| Location | Arlington, Jacksonville, Florida, USA |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | N 30.321205, W-81.551487[1] |
| Address | 9501 Arlington Expressway |
| Opening date | March 2, 1967[2] |
| Developer | Regency Group |
| Owner | General Growth Properties |
| No. of stores and services | 170[3] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,390,000 square feet (129,135.2 m2) |
| Parking | 7,600[3] |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in anchors) |
| Website | Regency Square Mall Website |
Regency Square Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Opened in 1967, the mall features more than 100 stores, including four anchor stores (Belk, Dillard's Clearance Center, JCPenney, and Sears) and a food court. It is managed by General Growth Properties of Chicago, Illinois.
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Regency Square Mall was a $12 million project of Regency Centers, constructed at an expanse of sand dunes.[2] It initially featured three anchor stores: national chain JCPenney as well as May-Cohens and Furchgott's, two local chains.[4] The mall also included a Woolworth dime store as a junior anchor, as well as the single-screen Regency Cinema.
According to an Urban Land Institute study published by the Florida Times-Union in 1979, it was one of the most profitable retail centers in the nation, with yearly average sales of $156/ft² versus a national average of $88/ft².[2] To give back to the community, the mall operators turned over thousands of dollars in coins from their decorative fountains to charities. All types of social events, from art shows to science fairs to horticultural exhibits were held there.[2]
In 1981, a $30 million major expansion[2] nearly doubled the size of the mall, adding Sears and Ivey's. The existing May-Cohens was also enlarged. As a result of this expansion, the mall comprised two separate segments: the original mall between JCPenney and May-Cohens, and the new segment between May-Cohens and Sears. Furchgott's was closed in 1985 when the chain merged with Stein Mart. Unlike the other Furchgott's stores, the one at Regency Square did not become a Stein Mart, as the mall management considered the chain too low-end for the mall.[4]
May-Cohens briefly operated as a May Company Florida before being acquired by Baton Rouge-based Maison Blanche in July 1988.[5] In early 1992, this store was sold to Mobile-based Gayfer's.
Dillard's, who had rebranded the Ivey's store in June 1990, built a new location onto the West Wing, which opened -along with 28,000 square feet (2,600 m2) of new inline store space- in 1992. The mall's Woolworth closed in July 1997.
In 1998, the Gayfer's parent company, Mercantile Stores, was purchased by Dillard's. As was the case in most other markets where Dillard's and Gayfer's overlapped, the former Gayfer's store was then sold to Belk, thus bringing that chain to Jacksonville for the first time.[6] The store was in the process of a second expansion when the nameplate was converted. The mall also underwent a $30 million renovation in 1998, which comprised the addition of a new, 24-screen movie complex to replace the existing six-screen theater inside the mall. A substation of the Jacksonville Sheriff's office was also added,[7] as was a food court.[8] Old Navy also came to the mall in the late 1990s.
Regency announced formal conduct and dress codes in 1999 to deal with offensive or intimidating behavior and gang activity. Because the mall is private property, management has the right to ask individuals not in compliance to leave the premises.[9]
Montgomery Ward closed in 2001. Starting in 2003, General Growth began talking with other retailers, such as Kohl's (which did not operate any stores in Florida at the time) to fill the space vacated by Montgomery Ward.[10] Finally, in 2006, Homeworks Furniture opened in the former Montgomery Ward space, but it later closed.[11]
Since 2000, crime has become a major issue at Regency Square. Over 1,000 incidents were reported in 2004, the highest ever. Between September, 2007 and September, 2008, 650 unlawful acts were documented by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, more than the combined total of crimes at Jacksonville's other two major retail centers, The Avenues Mall and St. Johns Town Center.[2] On January 26, 2008, a suspect was killed by an off-duty policeman who was called to pursue a fleeing man who had stolen a pair of jeans from the mall's Belk store. The shoplifter shot the officer four times before being fatally wounded himself.[12]