News 6 was the first to take viewers inside Crazy Hot Buys before it even opened<\/a> to the public back in November \u2014 just in time to bring new foot traffic to a mall that has been working for years to keep up with the e-commerce age. At the time, the owner, Majdi Salem, said it was their largest launch yet, and the Oviedo store was their largest location at 122,500 square feet.<\/p>\nThe store\u2019s owner says the business has been successful since opening and has brought customers to the mall looking to buy return or surplus items from major retailers like Target, Amazon, Kohl\u2019s and Best Buy, at ridiculously low prices. But the business doesn\u2019t own the space \u2014 it leases it. And the landlord had the right to terminate that lease with proper notice.<\/p>\n
Kevin Hipes, who has been overseeing the mall\u2019s redevelopment, explained to News 6 how the arrangement came together \u2014 and why it\u2019s ending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe brought him in, and he\u2019s a great guy. And he was a very good tenant for us because the space was sitting empty for many years,\u201d Hipes said. \u201cHe came and approached us and he said, listen, \u2018I can bring some traffic to the mall. I got good deals.\u2019 So we put him in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hipes said the store did sign a long-term lease at the former Sear\u2019s location, but the mall retained the option to terminate it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were hoping we could keep him longer, but we have a plan for that space now. And we unfortunately had to ask him to go,\u201d he said. \u201cHe made some money. But I\u2019m sure he wanted to stay longer. We wanted him to stay longer, too, but it just didn\u2019t work out that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s moving in?<\/p>\n
Hipes isn\u2019t revealing the new tenant just yet \u2014 but says three serious prospects are already at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got three different tenants looking at it very seriously. And quite frankly, I\u2019m waiting a little bit longer because from a leasing perspective, I want to make sure I maximize that space and get the best tenant possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As for what that tenant could be, Hipes says the possibilities are wide open.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be entertainment. It could be offices. Could even be another department store,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A mall in transformation<\/p>\n
With Crazy Hot Buys closing and moving on, it marks another chapter in the mall\u2019s ever-changing landscape \u2014 one that Hipes says is moving deliberately toward a mixed-use future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a 1,000,000-square-foot mall, that\u2019s too much retail. Nobody goes to the mall anymore \u2014 at least except for the super regionals or the malls that are in the tourist areas,\u201d Hipes said. \u201cSo we have to make it a mixed use, which is eat, sleep, work, play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central to that vision are apartments. For years, there have been talks and promises that the former Macy\u2019s space would be demolished to make room for residential space. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we knock down Macy\u2019s and put up apartments there \u2014 and another 300 on this site in the grassy area \u2014 this is now a mixed-use project, and I\u2019ve got a lot more types of tenants that will be attracted here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hipes held off from making any formal announcement about the future development or the timeline. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I announce the apartments, there\u2019ll be signs going up on both sides of this mall saying \u2018coming soon\u2019 \u2014 million-dollar apartment complexes. And that\u2019ll give me the leverage,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople see this mall right now as a mall with two empty department stores. It\u2019s going to be a mixed-use project.\u201d’C<\/p>\n
Medical Main Street, a food hall, more<\/p>\n
Beyond retail and residential, Hipes is reimagining entire corridors of the mall. One wing is already rebranded as what he calls \u201cMedical Main Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already got Orlando Orthopedic here \u2014 it\u2019s like a 16,000-square-foot space that was empty for probably 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a pharmacy now. I\u2019m trying to get a dentist, a chiropractor, a family practice. I will eventually get all of those.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the retail side, Hipes says the mall will shift away from big national chains \u2014 which he says are largely abandoning traditional malls \u2014 and lean into high-end boutique stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be more like Park Avenue or Winter Park Village,\u201d he said. \u201cMost of your big national chains, they\u2019re just not going into malls anymore. So we\u2019re going to be downsizing the retail and upsizing the other sleep, work, play concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several unique food and beverage tenants are already in the works. Hipes highlighted D\u2019Amico and Sons, an 8,000-square-foot Italian supermarket with a bakery, as well as Bruder Latin Restaurant & Brewery \u2014 a Latin American-Colombian brewery with 10 locations in Colombia \u2014 opening its first U.S. location at the Oviedo Mall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could have gone to Miami. No, he came to the Oviedo Mall,\u201d Hipes said. \u201cHe\u2019s spending over $1 million in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Japanese steakhouse in the mall is also set to be converted into a sushi restaurant soon, Hipes added.<\/p>\n
The food court itself is getting a rebrand, too. Hipes says he plans to rename it the \u201cOviedo Eatery\u201d \u2014 a nod to the food hall concept \u2014 and add beer and wine service to encourage longer, more social visits.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of going in for a 30-minute meal and coming out, you get to sit in, enjoy your time, maybe watch the Super Bowl on TV,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s going to happen. It just takes time.\u2019<\/p>\n
The community has been vocal about the pace of change at Oviedo Mall \u2014 raising questions about closures, openings and long-promised residential development. When pressed on that criticism, Hipes acknowledged the frustration but stood firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what I tell people. I say, \u2018listen, I know what I\u2019m doing,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 40 years. This is one of the best pieces of dirt that I\u2019ve ever worked on. It\u2019s going to happen. It just takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that complexity, he says, comes down to ownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got four different property owners on this mall property, and all four have to agree to everything before you can go forward. It\u2019s a lot of lawyers involved and a lot of documents,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s given me a headache and gray hair \u2014 but we\u2019re very, very close.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hipes even admitted he\u2019s stepped back from posting apartment updates on social media to avoid overpromising.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that I\u2019m like the guy that cries wolf. So, I\u2019m going to lay low until I can make the announcement,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think it is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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