Good news for regency square mall, 60 new stores coming soon:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/mb/news/regency-square-mall-new-life-more-stores-in-pipeline/100119596
QuoteInternational Decor Outlet, the home improvement and decor mall taking over 200,000 square feet of Regency Square Mall, is opening up this summer.
IDO, which will consist of 80 storefronts to connect consumers and contractors directly to manufacturers, will have a soft opening in June and a grand opening in August, said Chief Operating Officer Rhett Farber.
International Decor Outlet's flag flies outside of Regency Square Mall, the location for its new home decor mall, to open in August.
The mall, which will be its second after the Darien mall in Georgia, will feature not just stores, but also some restaurants, including Captain's Catch Seafood Restaurant and Sports Bar, which has already begun its build out and will occupy 5,100 square feet.
Farber said opening in Regency Square Mall was especially attractive to the Jacksonville-based company, which is ramping up employment to between 100 and 200 employees by September.
"What a great location," he said. "This was historically the first location for shopping, when it was the only mall at the time. We really wanted to support growth of Jacksonville."
He added that IDO wants to help revitalize the regency area with its presence.
By creating IDO malls, Farber said, consumers can be connected to higher-quality products at a better rate by purchasing directly from manufacturers that come from across the globe.
Darien and Jacksonville won't be the only locations either, he said.
"We hope to open 200 different mall outlets over the next 10 years," said Farber. "Our headquarters is in Jacksonville, but our Georgia and Florida locations are our first two malls. They're going to serve as prototypes as we're quickly expanding."
Check back tomorrow to read more about IDO's store opening in Jacksonville — and how it's looking to expand even further through an international logistics business.
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/morning-edition/2016/03/regency-square-malls-future.html
(http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/morning-edition/2016/03/regency-square-malls-future.html)
Hopefully everything works out for the best! I'm very interested to see what kind of stores will be coming.
The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming!
Very interesting evolution for Regency Square -- hopefully it works out. Darien is rather close to Jax; I presume that unit is designed to pull the traffic off of I-95 and Regency will be geared more toward the local market.
It's a new concept so it's impossible to know if it will work. But it's a great idea for Regency. It was not going to be filled with traditional retail again.
Sort of an outlet mall on side, a mega church, and a traditional mall on the otherside. Then sprinkle in a few traditional anchors and an auto museum into the mix. Definitely hodge podge. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.
We already know how it will work out. Unless you get rid of the hood rats and thugs that hang out there, nothing will change.
Quote from: stephendare on March 27, 2016, 11:53:45 AM
Quote from: JimInJax on March 27, 2016, 11:49:18 AM
We already know how it will work out. Unless you get rid of the hood rats and thugs that hang out there, nothing will change.
I haven't seen any 'hood rats' or 'thugs' hanging out there.
What are you talking about? Black kids?
It seems that River City Marketplace and Orange Park Mall have had more problems at their theaters than the Regency has had. Regency has an undeserved reputation for being unsafe, which I believe started some time after they found that woman in the car there who later turned out to have been killed elsewhere and left at the mall IIRC.
Regency has not had much of a reason for anyone to go there for any extended period of time lately, just go to the store the you plan to visit and leave.
My movie loving friend always prefers Regency if given a choice. Have been with him several times and thought it was a great theater.
Quote from: stephendare on March 27, 2016, 11:53:45 AM
I haven't seen any 'hood rats' or 'thugs' hanging out there.
What are you talking about? Black kids?
The same ones my dad complains about, despite not having been to Regency in 20+ years.
Lets get realistic here (anyone in particular). There was an element of people that brought Regency Square Mall to it's knees. I really don't have to say what race that they were, playing that PC game; you figure it out. Go to Bert Rd and tell me is that area a nice place to raise a family. Is Arlington the same way that it used to be in the 80s and 90s?? The 90s being the last 'decency era' is very common across the US with malls, suburban areas etc. even for Eureka Gardens.
The influx of the hood (yes I said it damn it!!) did more damage than any erecting of RCMP and the SJTC ever could do to Regency. There are plenty of hard working 'persons of color' as liberals like to say, that weren't stealing and robbing, you know, actually being civilized, so of course it's stupid to blame every black person.
If everything was so damn hunky dory there, they wouldn't have to add a police substation. Concerning that theater, I'm not a big movie guy, and if the theater is nice and everything, that's great, I wish the mall was the same. Regency will have to reinvent itself. As someone said earlier, it's days as a traditional mall is long gone. Many big challenges will come forth for Regency. Sorry, I like to fill in the gaps being a realistic, and not catering to people that wanna feel good for the sake of being PC.
