{{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{Infobox shopping mall | name = Edison Mall | image = Edison Mall in Fort Myers - panoramio.jpg | image_width = | caption = | location = Fort Myers, Florida, United States | address = 4125 S Cleveland Avenue | coordinates = {{coord|26.601881|-81.868972|type:landmark_region:US-FL|display=inline,title}} | opening_date = 1965 | developer = George Sanders | manager = Washington Prime Group | owner = Washington Prime Group | number_of_stores = 133 | number_of_anchors = 5 (4 open, 1 being redeveloped) | floor_area = {{cvt|1,051,000|sqft}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.simon.com/about_simon/leasing/LocalMall.aspx?id=129|title=Leasing information for Edison Mall|work=Simon Property Group|accessdate=12 January 2011}}</ref> | parking = | floors = 1 (2 in Dillard's, JCPenney, and both Macy's locations) }} '''Edison Mall''' is an enclosed, super-regional shopping mall in Fort Myers, Florida. The mall opened in 1965, and has been expanded three times since. Edison Mall is owned by Washington Prime Group, which took over the mall in 2014. The mall is named for inventor Thomas Edison, who owned a winter residence and laboratory in Fort Myers. The mall's anchors are Dillard's, JCPenney, and two Macy's stores; it also includes 133 stores and a lifestyle center section. The mall itself is situated on just one floor, but all of the anchor stores (except for the former Sears) have two floors.
==History== ===1960s-1974: Planning, construction, and early years=== {{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = thumb | image1 = Edison Mall 1960s.jpg | caption1 = | image2 = Edison Mall interior.jpg | caption2 = Interior of the mall as seen in the 1960s (top) and in 2022 (bottom) | align = left }} The Edison Mall was developed in the early 1960s by George Sanders, who got the idea for an indoor shopping mall in Fort Myers when he heard that Sears and JCPenney were seeking to relocate their Downtown Fort Myers stores to larger locations. JCPenney had been operating downtown in the Langford Building since 1934, and Sears store was located across the street in the Heitman Building.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Barbara |title=Penney's grows with Fort Myers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-penneys-grows-with-fort-myer/157590693/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=17 April 1977 |page=1G, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-penneys-grows-with-fort-myer/157590719/ 2G] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fort Myers River District: Self-Guided Tours|url=http://www.filmfortmyers.com/pdf/2013_RD_Tours_Ltr.pdf|website=Film Fort Myers|accessdate=16 March 2017|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922041310/http://www.filmfortmyers.com/pdf/2013_RD_Tours_Ltr.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
Sanders purchased property that was previously a strawberry field for the mall on the northeast corner of U.S. Route 41 and Colonial Boulevard on the south side of Fort Myers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sanders' Mall Idea Made History |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-sanders-mall-idea-made-histo/157590864/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=19 September 1974 |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> At the time, US 41 was only two lanes wide, and the only other businesses in the area were a Publix supermarket and a drive-in theater,<ref>Board, p. 121</ref> (which later became the site of a Kmart store, and is now a Floor & Decor).
