What's your fav mall in Orlando area? (Sanford, Winter Garden: for rent, buy)

[tulip_dove]

Originally Posted by Booya

I'm not much of a "mall person" but it my view The Millenia Mall is the nicest one in O town. And it would also be on your way if your driving from Orlando to Tampa. It is right of 1-4 (I think the Conroy rd exit).
I don't know of any mall that has a skating rink but it does have a food court and really nice shops and eateries-Cheese Cake Factory etc.

Yep agreed!

[Crane's Rooster]

From a nostalgic point of view, Altamonte Mall will always have a special place in my memory. I basically spent my teens years there. It's changed so much since than but I stopped by a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised that it's really bounced back well since the hard times of a few years ago. Very few empty stores (even those are being leased) and alot of new tenants. For a mall of it's size I think it has the best selection of stores (Aldo, H&M, Swarovski, Coach, Express). Can't wait to go shopping there this Holiday season and take strolls around Crane's Roost Park when the Xmas lights are up.

[Creek Hollow]

1. Mall at Milennia, hands down!
2. Florida Mall, distant second. Lousy, high crime area, not especially clean, geared toward travelers.
3. Premium Outlet Mall, outdoor mall, good stores.
4. Seminole Town Mall. I have not been there in several years so don't know if it's changed. It used to be a nice place.

West Oaks Mall out on West Colonial USED to be a nice mall, but when the surrounding area changed it went downhill dramatically, lost a lot of nice stores, and the merchandise in the good anchor stores was downgraded quite a bit so they lost all our business.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

My favorite malls in order:
FL mall
Mellinia
Outlets
Altamonte
Waterford town center
Seminole town center
Festival bay
Fashion square
Oviedo mall
And never been to west oaks.

Am I missing any?

Back in 2001-2001, West Oaks was a nice mall, it has gone way downhill since then and is now so ghetto. BTW, you're missing the Loop, thats where Hunters Creek goes to shop. Also Osceola Square, but that mall is all but dead

I'll list mine and why I like them
-Millenia (The smoothie place, IKEA close by, newest indoor mall)
-Waterford Lakes (Great movie theater, California Pizza, next to Firkin n Kegler)
-The Loop (Newest outdoor mall after WGV, Cool movie theater, Five Guys)
-FL Mall (Most stores, best food court, though too many tourists, lack of convenient parking)
-Winter Garden Village (Just a really nice place, even though I was once kicked out of their super Target )
-Altamonte (Never went to this one very often, but always liked it as a kid)

I would list Seminole Towne Center in Sanford, but I havent been there in 10 years, never been to Oviedo Mall either. I wont list any tourist ones, like Pointe Orlando, Downtown Disney, City Walk, Festival Bay (which is a joke to me) I always hated the ones packed with tourists, except Orlando Premium Outlets

Vegas can tout great shopping choices all it wants, but when it comes to shopping, Orlando cannot be beat. Besides all the good stores in Vegas are on the strip for tourists, off the strip we only have 3 local malls, which are Fashion Square-esque in the sense that they all suck and are always dead slow

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Creek Hollow

4. Seminole Town Mall. I have not been there in several years so don't know if it's changed. It used to be a nice place.

Not anymore! Half of the mall is now vacant or leased to sketchy "urban clothing retailers", "eyebrow threading/nail salons" or dollar stores. One small section between Dillards and the center of the mall has maintained some nicer retailers but the remaining half to 2/3 is pretty dreadful. All of the larger restaurant operations at the entrances have vacated and the spaces sit empty. I don't get it, as the surrounding area (Heathrow/Lake Mary) isn't down on it's heels so it's not a case of a downward real estate spiral or shifting demographics. I would finger the blame on mall management and the management company (Simon) for not promoting or revitalizing the property.

[Crane's Rooster]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Not anymore! Half of the mall is now vacant or leased to sketchy "urban clothing retailers", "eyebrow threading/nail salons" or dollar stores. One small section between Dillards and the center of the mall has maintained some nicer retailers but the remaining half to 2/3 is pretty dreadful. All of the larger restaurant operations at the entrances have vacated and the spaces sit empty. I don't get it, as the surrounding area (Heathrow/Lake Mary) isn't down on it's heels so it's not a case of a downward real estate spiral or shifting demographics. I would finger the blame on mall management and the management company (Simon) for not promoting or revitalizing the property.

I've always said it was just a matter of supply not meeting demand when it came to Seminole Town Center, Oviedo Marketplace and West Oaks. All of them did well initially but ended up flaming out after a few years. In my unprofessional opinion there just wasn't the demand to support them yet. Seminole Town Center is just way to close to Altamonte without offering anything new. Oviedo and West Oaks were just badly placed in too far from any other shoppers other than the immediate area. Millinia has it's niche as a high end mall, Florida Mall has EVERYTHING and is near enough to tourists corridor to draw extra shoppers. Fashion square struggles as most shoppers go to FL Mall. Altamonte seems to do well as the original Seminole county mall. And of course the outlets also take a huge chunk of the action from all the local malls.

[kyle19125]

It's odd that an area with around half a million people (Seminole County) and not to mention West Volusia County... can only keep one local mall busy. Granted there is Mall at Milennia and the Premium Outlets, but having to drive south into and through Orlando to the other side to shop at either seems a tad inconvenient. In the end it doesn't make sense from a consumer's standpoint, but Floridians in general are something of a rare breed so I guess it's not completely surprising.

[Crane's Rooster]

Well I think a rise in other large corporate stores has alot to do with it. More and more families are going less to the mall and more to super centers like Target and Walmart for their shopping needs. Places like Kohls, Target, TJ Maxx, Ross, etc have also eaten into the marketshare that major malls once dominated. For instance, in an area like Fashion Square Mall, the mall itself is not doing well, but just down the street Colonial plaza with Marshalls, Ross, Old Navy, Big Lots are all doing well. Same with Seminole town Center, my understanding is the discount stores surrounding the mall are doing ok. We just have to accept that the days of mega malls may be coming to an end when places like Waterford Town Center can provide more options. Ohh my youth is becoming a thing of the past.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Well I think a rise in other large corporate stores has alot to do with it. More and more families are going less to the mall and more to super centers like Target and Walmart for their shopping needs. Places like Kohls, Target, TJ Maxx, Ross, etc have also eaten into the marketshare that major malls once dominated. For instance, in an area like Fashion Square Mall, the mall itself is not doing well, but just down the street Colonial plaza with Marshalls, Ross, Old Navy, Big Lots are all doing well. Same with Seminole town Center, my understanding is the discount stores surrounding the mall are doing ok. We just have to accept that the days of mega malls may be coming to an end when places like Waterford Town Center can provide more options. Ohh my youth is becoming a thing of the past.

Colonial Plaza has been booming for as long as I can remember, that was one place I used to love going as a kid. Particularly Barnes and Noble. The Target at East Colonial and Maguire has also been there a good while and also has always done well. I know a few restaurants have closed along this portion of East Colonial though, Chevy's comes to mind. Best Buy has also always done well in that area too. And the development of Baldwin Park only helped that area even more IMO

IMO, away from touristy areas, East Colonial between Bumby and Bennett may be the busiest commercial corridor in Orlando

[boy3365]

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