Fort Lauderdale's Coral Ridge Mall: A Nostalgic Journey Through Florida's First Enclosed Shopping Center

While the heyday of the enclosed shopping mall in Florida is long gone, the Coral Ridge Mall in downtown Fort Lauderdale is still thriving today with 50 plus stores and restaurants.

This mall holds the distinction of being Florida’s first enclosed shopping mall.  The $8 million mall was developed by Coral Ridge Properties and Jack A Cantor and opened back in October of 1962, with JCPenney and Britt’s department stores as anchors.

Like every mall facing increasing store vacancies and decreasing foot traffic, the majority of enclosed malls that once dominated Florida’s landscape have closed or are well on their way to closing.

Today anchored by Target, Publix, T.J Maxx and Marshalls the 58 acre, 437,000 square foot shopping center is well kept and clean.

Under Management’s control, the mall transformed itself as retail trends changed through the region during the 1990s.

While the mall-rats are not as abundant as they were over 50 years ago, they did replace the food court in the 2014 with an AMC Dine-In theater and on the upper level is the Baja Beach nightclub.

Come join in the shopping fun on Route 1!