The Edison Mall was initially anchored by Sears, JCPenney, and Maas Brothers, a Tampa-based department store. Sears opened first on October 28, 1964, opening before the rest of the mall.<ref>{{cite news |title=Edison Mall Shopping Center Plans and Large Tenants Listed by Sanders |work=The News-Press |date=6 September 1964|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-edison-mall-shopping-center-p/157591006/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |page=3C |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> Maas Brothers opened on October 8, 1965, along with the first interior segment of the mall.<ref name="Dean">{{cite news |last1=Dean |first1=Jewell |title=New Maas Store Will Open Today At Edison Mall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-new-maas-store-will-open-toda/157300520/ |access-date=17 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=8 October 1965 |pages=1-A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-new-maas-store-will-open-toda/157300630/ 8-A] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> JCPenney opened on March 17, 1966, which completed the original plan for the mall.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hundreds of Shoppers Flock to New Penney Store in Mall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-hundreds-of-shoppers-flock-to/157591118/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=18 March 1966 |page=8A |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> The mall's opening would lead to more commercial development south of downtown Fort Myers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Coward|first1=Sarah|title=Who owns downtown Fort Myers? Fewer players than you think|url=http://www.news-press.com/story/life/food/2016/05/20/who-owns-downtown-fort-myers-dominik-goertz-kevin-nicole-schoensee-bill-smith-wilbur-restaurants-shopping-redevelopment/83083924/|accessdate=1 March 2017}}</ref>
The Edison Mall would be the first time in the United States that rivals JCPenney and Sears were co-located in the same shopping center, and the stores were at opposite end of the mall's original segment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news-press.com/article/20091002/SS23/91001074/1075 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904181246/http://www.news-press.com/article/20091002/SS23/91001074/1075 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2012 |title=Influential local: George Sanders |date=2 October 2009 |work=News-Press |accessdate=12 January 2011 }}</ref> The Maas Brothers store was in the middle of the mall and was notable since it was their first store to anchor an enclosed shopping mall. They had previously only operated freestanding stores in downtown areas. Maas Brothers would later go on to open more locations in malls on Florida's Gulf Coast with their next mall stores opening at WestShore Plaza and Tyrone Square Mall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maas Brothers History|url=http://www.tampapix.com/maas.htm|website=Tampa Pix|accessdate=9 July 2014}}</ref> The two-story Maas Brothers also contained the first escalators in the city of Fort Myers.<ref name="Dean" /> As with their previous stores, Maas Brothers operated a Suncoast Restaurant within the store on the second floor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Austin |first1=Lillian |title=In Eating Department, Maas Brothers Seems to have much in store |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-in-eating-department-maas-br/157591196/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=11 August 1989 |page=24 |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lisicky|first1=Michael J.|title=Remembering Maas Brothers|date=2015|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, SC|isbn=978-1-4671-1473-8}}</ref> The Edison Mall also notably included a Walgreens and a Woolworth's five-and-dime store in its early days.<ref>{{cite web|title=Edison Mall|url=http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2006/01/edison-mall.html|website=Malls of America|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref>
===1974-1980s: Expansion=== The mall was renovated in 1977, and the three anchors were expanded within the decade. Maas Brothers added additional space to the back of their store in 1974, and Sears doubled the size of their store in 1977. JCPenney added a second floor to their store in 1979.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Averill |first1=Roslyn |title=Construction to begin on addition to Penney's |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-construction-to-begin-on-addi/157591346/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=4 March 1979 |page=3G |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref name="timeline">{{cite news |title=1965-1992: Edison Mall, then and now |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-1965-1992-edison-mall-then/157591497/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=15 October 1992|page=1 |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref>
The mall underwent its first major expansion in 1979. This expansion was centered around a new fourth anchor, Miami-based Burdines, on the southeast corner. Burdines had been considering four possible locations for a store in Fort Myers in the 1970s and one of the considered locations was at a large regional mall proposed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation to be located at US 41 and Daniels Road (this mall was never built and is now partially the site of the Bell Tower Shops).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Susan |title=Shopping Centers Vie for Burdines |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-shopping-centers-vie-for-burd/157591768/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=1 August 1976 |page=1F, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-shopping-centers-vie-for-burd/157591792/ 2F] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=People of influence: J. Foster Pate |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/life/130-years/2014/09/16/people-influence-j-foster-pate/15756075/ |access-date=23 May 2023 |work=The News-Press |date=16 September 2014}}</ref> Burdines ultimately selected the Edison Mall for its Fort Myers location and the store opened on August 2, 1979. The Burdines store was a two-story building with the ability to add a third level if needed, and it included a large warehouse-style atrium in the center (which was a unique design for Burdines at the time).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Austin-Westshore Construction Co Inc v. Federated Department Stores Inc|url=http://openjurist.org/934/f2d/1217/austin-westshore-construction-co-inc-v-federated-department-stores-inc|website=Open Jurist|year=1991|volume=F2d|issue=934|page=1217|accessdate=9 July 2014|author=Eleventh Circuit}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Store you've been waiting for Opens today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-the-store-youve-been-waiting/157591951/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=2 August 1979 |page=3A |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Pati |title=Burdine's design a unique feature |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-burdines-design-a-unique-fea/157592078/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=27 May 1979 |page=1G |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> New mall corridors were built from JCPenney to Burdines and from Burdines to Maas Brothers, giving Maas Brothers a second mall entrance.
