OVIEDO, Fla. — When the Oviedo Mall opened in the late ’90s, it was expected to be a permanent fixture for retail businesses in a shopping mall environment.
What You Need To Know
According to Capital One, 40 malls closed every year from 2017 to 2022
Oviedo Mall has nearly 1,000,000 square-feet of retail space
Apartments have been approved to be built at Macy’s old site
Sears Auto Center converted to a Dog Stop
But with the success of online shopping, “malls” are fighting to survive.
According to Capital One Shopping Research, an average of 40 shopping malls have closed every year between 2017 and 2022. On a national scale, no new indoor mega-malls have been built in the U.S. since 2014.
The Oviedo Mall, which has struggled to survive the last few years, has no plans of closing anytime soon. In fact, plenty has changed at the Oviedo Mall since its construction.
From the shops, stops, and uses of what used to be on the lot, it’s changed into something new.
Now, if you park where the Sears and Sears Auto Center used to be, you will hear barking.
Justin Steiner, who owns the Dog Stop, invested over a million dollars into the old Sears Auto Center. He gutted it into a fully functional doggy daycare, boarding, grooming, and retail shop. (Spectrum News 13/Asher Wildman)
“The first time I came in here, to take a look, that’s what I saw were the bays and the indoor outdoor capabilities that it would give us,” said Dog Stop owner Justin Steiner.
He invested over a million dollars, taking the old Sears Auto Center and turning it into the Dog Stop. Steiner gutted it into a fully functional doggy daycare, boarding, grooming, and retail shop.
The only thing that remains to remind anyone of what his business used to be is the blue curb still painted outside.
“When I looked at this community, and I looked at this space in particular, I knew it was going to take a lot of TLC,” Steiner shared. “We did it, and I am incredibly proud.”
Over the years, businesses have come and gone, but the Oviedo Mall should no longer be thought of as a “mall”. The mall lot developer says that while they have a few national chains, they are instead trying to specialize in regional and local brands to transform the space.
“We are in transition,” Kevin Hipes, the Director of Development for the Oviedo Mall, admits. “We are evolving to an eat, sleep, work, play mixed-use development.”
The days of a mall or structure with rows of stores and shops- gone.
“With a million square feet of retail in a middle market, you don’t need that much,” Hipes explained. “We probably need only 80-100,000 square feet of retail. We are keeping all that retail near our retail anchor, Dillard’s.”
The Oviedo Mall is now more of a mix use marketplace. Multiple restaurants, small businesses, a few national shops, medical uses, and entertainment all in one place.
Soon, it will also have potential clients and or customers practically on the property.
Hipes said the city approved up to 400 high-end market-rate apartments where the Macy’s store is.
On the west side parcel of the property, another developer is trying to get approval for an additional 300-plus apartment units.
Which is music to Steiner’s ears, saying he needs 30 to 40 dogs a day to be profitable with a steady client list of 3 to 500. He currently has just over 100, with about 20 dogs a day, while only being open for a few months.
“I really agree with the vision they have to revitalize it,” Steiner admits. “I am excited to be a part of that.”
The Oviedo Mall is adapting to keep the building open now and in the future.