then sold its store and six others in Florida to Dillard's in 1991. Also in 1991, Maas Brothers was acquired by Burdines. Burdines retained both stores in the Edison Mall and moved its women's clothing into the former Maas Brothers building which was heavily renovated, while retaining men's clothing and home goods at the original location. Along with the rest of the Burdines chain, the two locations at Edison Mall were renamed Burdine's-Macy's in 2003, dropping the Burdine's name two years later.
Also in 2005, Simon announced a further renovation of the mall, which added an outdoor lifestyle center wing and renovated the interior.
In late 2017, a new wing was opened within the mall connecting two existing corridors. The new wing was part of a $4 million renvation and was designed to shorten the distance between the two ends of the mall.
References
- Board, Prudy Taylor (2006). Remembering Fort Myers: The City of Palms. The History Press. ISBNÂ 159629101X.Â
External links
- Edison Mall
