Launching the Marketplace — Oviedo’s First Major Retail Bet
Oviedo Marketplace (Oviedo Mall now) officially opened on March 4, 1998. The Rouse Company developed the project, and by launch day, the mall was already 80% leased.
Gayfers, Dillard’s, and Regal Cinemas Oviedo Mall 22 anchored the space. The theater alone had 22 screens—a bold move in a city still adjusting to its rapid growth.
For a moment, the mall looked like it might pull shoppers away from Orlando’s crowded corridors.
Other early names filled in quickly. Barnes & Noble drew in book lovers and f.y.e. brought music and movies.
Foot Locker launched a superstore with street access, setting it apart from more conventional inline tenants.
Still, competition was baked in from the start. Waterford Lakes Town Center, located just 10 miles south, opened around the same time and offered an outdoor layout with higher visibility from major roads.
Oviedo Marketplace sat tucked behind a bend in the highway, harder to find unless you knew where to look.
Then came the shuffle. In September 1998, just seven months in, Gayfers changed hands.
Dillard’s had acquired its parent company, Mercantile Stores, and to avoid operating two similar stores under the same roof, it sold the Gayfers location to Parisian.
That switch created momentum but also signaled instability.
The early years laid the groundwork for what would come next. Oviedo Marketplace was a product of optimism and retail ambition, but it opened into a landscape already shifting.
Malls were evolving, traffic patterns favored bigger roads, and retailers watched margins.
Today, the mall is still part of the local patchwork of things to do in Oviedo, Florida, but its early story is a case study in timing—and how fast that can turn.
Anchor Realignments and Department Store Shifts
The department store shuffle continued. In late 2000, Sears moved in as the third anchor. The chain had been opening locations in suburban malls nationwide, and Oviedo Mall was part of that push.
The spot Sears took had exterior visibility, a two-level layout, and easy parking access.
By that time, Parisian was already on its way out. Poor sales made it hard to justify keeping the store open, and by the end of 2000, it was gone.
Burdines took over the same space in November. That move aligned with Federated Department Stores’ broader strategy across Florida—consolidating regional brands under one nameplate.
The rebranding didn’t stop there. In 2003, Burdines became Burdines-Macy’s. Then, in 2005, the name was simplified again—just Macy’s.
The signage changed, but inside, the layout stayed mostly the same: cosmetics up front, housewares in the back, and escalators near the entrance.
Still, foot traffic was a problem. While Dillard’s remained steady, Macy’s struggled to gain ground.
It was wedged between competitors—Waterford Lakes had its own anchor lineup, and nearby lifestyle centers offered open-air setups that drew younger shoppers.
By the mid-2010s, the cracks were visible.
Macy’s finally closed its Oviedo location in 2017. The store went dark with little warning, and glass doors were chained. Window posters stayed up long after the mannequins were gone.
Sears lasted a bit longer. It closed in December 2019, part of a national wave that cut 92 locations.
That left Dillard’s as the lone department store still operating. And even then, it downsized—part of the second floor was quietly shuttered and never reopened.
By the end of that decade, two anchor spots stood empty. Their entrances still faced the food court and mall walkway, but shoppers passed them without stopping.
The anchor strategy that once defined the mall had come apart.
Retail Attrition and Declining Foot Traffic
Retail shrinkage didn’t happen all at once—it chipped away. In 2004, General Growth Properties took over after acquiring the Rouse Company.
The new ownership tried to hold the line, but momentum had already slowed.
One issue? Exterior entrances. Foot Locker and f.y.e. were set up with doors leading straight outside.
That design pulled customers out of the mall’s core and disrupted the flow through the central walkway.
Bed Bath & Beyond had the same setup. In 2009, they left their oversized interior space and moved outside the mall, downsizing in the process.
In 2010, CW Capital stepped in. They bought the property from General Growth and took over operations.
A year later, the name changed—Oviedo Marketplace became Oviedo Mall. The rebrand aimed to freshen things up, but the tenant list kept shrinking.
By 2012, parts of the mall had been reconfigured. A space meant for a restaurant had become a cosmetology school under the Paul Mitchell brand.