I may have cited it on here before but, what the hell. Chris Rock has a pure genius routine from 20 years ago that I'm sure he has backed away from since he first did it but . . . it was gold then, and it's gold now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4
It wasn't black kids that truly hurt Regency Square, Stephen, but a certain element of black kids led the charge and encouraged the patron stampede away from that location. Part of it was inevitable, part of it was regrettable. All of it was real.
I applaud these people who are creatively attempting to re-imagine the utilization of that space. They may just have a winning formula.
Kids or "an element" were not Regency's downfall. Age, new competition and changing regional demographics were. No kids or anyone from the hood led to the bankruptcy of the Montgomery Wards chain or Dillard's turning their store into a Marshall's or Ross Dress for Less. Nobody in Jax led to the downfall of Sears and JCPenney as chains in today's retail market. In fact, Jax should be proud of Regency's run as a top line center since 1967. Most malls its age, died over a decade or two ago.
Quote from: stephendare on March 28, 2016, 12:39:37 AM
Quote from: RattlerGator on March 27, 2016, 10:04:46 PM
I may have cited it on here before but, what the hell. Chris Rock has a pure genius routine from 20 years ago that I'm sure he has backed away from since he first did it but . . . it was gold then, and it's gold now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4
It wasn't black kids that truly hurt Regency Square, Stephen, but a certain element of black kids led the charge and encouraged the patron stampede away from that location. Part of it was inevitable, part of it was regrettable. All of it was real.
I applaud these people who are creatively attempting to re-imagine the utilization of that space. They may just have a winning formula.
No they didn't, and thats not what happened. Wish though you might, It actually happened exactly as Lake described it. Regency diluted the real estate market by over building, so that the anchors which might have taken the space in the mall when the economy changed were already in big box stores of their own on the periphery.
It was a simple problem of overextension of the market, combined with under investment once the market changed.
The racist reaction on the part of Mall Management to black kids coming to Regency from the Northside after the Dames Point Bridge only hastened the destruction of the Mall.
If you lived in Duval County and not in Clay County, you might have had a better idea of how it happened.
One of the issues I found with Regency that seemed to hurt it was racism and/or classism. I worked their from 1993 - 1996, right as it was changing. It was also my neighborhood mall growing up.
Once the Dames Point bridge opened, the clientele changed a bit. More black people started shopping there. As did more working class white folks from the North Side. Conveniently, the Avenues Mall had opened a few years earlier and the patrons who were offended by the change in demographics were able to go there instead.
I don't think there was an issue with "thugs" or anything - it was more an issue of perception. I never felt uncomfortable or threatened in the mall. I accept that maybe crime increased there at some point - but that was likely due to the fact that it was basically a ghost town by that point.
My wife worked at the mall to make extra money in the year before we moved away (2006) and it was still fine. Never any real issues.
Edit: Basically, I'm saying that people didn't stop going there because of the crime. People stopped going there first - any crime issues happened later.
I gave up on Regency Mall in 2005 when I went with my then 13 year old son. We were accosted by the Paul Blarts because he wore his hoodie over his head.
We were told " hoodies are not allowed" and that his head had to be seen at all times. I was like "Huh?".
I gave up on AMC Regency last year when movie security started wearing open side arms, and they followed me to my car in the parking lot. They sat and watched me back my car out and leave. Doesnt matter the reason why, only that they felt compelled to do so.
Was there bad behavior? Yeah. But I've seen worse behavior at the Orange Park mall in the past couple of years. Like everyone else is saying, the mall was already doing poorly, the bad element just made it worse.
It also didn't help that the security guards there were hyper-aggressive jerkwads that would harass anyone they could. I think I mentioned it a long time ago, but I used to get my hair cut at the Hair Cuttery there and one afternoon, I was getting a trim and a construction worker came and checked in and still had his hard hat on, he takes it off and he had a light blue bandana covering his hair under the hat. Almost immediately, a guard rushes into the salon and tells him to remove his bandana at once because gang colors aren't allowed in the mall. We all start laughing but nope, this guy was dead serious, accusing a nearly 50 year old worker who quite obviously just got off work of being a gang member. The barber doing me told the guard to get out of the store. In fact, the only negative interactions I've ever had with anyone at Regency were the mall cops during that time period. If you were male and under 60, they treated you like a threat- regardless of appearance. Walking too slow? Up to no good. Walking too fast? Up to no good. Looking at a display through a window? Up to no good. Sitting on a bench? Up to no good? Waiting for someone to use the restroom? You are a terrorist and should be shot.
