Lakes Mall
| Address | State Road 7 and Oakland Park Blvd. |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1972 |
| Closing date | 1995 |
| Developer | Lakes Mall Partnership |
| Owner | Yoram Izhak |
| No. of stores and services | 83 (original mall) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| Total retail floor area | 465,000 square feet (43,000 m2) (original mall) 274,632 square feet (26,000 m2) (current mall) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Lakes Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. Opened in 1972, the shopping center initially featured Jefferson Ward and Britt's discount stores, and later included the first locations for the retail chains Office Depot and Sports Authority. The complex was torn down in 1995 and redeveloped as a strip mall.
Lakes Mall opened in 1972, anchored by discount stores Jefferson Ward and Britt's, with other major tenants including a Pantry Pride supermarket and a McCrory dime store. By the 1980s, the mall was losing business to larger shopping centers in town. Also, Britt's closed in 1981, Pantry Pride in 1984, and Jefferson Ward in 1985. By 1986, the center had more than 25 vacancies; a year later, 42 of its 83 storefronts were vacant. Despite the increasing vacancies, the first Office Depot opened in the mall in 1986, and a flea market filled the former Britt's. Shortly after the Office Depot opened, the owners announced that they would begin renovating the mall with a "main street" theme.
Kmart bought the former Jefferson Ward building, converting part of it to a Builders Square home improvement store, while the rest became the first location of Sports Authority, a sports equipment store. Since Office Depot, The Sports Authority, and Builders Square did not open to the mall, traffic within the mall itself continued to decline. By 1989, the only other retailers inside were McCrory (which closed on December 31 that year), two restaurants, a men's clothing store, and some offices and service tenants. Also, the mall's owners filed a mortgage on it, but the mortgage holder was charged in a foreclosure suit because it also owned space in the mall and could no longer afford to pay rent. The city building inspector declared the building unsafe in April 1990.
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