As the 1979 expansion was under construction, George Sanders sold the mall to Aster Properties, and a food court was built near Sears in 1981.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Pati |title=Sale of Edison Mall completed to Dutch firm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-sale-of-edison-mall-completed/157592333/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=3 March 1979 |page=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-sale-of-edison-mall-completed/157592355/ 2A] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref><ref name="timeline" />
left|thumb|Atrium in front of Dillard's The mall underwent an additional expansion in 1985. This expansion included additional mall space and a fifth anchor, Robinson's of Florida, the Florida division of California-based J.W. Robinsons. Robinson's only lasted two years before its Florida stores were sold to Maison Blanche, a New Orleans–based department store, in 1987. The store was officially rebranded as Maison Blanche on March 28, 1988. In August 1991, Maison Blanche sold its Edison Mall location and six others on the Gulf Coast of Florida to Dillard's which still operates at the mall today.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3Q4qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P9MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2793,6846354&dq=edison-mall+maison-blanche&hl=en|title=Dillard's to buy 7 Maison Blanche stores in Florida|date=29 June 1991|work=Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal|accessdate=12 January 2011}}</ref> Dillard's was expanded and remodeled in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ruane |first1=Laura |title=Dillard's ready to show off |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-dillards-ready-to-show-off/157592478/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=4 November 1999 |page=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-dillards-ready-to-show-off/157592513/ 2D] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref>
===Since the 1990s: Later years=== Also in 1991, Edison Mall's two Florida-based anchors, Maas Brothers and Burdines were merged under the Burdines nameplate by their parent company. The company retained both locations at the Edison Mall and the Maas Brothers store was officially rebranded as Burdines on October 20, 1991.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lisicki|first1=Michael J.|title=Remembering Maas Brothers|date=2015|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, SC|isbn=978-1-4671-1473-8}}</ref> The former Maas Brothers became Burdines' women's store while the original Burdines location contained their men's, kids, and home departments. Both Burdines locations were remodeled in 1994.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gold |first1=Lara |title=What's up at the mall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-whats-up-at-the-mall-page-1/157593358/ |access-date=21 October 2022 |work=The News-Press |date=14 August 1994 |page=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-press-whats-up-at-the-mall-page-2/157593381/ 2D] |via=Newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref> Along with the rest of the Burdines chain, the two locations at Edison Mall were renamed Burdines-Macy's on January 30, 2004, as the brands were merged by their parent company. On March 6, 2005, the Burdines name was officially dropped and the stores were fully merged into Macy's.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/news_press/access/1813514381.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+27%2C+2004&author=Anne+Mitchell&pub=The+News+Press&desc=Burdines+stores+get+renamed+Friday&pqatl=google|title=Burdines stores get renamed Friday|last=Mitchell|first=Anne|date=27 January 2004|work=News-Press|accessdate=12 January 2011|archive-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105080957/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/news_press/access/1813514381.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+27,+2004&author=Anne+Mitchell&pub=The+News+Press&desc=Burdines+stores+get+renamed+Friday&pqatl=google|url-status=dead}}</ref> Macy's still operates both Edison Mall locations today.