Wow I had no idea there were these issues with trigger happy mall cops. Maybe because I'm white, or maybe because I wasn't there during that time frame. Not sure. I shopped there frequently from 07-11 and didn't see a problem with the mall, other than stores leaving. But I always felt safe and didn't witness "thugs" etc.
I'm excited to see what will come from these new stores. It's certainly something that will be unique in Jax that only regency will provide. I'm thinking of a high end flea market maybe? It'll be interesting to see.
Regency died through a combination of age, demographics, and perception. When it was built, both the mall and Arlington were hot commodities. Now the mall is almost 50 years old, it hasn't been seriously updated in a long time, and it's had trouble attracting popular new stores. The neighborhood has also aged. Since the 1990s at least, well-to-do of recent generations are by and large not moving to Arlington. The population has become less wealthy and more heavily African-American and immigrant. The mall's customer base reflects the area around it.
All this has contributed to a perception among much of the mall-going consumer base that Regency is unsafe and declining. The typical commentary unfortunately often revolves around racially coded language: We've all heard it described as "ghetto", full of "thugs", and "uh, sketchy, if you get my drift". It appears that the security team's efforts to make the mall less "sketchy" by enforcing the dress code and following people around aren't really working to make it seem less safe.
Whatever the reason, the mall is objectively declining. It's losing stores left and right, sales are down, and the property value is down. This comes even though many thousands of people pass through Arlington every day, and stores and restaurants in the outlying strips are mostly doing just fine. I think the movie theater is the most telling thing about it. It was formerly located within the mall, but eventually decided to expand into its own building, just as many other stores have subsequently left. Despite being saddled with some of the same "sketchy" baggage as the mall (and neighborhood), the theater has continued to boom. It was recently given an impressive upgrade and is easily the best of the big theaters in the city. Meanwhile, the mall itself hasn't found a way to keep up.
IMO the biggest detriment to a former thriving Regency Square Mall was larceny, ALOT of larceny. I'm hearing people use these words like 'perception' well, all of that thieving was reality, no perception needed.
Quote from: RattlerGator on March 27, 2016, 10:04:46 PMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4
Thank you for posting that! That is the real war, and sadly the bad side is seemingly winning nowadays; It always wasn't like that.
There is so much speculation and many opinions as to what happened. I've personally worked in the Regency Square area for 25 years and live not too far away. I have seen the mall thrive and decline. I choose not to live in the past and try to label the past mistakes. The truth is most all the stores and especially the restaurants around the mall are doing just fine. I'm excited to see the Intl Outlets come in. The sad part about the mall is it's old and outdated. It could use a makeover - that would definitely be a plus. I've never felt scared, threatened or in danger in the Regency area anymore than I have at other malls or anywhere else in Jacksonville that I frequent. Let's support any new businesses in the area as it is a heavily traveled area and any improvement is a definite plus.
I agree with Lake the only thing that happened to Regency Mall was, The Avenues, SJTC and River city Market Place.
Quote from: Tacachale on March 28, 2016, 10:36:07 AM
Regency died through a combination of age, demographics, and perception. When it was built, both the mall and Arlington were hot commodities. Now the mall is almost 50 years old, it hasn't been seriously updated in a long time, and it's had trouble attracting popular new stores. The neighborhood has also aged.
very correct. it's not a bad property at all, but as of 2014 (last time I was there before finally leaving arlington...) there were still some anchor tenants, while the whole wing between Sears and Dillard's, is it, was totally vacant. Not a single open storefront. the last time i was at the newer separate theater, whenever Cowboy Bebop finally showed at some midnight in the 2000s... the car next to mine had been flipped, the glass was shattered, and there was a ghetto bird (helicopter) lighting up the parking lot.
the bus station is out of control. i liked the idea of a big covered modern JTA hub.
Agree on the ... maladjusted security guards. Was detained once by a security guard, way back in 1997, who called JSO and asked them to arrest and return to Fernandina Beach, being a minor who actually had graduated high school, attending in the daytime hours. Officer looked at him for a second, looked at me said "you got a car?" yes sir. "see ya."
Quote from: stephendare on March 28, 2016, 03:22:43 PM
Quote from: JeffreyS on March 28, 2016, 03:06:48 PM
I agree with Lake the only thing that happened to Regency Mall was, The Avenues, SJTC and River city Market Place.
Yeah, I remember when the real exodus happened at Regency when the Avenues opened.
But the end of the 1990s was when all of the big boxes began opening everywhere but the mall proper. None of it walkable.
By the time the Town Center opened up, there wasn't any way to create a walkable village with the same amount of stores, big boxes and boutiques that the two areas had. The easier option won, obviously.
