Florence Mall

About this mall

Florence Mall is an enclosed two-story mall shopping mall in Florence, Kentucky. The mall, opened in 1976, housing more than 100 stores, including four anchor stores (JCPenney, Sears and two Macy’s stores) as well as a food court. The mall is managed by General Growth Properties of Chicago, Illinois.

Before the mall’s opening, a water tower with the words “Florence Mall” was built near the mall property. However, this inscription was considered a violation of state law as the mall had not yet opened. As a result, the “M” in “Mall” was partially painted over and an apostrophe was added, changing the text to “Florence Y’all”. This inscription was never changed and has become a local landmark.

It was constructed by Homart Development, a former real estate division of Sears, Roebuck and Company.

While JCPenney and Sears remained the same throughout the mall’s history, the other two anchors would change repeatedly as chains were acquired and merged. The Shillito’s chain was merged with Rike’s, and all former Shillito’s and Rike’s stores briefly carried the dual branding of Shilllito-Rike’s from 1982 until 1986, when the chain was merged into Lazarus. Pogue’s was then converted to L.S. Ayres in 1983, which in turn sold its store to Hess’s five years later. Also in the mid-1980s, the food court was renovated.