Two years later, in 2014, a gym called Zoo Health Club opened inside the old Bed Bath & Beyond spot.
O2B Kids, a children’s fitness center, filled the remaining square footage.
Champs Sports and Dollar Tree closed in 2021. Their closures weren’t dramatic—just quiet store liquidations and paper signs thanking customers.
Around the same time, the food court thinned out. Only a few vendors remained, and some stalls were turned into pop-up shops or covered entirely.
Even the murals changed. Until 2022, the walls showed sepia-toned images of Oviedo’s early settlers and historic landmarks.
Then they were replaced by local artwork—bright colors, playful lines, and hidden roosters tucked into each piece.
The change aimed to attract social media users and maybe even go viral. But it also marked a pivot, a shift away from nostalgia toward something else.
By the early 2020s, large chunks of the mall were quiet during weekdays. Music played overhead, but you could hear your own footsteps.
Mixed-Use Moves and Adaptive Leasing Strategies
By 2020, retail alone couldn’t sustain the mall.
That January, Oviedo’s City Council voted to allow redevelopment on part of the site—plans included a 55+ residential community, a hotel, and more retail space.
It was a pivot from pure shopping to something broader: mixed-use development with housing, hospitality, and lifestyle amenities stitched in.
The age restriction didn’t last. In August 2022, city leaders dropped the 55+ rule, opening future apartments to everyone.
The plan now included 328 residential units and a 124-room hotel.
The hotel was designed to sit along the mall’s outer ring, where foot traffic had already started drifting toward fitness centers and food tenants.
Meanwhile, the leasing strategy shifted. By 2023, medical offices and wellness tenants became the focus.
Orlando Orthopaedic Center took over a large space near the Paul Mitchell school, and a behavioral therapy provider, Catalyst Behavior Solutions, opened down the corridor.
The leasing team worked to attract stable, long-term businesses—even if they weren’t traditional mall stores.
There were no flashy announcements, just steady build-outs and quiet ribbon cuttings. These spaces filled gaps and helped keep the lights on.
At the same time, old vacancies kept getting repurposed. In November 2023, D’Amico & Sons Italian Market and Bakery moved into the former Chamberlain’s space.
It wasn’t a full-service restaurant, but it had seating and a small grocery counter. It served two purposes: filling a hole and driving daytime traffic.
The interior was still a mall, but it didn’t feel like the late ’90s anymore. Shoppers passed medical offices on their way to lunch, and gym members walked in through former anchor doors.
Leasing had shifted toward utility—and whatever paid rent.
Civic Partnerships and Long-Term Redevelopment Plans
In 2023, the conversation turned local. The idea came up at a city workshop: What if Oviedo moved City Hall and the police station into the Oviedo mall?
At first, it sounded temporary. But the more they looked at the space—especially the former Sears building—the more it seemed to fit.
The Sears anchor, which has been closed since December 2019, had remained empty for years.
With a second floor, elevator access, and plenty of parking, it checked a lot of boxes.
By late 2023, the city had seriously considered the move. Cost estimates, architectural studies, and rezoning options started to circulate.
City services weren’t the only ones rethinking the space.
Developers finalized plans to build housing on the north side of the property—apartments with walking access to shops, restaurants, and medical offices.
The model leaned into the “live-work-play” pitch. Some parcels were still pending sale, but permits were already in motion.
At the same time, the mall itself needed repairs. In late 2024, reports showed active leaks in multiple parts of the roof. HVAC issues left tenants using portable fans during the day.
International Growth Properties, the mall’s current owner, began replacing the worst mechanical systems in early 2025.
In February 2025, Oviedo Brewing Company closed its doors. The taproom had been inside the mall for five years—long enough to build a small regular crowd but not long enough to ride out rising costs.
The owners blamed inflation, slow foot traffic, and hangovers from the pandemic economy.
The space went dark just as mall leadership was talking about revitalization.
Even so, redevelopment plans remain on track. The mall’s transformation is “close”—permits are lined up, and talks with residential developers are ongoing.
The hotel project hasn’t been shelved, but funding timelines are tight. Some city officials still hope to move municipal services into the former Sears space by 2026.