Also, at the same time Baymeadows, Southside and northern St. Johns had started attracting much of the city's middle and upper-middle class, over Arlington.
Quote from: JeffreyS on March 28, 2016, 03:06:48 PM
I agree with Lake the only thing that happened to Regency Mall was, The Avenues, SJTC and River city Market Place.
I think it's a little of both. The perception of Regency certainly changed, but that was started with giving middle and upper classes other places to go.
I think the reality is also that there is simply no way to fill all those shopping centers with retail. Jacksonville has grown since Regency was by itself as the go-to for shopping. But it hasn't quadrupled in population. You can't just keep building more and more shopping centers without something going empty.
Regency, for several reasons, became the place that was going to lose.
Personally, I'd like to see Regency Square Mall demo'd and the parcel re-purposed.
Quote from: dos0711 on December 16, 2016, 10:34:24 AM
Personally, I'd like to see Regency Square Mall demo'd and the parcel re-purposed.
Personally I have mixed feelings about your statement BUT you may not be far off from the truth...
Quote from: dos0711 on December 16, 2016, 10:34:24 AM
Personally, I'd like to see Regency Square Mall demo'd and the parcel re-purposed.
This might not be a bad idea.
Down to one traditional main anchor (JCPenney). Regency's days as a regional mall are just as bleak as Gateway's chances at gaining its former glory. Cherish the memories and let's see where the future takes this property.
At least the regency property is in a prime location for redevelopment with the massive traffic that borders the property every day. It will definitely be interesting to see what becomes of it.
I'm interested to see how the International Decor Outlet concept works out. It seems like its taking them forever to open up.
The land regency sits on would be great for something similar to Baldwin Park in Orlando. They have a similar / smaller concept in that area near the walmart, but it could definitely be done better.
^ The major difference is the surrounding area incomes
Baldwin Park is surrounded by some nasty neighborhoods similar to what's around Regency. Colonial and Semoran to the South and East are littered with gun shops, strip clubs and seedy strip malls. The traffic is worse by regency, but only because it's right on Atlantic, rather than further back.
A big difference I see is scale. Baldwin Park covers more than 1100 acres itself. At best, Regency appears to be somewhere between 120 and 140 acres. Also, University Boulevard is about three miles from Regency. Audubon Park and Fashion Square Mall are both basically across the street from Baldwin Park. Winter Park's ritzy Park Aveue is 1.5 miles NW, Thornton Park is 2 miles SW and downtown Orlando is 3 miles east. Also, although Colonial has its rough patches, as a whole, it's a decent commercial strip between Semoran and downtown and ViMi is pretty cool.
Status? Anything open yet? Thanks,
http://www.idooutlet.com/2017/04/12/ido-florida-mall-stores-open/
What a mess....
Perhaps IDO should explore Gateway's Mall. It's closed too but it's smaller and apparently in better shape...
QuoteThe future of the International Decor Outlet and Asian Town in Regency Square just got even cloudier.
"International Décor Outlet (IDO) has been forced to dramatically scale back its plans for the rejuvenation of Regency Square," reads a statement issued by the company behind the two projects. It has filed a lawsuit saying that problems with the mall — specifically a leaking roof and faulty air conditioning — are preventing it from adding tenants.
The move follows the closure of an automobile museum in the mall earlier this year that its owners also blamed on a leaking roof.
http://jacksonville.com/business/2017-07-11/firm-dramatically-scale-back-plans-regency-square
A quick check in google maps shows there is about 30 acres of land (mall and parking). What is something "game changing" that could better fill that space and not be a sea of barron concrete? Theme parks require at least 3 times that much land. It's too late to try something retail centric like the town center, but maybe something like Tapestry Park, but scaled up could work?
We have a place here in orlando called the Sodo Shopping Center that is only a slightly smaller footprint. Basically an anchor store with housing and offices over a parking structure with ground level retail and restaurants. Jax really needs to start building places like this. They're popping up left and right here in Orlando and greatly help create density/little vibrant pockets.
The Sodo Shopping Center sounds like a good idea. Couldn't the east side of the mall be kept, remove the west side, keep Dillards as a stand alone store and add other stand alone shops around it like Roosevelt Square ? There are new restaurants popping up all around the existing Regency Mall area and Lennar is building homes like crazy on the southwest side of the Southside Connector. Two new stores just opened in the shopping center where HH Gregg was so there is going to be a need to revitalize the area.
Dead shopping malls rise, like mountains beyond mountains...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awHWColYQ90
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/the-mathis-report-roller-rink-planned-at-regency-court-shopping-center
More news for Regency area!!! I'm starting to think this is a test run to observe the response and then they'll look to relocate to old Regency Mall