The Florida Mall's Changes

The Florida Mall, summer 2015-

The (somewhat dated) food court looks eerie.
With black curtains covering up what was once a plethora of fast-food counters,
there are only 2 or 3 eateries left.
One lonely family sat at one of thirty or forty tables.
It looks like a scene from a mall well on its way to abandonment.

However, the old food court was the only portion of the mall in this somber state.
It was a Wednesday afternoon but this regional mall was as crowded as a Saturday
in our local city mall (Avenues, Jacksonville).
Thousands of tourists flood the corridors and crowd the stores.
Being near the Orlando International Airport,
which is a portal for the world to reach Disney,
Florida Mall has always been one of the busiest malls I visit.
Even on a weekday, or on Sunday one hour before the shops roll up their gates.
If I ever found it fully vacant, I'd think it was the apocalypse.
So where are all the restaurants and hungry shoppers?

In the hollowed-out, re-faced and re-designed Saks Fifth Avenue space.
Saks vacated the premises earlier this year, forfeiting 74 jobs.
But it's possible that those employees could have been redeemed.
In the new food court space, dubbed "food pavilion", there are some fresh new tenants.
There are the standard places that transferred over from their old space, like Chicken Now and Asian Chao. Now there are some new tenants like UGrean,
Dumpling and Noodle Bar and Meson Sandwiches.
I went with a salad from Ugrean but next time I will definitely try Meson.
Why? Because it had the longest line. That's usually a good sign.
Along with these restaurants, which by my visit on June 10 were mostly open for business,
there is an entire wall of "coming soon" shops and a few more restaurants that are still
under construction.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the mall....
The Nordstrom shuttered nearly a year ago.
It has been replaced by a Dick's Sporting Goods, which is becoming a popular choice
for replacing departed department stores in Florida Malls.
Next to Dick's, there's the Crayola Factory.
This is the colorful new experience that's drawing families with small children
to fill in that annex of the mall, where they will be tickled pink.
Yes, all of those puns were intended.

What will become of the old food court area?
Stay tuned......