First opened in 1975, the Orange Park Mall is the largest mall on the west side of the St. Johns River in the Jacksonville area. The mall contains over 110 stores and services. When it opened, it featured three anchors: Ivey's, May Cohen's, and Sears, like Volusia Mall a year before.[1] In 1984, the mall added 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) that included a new food court and a JCPenney anchor. May Cohen's became May Florida shortly before being acquired by Maison Blanche in June 1988. Ivey's changed to Dillard's in June 1990. Maison Blanche was in turn taken over by Gayfers in early 1992 due to Mercantile Stores buying the chain. In 1997, the mall built a 24-screen AMC Theatres. Gayfers finally ended up as Belk in late 1998 because Mercantile was bought out by Dillard's which already had a store at the mall. Later, in 2006, the mall added a 48,003-square-foot (4,459.6 m2) Dick's Sporting Goods anchor. The mall was sold to Washington Prime Group in 2014 and today stands at 953,000 square feet (88,500 m2). On February 8, 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 39 stores nationwide. The store closed in April 2020.[2][3]
