Did you know? Jacksonville's Regency Square mall once had 160 stores, restaurants (2024)

Gary T. MillsJacksonville Florida Times-Union

For decades, Regency Square mall was Ground Zero for Black Friday shopping in Jacksonville, with thousands of shoppers packing the Arlington mall’s stores, food court, corridors and more.

When it opened on March 2, 1967, the mall boasted 60 stores, including department stores JCPenney, Furchgott’s, May-Cohen's, Ivey’s and F.W. Woolworth & Co.

Fourteen years later, in 1981, Regencyadded 90 new stores and restaurants, bringing the total number of stores and eateries to more than 160 to the 1.2 million-square-foot enclosed mall. Among those was Sears, which relocated from downtown, cementing the mall as Jacksonville’s retail mecca for holiday shopping for years to come.

That changed beginning in 1990, with the opening of The Avenues mall just 10 miles away. And again in 2005, with the opening of the massive St. Johns Town Center, also on the Southside, and a year later, when River City Marketplace opened in North Jacksonville.

In the following years, some of Regency’s biggest tenants departed, including department store Belk in 2015, leaving a 144,000-square-foot vacancy in the middle of the mall. Belk opened a standalone store less than four miles away at Atlantic North.

In 2020, JCPenney – the mall’s last original tenant – closed, leaving Dillard’s as Regency’s sole anchor store. (The store has been operating as a clearance center for well over a decade.)

Is Regency Square mall still open?

Yes, the mall is still open. In October, Lake City-based Blackwater Development announced that it was interested in purchasing the shopping center from Regency Realty, which has owned the mall since 2014.

"We are currently early in the initial phase of the due diligence process," said Rurmell McGee, Blackwater's president, in an email statement to the Times-Union. "Our primary objective at this juncture is to conduct a thorough assessment of the property and determine the project's feasibility."

What stores are in Regency Square mall in Jacksonville?

According to the mall’s website, the following stores and businesses are open:

  • Dillard’s
  • Island Gale Patio
  • Jimmy Jazz
  • Modern Furniture Outlet
  • Regency Health Food
  • Rogers Jewelry

What restaurants are open at Jacksonville’s Regency Square mall?

  • Catering by Chef Tony
  • First Coast Cookies
  • Lauren’s Seafood
  • Peru Chicken
  • Tokyo Sakura

What other businesses are open at Regency Square mall?

  • AMC Theatres
  • Cut & Stitch
  • Firestone
  • I Love Music Foundation
  • Impact Church
  • IRIS Lending Library for the Blind
  • LensCrafters
  • Motorcycle Safety Training

How old is Regency Square mall?

Opened in March 1967, the mall is more than 55 years old.

What were the original tenants of Regency Square mall?

Here’s a list of the mall’s tenants that first year, starting on the east end at J.C. Penney, according to the 1968 Jacksonville city directory, published by Polk’s:

  • J.C. Penney (department store)
  • Singer Sewing Machines
  • Flair Fabrics
  • Halpern’s Men’s and Boys Shop (men’s clothing)
  • Nancy Scott (women’s clothing)
  • F.W. Woolworth Co.
  • Holland’s Barber Shop
  • Schwobilt Clothes
  • Spencer Gifts
  • Thom McAn Shoe Store
  • National Shirt Shops
  • Furchgott’s (department store)
  • Baker’s Shoe Store
  • World Bazaar Gifts
  • O’Neill’s Card & Candle Shop
  • Lillie Rubin (women’s clothing)
  • Underwood Jewelers
  • The Matador (men’s clothing)
  • Piccadilly Cafeteria
  • May-Cohen’s (department store)
  • Levy’s
  • French Novelty Country Shop (women’s clothing)
  • Elson’s Books
  • Castro Convertibles (furniture)
  • Walgreen Drug Stores
  • Rosenblum’s (clothing)
  • Florsheim Shoe Shop
  • Russell Stover Candies
  • Mayfair Opticians
  • Riverside Camera
  • Motherhood Maternity Shops
  • Regency Floral
  • Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan
  • Red Carpet Inn restaurant
  • Radio Shack
  • Bresler’s Ice Cream
  • Nice House of Music
  • Scot Ties
  • Merle Norman Cosmetics
  • Larry’s Shoe Stores
  • Ivey’s (department store)
  • State Farm Insurance
  • The Wiggery
  • Toy and Hobby Chest
  • Kinney Shoes
  • Lerner Shops (women’s clothing)
  • Vogue Shops (women’s clothing)
  • Kay Jewelry Co.
  • Size 5-7-9 (women’s clothing)
  • Walsh Shoe Repair
  • Max E. Shafer (optometrist)
  • John R. Kelley (dentist)
  • The Leader
  • State Farm Mutual Insurance Co.
  • Ponderosa Steak House
  • Colonial Stores
  • Atlantic Loan Co.
  • Arnold Palmer Cleaning Center (dry cleaner)

Did you know? May Cohens had 5 names during its tenure at Regency Square

What stores were open at Regency Square at the height of its popularity?