Simon Property Group announced a further renovation of the mall in 2005, which added an outdoor lifestyle center wing and renovated the interior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4468414/Simon-Announces-Lifestyle-Component-at.html|title=Simon Announces Lifestyle Component at Edison Mall.|date=14 July 2005|work=PR Newswire|accessdate=12 January 2011}}</ref>
In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Edison Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.seritage.com/retail/property/4125-cleveland-ave/3312495/landing|title = At Edison Mall | Seritage}}</ref>
In late 2017, a new wing was opened within the mall connecting two existing corridors. The new wing was part of a $4 million renovation and was designed to shorten the distance between the two ends of the mall.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McDonald|first1=Britni|title=Edison Mall to receive $4M makeover|url=https://www.winknews.com/2017/05/24/edison-mall-to-receive-4m-makeover/|accessdate=2 December 2017|work=WINK News|issue=24 May 2017}}</ref>
On February 2, 2020, Sears closed its Edison Mall location after 55 years of operation. The store was last Sears store to close in Southwest Florida after its locations at Coastland Center and the Port Charlotte Town Center in Naples and Port Charlotte respectively closed in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ruane |first1=Laura |date=15 October 2018 |title=Sears store at Edison Mall will remain open; Naples store closing in November |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/2018/10/15/sears-edison-mall-fort-myers-remain-open/1650043002/ |accessdate=8 November 2019 |work=The News-Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bomey |first1=Nathan |last2=Tyko |first2=Kelly |date=7 November 2019 |title=Sears and Kmart store closings: 51 Sears — including Edison Mall location — plus 45 Kmart locations to shutter |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/2019/11/07/sears-kmart-store-closings-edison-mall-sears-among-96-stores-set-close-february-2020/2524343001/ |accessdate=8 November 2019 |work=The News-Press}}</ref>
In early 2021, the Lee County Government with the Florida Department of Health briefly operated a COVID-19 vaccination site in the former Sears location.<ref>{{cite news |title=FDOH-Lee's COVID-19 vaccination site to relocate to former Sears at Edison Mall |url=https://www.winknews.com/2021/03/31/fdoh-lees-covid-19-vaccination-site-to-relocate-to-former-sears-at-edison-mall/ |access-date=26 May 2021 |work=WINK News}}</ref> In 2021, Spirit Halloween occupied a former Love Culture store which later became a pop-up Christmas Tree Shops location in November. Christmas Tree Shops has since closed.
On June 12, 2022, the mall was closed due to a water break but reopened a day later;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peña |first=Melanie |date=June 13, 2022 |title='Without water, you can't do anything': Edison Mall reopens under boil water notice after water main break |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2022/06/13/edison-mall-reopens-after-water-main-break-causes-hardship-workers/7615784001/ |access-date=July 11, 2024 |website=The News-Press |language=en-US}}</ref> it would again close and reopen for similar reasons on March 19, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-19 |title=NO SHOPPING: Broken water main shuts down most of Edison Mall |url=https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/no-shopping-broken-water-main-shuts-down-most-of-edison-mall |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=WFTX-TV |language=en}}</ref>
Since Sears has closed, the building has been undergoing plans to convert the space into apartments along with some retail uses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Phil |title=Old Sears purchase: What are plans for homes at Edison Mall? What's Lee Memorial's tie in? |url=https://www.news-press.com/story/money/2024/12/09/old-sears-purchased-whats-next-for-edison-mall-cleveland-avenue-fort-myers-lee-county-southwest-fla/76413393007/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=The News-Press |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} *{{cite book |title=Remembering Fort Myers: The City of Palms |last=Board |first=Prudy Taylor |year=2006 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=159629101X}}
==External links== *[http://shopedisonmall.com Edison Mall]
Category:Washington Prime Group Category:Shopping malls in Florida Category:Shopping malls established in 1965 Category:Tourist attractions in Fort Myers, Florida Category:Buildings and structures in Fort Myers, Florida Category:1965 establishments in Florida