Orlando Fashion Square
3201 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL 32803
in a predominately middle class ethnic suburb, sits
Orlando Fashion Square.
It is a winding one-story design with a small portion of it having two floors-
near the movie theater and food court.
This mall is somewhat ironic. Giving it a name with "fashion" in it
is like naming a man of Michael Jordan's stature "tiny".
It does have a bit of fashion for sale on the various racks
in its stores, but for the most part it sports everything else
that a mall possibly could that is not fashion.
It features some anchor staples for central Florida
such as Macy's, Sears and JCPenney.
Other than that, there are about as many non-fashion fronts there
as there are clothing stores.
This mall is actually more of a sort of makeshift lifestyle center.
It serves its locals much more than it serves tourism.
In fact, many online reviews say "don't go out of your way
if you are from out of town. Its only best if you are local
and looking for a place to work out".
True to some reviews, only about 30- 40% of its shops are occupied.
The anchors are alive, but the wing farthest from the largest part of the mall
only has a few surviving shops, the entire right side of the corridor being
completely covered up. It is in tough economic times.
Yet, despite this unfortunate "ailment", it is in much happier spirits than
a mall such as Jacksonville's Regency Square, which usually feels like
a sad old subway tunnel.
Upon entering and touring OFS, I found:
- Planet Fitness
- A glasses store
- A nail salon
- Tattoo parlors
- A Dollar Tree type store
- A local community college's admission center
- An empty store front that has been filled with chairs to sit on
- A family-owned smoothie shop
- A locally owned cafe
- Cell phones
- A Radio Shack? (This is for sure going to be outmoded soon
There is also something else interesting going on here:
- A basket ball court type floor fixture with giant low nets for the kids to play on
- An arcade with a 50's theme
- Multiple ice-cream parlors, one of which has a giant fiberglass pinup girl holding up a leviathan cherry
- A giant bowling pin advertising a bowling alley that's coming soon
- A movie theater that has dominated the mall, with most of the surviving stores surrounding it
- Colorful ads for colleges and city bus systems disguising a plethora of shuttered store fronts
- A "bungee experience"
Because the local businesses and developments are getting creative with unoccupied space.
The mall hosts some unusual services as well as some unusual fixtures,
I think partially because it gives them a place to call home
but also because they give the mall-goers distraction from its failures.
Like the fact that its food court has several "coming soon" signs posted on
boarded up restaurant spaces, one Subway restaurant and the rest
are off-brand Chinese and burger joints.
(In fact I was hungry for chick-fil-a and I was disappointed that it wasn't there)
The food court only had a few people lounging around in it.
The movie theater and arcade area was crawling with children and families.
At one time, OFS used to be center spotlight or at least close to it.
It is the oldest Orlando area mall.
According to my 50-something-year-old coworker,
it was lively and popular back in the 1980's.
This is where she went to buy her wedding dress.
Opened in 1973, It even predates Altamonte Mall by one year.
It predates Florida Mall by 13 and Mall at Millennia by nearly 30.
These newer malls were most likely what drew tourism away from OFS,
which has been on the decline since at least 2005.
(Florida Mall may have started stealing the spotlight, but
Mall at Millennia may have been the one to trump OFS.)
Altamonte possibly still thrives better because
1) it is in an Orlando Subdivision farther from Disney, M@M and FM
and 2) it is under different ownership.
Your "image consultant" can make all the difference.
OFS is not owned by either Simon or Westfield,
it belongs to UP Development.
It pretty much belongs to the locals now.
It sits in a very ethnic area.
The mall shoppers were a fairly even mix of Asian, Latino and African American.
The main road it sits on also has a mix of ethnicities, with caucasian being
the minority here. The local businesses suggest a heavier concentration
of Asian, demonstrated by many
Korean and Chinese restaurants and markets in one small area.
Perhaps your usual mall attractions, like Hollister and Victorias Secret,
aren't of much interest to them.
Of the fashions that do exist in the mall,
There are several popular shoe stores such as Foot Locker,
Vans and Journeys.
There are some family owned bottom-dollar stores with names like
"Beya" and "MadRags".
There are some more widely known bottom-dollar chains
such as Body Central and Papaya.
There is one plus-size ladies store, Torrid,
and then there's an even smaller handful of pricier names
including Express, Pacsun and Fredericks of Hollywood.
Mens Warehouse and Victoria's Secret deserted the mall, as did many others
since the 1990's.
Mall type: one and two story
Mall demographic: lower, lower-middle and middle classes
Mall shoppers: local families with children, young adults. mix of ethnicities in
both employees and shoppers
Its best assets: A quirky mix of recreation and entertainment, including a movie theater, arcade,
kids basketball court and a future bowling alley.
Express, Journeys, Pacsun, Kay jewelers, Charlotte Russe, Macy's, Claire's, Panera Bread.
What it lacks: Most everything else that you find in a typical mall. There is no higher fashion,
and few of the other common brand names like American Eagle, Banana Republic, Loft or Jos a Bank.
There is no longer Victorias Secret.
Besides the Panera and Subway, there are no brand-name eateries that you normally find like Starbucks, Panda Express, Chick-Fil-A or Taco Bell.
Signs of decline: Major. More than half of this mall isn't being used for its original purpose.
Overall Rating: "A" for effort, on the creativity front. 5/10 for shopping.
I have to take pictures "on the fly" when security is nearby.
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