In March 1981, Regency Square mall celebrated the Grand Opening of its expanded mall, which included 90 new stores and restaurants, bringing the total number of stores and eateries to more than 160 to the 1.2 million-square-foot enclosed mall.

Here is a look at Regency’s store directory in 1981, courtesy of a special advertising section in the former Jacksonville Journal.

Department, Specialty

  • Furchgott’s
  • Ivey’s
  • May Cohens
  • J.C. Penney
  • Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Women’s Apparel

  • Added Dimension
  • Body Shop
  • Brooks Fashion
  • Cache
  • Casual Corner
  • Colony Shop
  • County Seat
  • Foxmoor
  • French Novelty
  • The Gap
  • It’s Only Natural
  • Jarrod’s
  • Jenny Lane
  • Lerner’s
  • Levitation
  • Levy-Wolf
  • Lillie Rubin
  • The Limited
  • Mikey
  • Motherhood Maternity
  • Ormond
  • The Other Woman
  • Pappagallo Shop
  • Park Lane Hosiery
  • Peck & Peck
  • 7th Avenue Warehouse
  • Size 5-7-9
  • Susie’s Casuals
  • Vogue Shop

Menswear

  • Alexander Steed
  • Chess King
  • County Seat
  • The Gap
  • Gingiss Formal Wear
  • Halpern’s
  • H.I.S.
  • Identitees
  • J. Riggings
  • Jarrod’s
  • Levitation
  • Levy-Wolf
  • Matador
  • National Shirt Shop
  • Players
  • Schwobilt

Shoes

  • Baker Shoes
  • Bari Shoes
  • Buster Brown
  • Connie Shoes
  • Florsheim Shoes
  • Hanover Shoes
  • Johnston Murphy
  • Kinney Shoes
  • Landrover
  • Larry’s Shoes
  • La Scarpa
  • Stepps
  • Utsey’s Air Step
  • Wild Pair

Jewelry

  • Carlyle & Co.
  • Jacob’s
  • Kay
  • Ole
  • Rutherford’s Diamond Gallery
  • Underwood’s
  • Zales

Books, Cards, Gifts

  • B. Dalton
  • Bentley’s Luggage
  • Bookland
  • Lavender & Co.
  • O’Neill’s Card & Candle
  • Regency Tobacco
  • Ship Oar Shore
  • Smith’s Knife & Gift
  • Spencer Gifts
  • Things Remembered
  • Vickie’s Hallmark

Home Furnishings

  • Audio Tech
  • The Door Store
  • The Entertainer
  • European Creations
  • Nice House of Music
  • Phone Center Store
  • Radio Shack
  • Record Bar
  • Singer
  • Video Concepts
  • World Bazaar

Toys, Hobby & Specialty Activity

  • Athletic Attic
  • Craft Showcase
  • Footlocker
  • Gunrunners
  • Only Happiness
  • Scholar’s Choice
  • Sunglass Hut
  • Toy Parade
  • Wolf Camera

Food

  • Bono’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q
  • Bresler’s
  • Cheese Wheel
  • Coastal Cookie
  • Coffee, Tea & Thee
  • Glass Oven Bakery
  • Hickory Farms
  • Houlihan’s
  • Mr. Dunderbak’s
  • Murdick’s Fudge
  • Orange Tree
  • Peanut Shack
  • Picadilly Cafeteria
  • Regency Health Foods
  • Russell Stover
  • Swensen’s

The Commons (food court)

  • All-American Hero
  • Chick-fil-A
  • Cozzoli’s
  • Kosta’s
  • Natural Eats
  • Peking Express
  • Paddy’s Place
  • Roman Gardens

Entertainment

  • Forum Fair
  • 6-Plex Theatre

Drug & Variety

  • Walgreens
  • Woolworth’s

Services

  • A&E Jewelers
  • Alan’s Barber Shop
  • Atlantic Bank
  • Barnet Bank ATM
  • Commission Discount
  • Cosmopolitan Travel
  • Eastern Air Line Tickets
  • Fidelity Federal
  • Opinions
  • Dr. John Kelly
  • Mayfair Opticians
  • Regis Beauty Salon & Face Factory
  • Dr. Max Schafer
  • Shear Pleasure Beauty Salon
  • State Farm Insurance
  • Total Energy Plant
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • U.S. Post Office
  • Walsh Shoe Repair
Did you know? Jacksonville's Regency Square mall once had 160 stores, restaurants (2024)

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