A dead mall
-UPDATE BELOW-
9 February 2023
When we lived in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park in 1985, we were in equal proximity to three first generation malls. First, there was
Winter Park Mall, the one that we least went to. Second, there was
Colonial Plaza, the old mall that seemed to have been around forever and looked it. Finally, there was the Orlando Fashion Square, the large and super modern, ready for the eighties mega-mall. At the time, this latest of the three was
the king of the central Florida retail scene.
1- Orlando Fashion Square lease plan ca. 1975. View the full PDF version here. 2- Orlando Fashion Square lease plan ca. 1988. View the full PDF version here.
Sears was where our military, blue collar family preferred to shop as there was no Montgomery Ward nearby. I remember getting my first pair of Velcro sneakers there, a marine blue pair of Converse. I was so proud of those ugly shoes. And Sears had toys, as well. All kinds of stuff to keep a kid happy. But, as much as I loved spending time with my hoot of a grandmother, I really disliked going to the mall with her. She was all about some Robinson's and Burdine's and would spend hours browsing its fashions. I just saw both damn places as an endless seas of boring clothes. I remember sitting outside of the Robinson's for what seemed like hours with my older brother just waiting for her to finish shopping.
Orlando Fashion Square Mallmanac ca. 1990. View the full PDF version here.
And what a seating area it was. For some reason, I remember the mall common area right outside of the Robinson's and later Maison Blanche better than any other part of Orlando Fashion Square. The ceilings were at least 30 feet high, and above the entrance to the anchor I remember moody dark glass windows. I was just so fascinated by this feature. Maybe it was just my own boredom. Or maybe I'm just getting old and not remembering things exactly the way they really were.
-UPDATE- 1 & 2- The Sears store around the opening of Orlando Fashion Square. 3 & 4- The Burdine’s and Robinson’s mall entrances.
Having opened in 1973, Orlando Fashion Square was a youthful 12 years old when we moved to greater Orlando. Though not a whole lot younger than Colonial Plaza just down the road, it always seemed to be the much cooler of the two. It was where the younger crowd hung out and there was quite a bit of focus on the teenage set. But, truth be told, being the budding retail and architecture nerd that I was, I always found Colonial Plaza, as a whole, to be much more interesting.
Orlando Fashion Square Mallmanac ca. 1997. View the full PDF version here.
We left Winter Park later that year for Virginia Beach and didn't return until 1989. By that time, a lot was going on at Orlando Fashion Square. It's trade area dominance was being challenged by the brand new Florida Mall, a huge super-regional located on the south side of town close to International Drive. Orlando Fashion Square responded by embarking on an expansion that focused on the Maison Blanche area. A new store was built abutting the older store just to the northeast. Then, the existing store was converted into a two level concourse of shops with theaters and a food court on the upper level. I remember that the new Maison Blanche opened well before the mall section, and there was a long tunnel that had to be traversed through the construction zone connecting the existing mall to the new anchor. It was cool and all, but I was saddened to see my favorite feature of the mall, the entrance to Maison Blanche, removed.




-UPDATE- 1- The roadside sign for Orlando Fashion Square. 2- Dillard’s exterior. 3- An outside entrance for Macy’s. 4- The façade of the cineplex. (Source for all)
Since that visit in 1989, there have been even more changes. The long running nameplates of Maison Blanche and Burdine's have been replaced by Dillard's and Macy's, respectively. The retail strip on Colonial Drive is definitely showing its age and of those three mid-eighties malls that we frequented, only Orlando Fashion Square remains. New malls such as
Oviedo Marketplace, Mall at Millenia and West Oaks continue to erode the mall's target audience, but its proximity to the older and affluent suburb of Winter Park with its stable and dense population should keep the mall afloat for years to come. Hopefully.
I feel like I’m getting pretty repetitive with these updates. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find new ways of saying this mall is now dead. And while Orlando Fashion Square remains the sole enclosed shopping mall in the inner ring suburbs of Orlando’s east side, the past few years have not been kind.
1- JCPenney from the first floor. The store is now vacant. 2- Sears mall entrance, now closed and the building demolished. 3- Dillard’s Clearance outlet’s now shuttered interior entrance although the first level of the anchor remains occupied. 4- Macy’s, the only remaining traditional department store at Orlando Fashion Square. (Source for all)
Just a year after my original post, the Dillard’s store, part of the early nineties expansion and previously labeled as Maison Blanche and Gayfer’s, shuttered their upper level and became a clearance outlet. This left a darkened anchor entrance on the miniscule upper level and smaller mall retailers, especially those located on that tier, were soon to follow.
Orlando Fashion Square pamphlet ca. 2019. View the full PDF version here.
Sears, which opened as a free-standing entity ten years before the balance of Orlando Fashion Square’s corridors, departed in 2016. The following year their building, the oldest on the property, was demolished to make way for a smaller complex to house big box stores.


1- Orlando Fashion Square lease plan ca. 2021. View the full PDF version here. 2- Orlando Fashion Square lease plan ca. 2023. View the full PDF version here.
JCPenney vacated their location, which was added as a part of the early nineties expansion, in late 2020. This left the mall with only one full-line department store anchor, Macy’s. At the same time, the Dillard’s Clearance outlet remains as well.
Orlando Fashion Square’s mainly empty interior concourses. (Source for all)
In the years since, there has been an exodus of smaller retailers. Future plans involving a mixed-use community of residences, offices and retailers have been announced, but Orlando Fashion Square remains to this day just as it always has, a single use enclosed shopping mall, though without the shoppers.
Or maybe not...
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