The Oaks Mall
6419 W. Newberry Rd. Gainesville, FL
Is a 901,000 square foot one-story setup that forms a
circuit.
This means that a mall walker going into the front entrance
Could choose to go left or right and eventually after
passing through
The food court they would wind up back at the entrance
again.
There are a few wings that go off in a different direction,
Making the actual shape more like half an ampersand.
Opened in 1978, the mall is currently owned by General
Growth Properties,
Making it one of the few in my “collection”
That doesn’t belong to either Simon or Westfield.
It does appear to have been updated in the last decade or
so.
Its home of Gainesville, FL is a college town,
With much of the area’s livelihood centered around
University of Florida and the Gators football team.
It is also the only mall for quite a vast span of
middle-Florida.
It serves 11 counties, and most of the area surrounding
Gainesville
Is very rural.
The trip from St. Augustine to Gainesville requires one to
Drive 80 miles on a collection of back roads that pass
through
Such towns as Hollister and Hawthorne-
The types of places where the only attraction is a Dollar
General.
Likewise, the mall is geared mostly towards a
Middle to lower tier crowd.
Walking through the mall, it was very quiet.
It was a Monday morning, the first day back to school in
January,
So the only people walking the mall were elderly folks,
A few drifters and some stay-at-home moms.
The mall seemed a bit dark.
They don’t turn all the lights on during the day, I guess.
There was one part of the mall that seemed darkest,
And quietest. The only establishments in that area were
Dillard’s, a few small stores including Teavanna,
And a vast space of a large store front that had been
converted
Into a massage spa… closed for that day.
I went into the Teavanna for a drink
and asked the employees about it.
They said the mall always seems dark and it’s never busy
During the week.
And the light outside Dillard’s flickers, giving it a creepy
vibe,
The young man said.
Despite this somewhat negative description of the retail
facility,
It was by no means a “dead mall”.
The mall sports
five fully functional brand-name anchors and at least 9/10
Small stores were filled, even if some of the occupants
are family owned retail ventures.
In the center of the mall is a large gator, standing upright
on its hind legs,
So people can take photos with it.
There is a store that specializes only in the
familiar blue-and-orange clothing of the UF students and
Gators fans.
Dillard’s, Belk and JCPenney are all “in” the circuit, while
Sears and Macy’s are off on their own wing. When you walk into the main
entrance,
Belk is to your left while JCPenney is to your right.
Clothing stores for youth and young adults include such
names as
Forever XXI, Hollister, American Eagle, Cotton On, Buckle
and several others.
Some other types of clothing stores include
Loft, Express, Jos A Bank, Banana Republic and a few others.
There are children’s stores like Gymboree.
There are also some other specialized types of retail such
as
Helzberg Diamonds, Foot Locker, Artsy Abode, Pearle Vision
and more.
There is a Starbucks inside the mall, a Red Robin restaurant
that
Faces out with an inside entrance, a Teavanna, and some
typical
Food court restaurants like Chick-Fil-A and some Japanese
fare.
At the front entrance, there are the
Red Robin and the Loft stores facing outward.
Next to the Loft is a vacant restaurant that appears to have
been
Something like a Carrabbas Italian Grill.
Other restaurants like it
Are placed around the outside of the mall’s lot,
So I’m unsure what “killed” it. High rent? Competition?
Another thing I thought was odd was in the food court.
It had some of the pricier Japanese restaurants in it,
But the Subway was vacant.
Subway is a fairly standard, cheap restaurant that can be
found
In all types of economic statuses.
In St. Augustine, we have a nicer, newer restaurant
Complete with a few couches
In historic downtown next to an art gallery,
But we also have an older, simpler Subway inside the chaotic
And notoriously lower class Wal-Mart.
How it got trumped in a mall built for college kids
That also serves everyone for 100 miles
I have no idea.
Oaks Mall holds a few mysteries that I will have to research
further.
