Merritt Square Mall

Merritt Square Mall is an enclosed, single level mall located in Merritt Island, FL. It opened in 1970, and has 4 anchors; JCPenney, Dillard's, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and Macy's, with one vacant anchor last occupied by Sears.
==History==
The mall opened in 1970 and is the oldest mall in Brevard County, Florida. Its original anchor stores were Jordan Marsh (later Burdines, now Macy's), Ivey's (now Dillard's), and J. C. Penney. It remained unchanged until 1985, when a renovation plan was announced which would add 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of retail space. Also part of this expansion was a fourth department store, Sears, which opened in 1989 and replaced an existing store in Rockledge.
The mall was sold to Bayview Malls LLC for $32.7 million in 2002 by previous owner John Hancock Life Insurance Co, before being sold again in 2005 to Thor Merritt Square LLC for $64.4 million. Glimcher Realty Trust took control of the mall in 2007, ownership later shifting to WP Glimcher with its formation by merger in 2015. In 2016, the mall was foreclosed on and auctioned on while under the ownership of WP Glimcher. The mall had no bidders. The mall is currently owned by Namdar Realty Group.
Sports Authority joined the mall in 2013, but closed in 2016 when the chain filed for bankruptcy. An Ollie's Bargain Outlet opened in the space in 2018.
On February 15, 2021, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 34 stores nationwide. The store closed on May 2, 2021.
==Downfall==
Eclipsed by the more modern Melbourne Square Mall, Merritt Square Mall has begun to suffer over the years leading to an increasing number of in-line vacancies and a loss of national tenants in favor or mom-and-pop stores.
The exterior of the mall has also been left in increasing disrepair; the Cobb Cinemas has become extremely faded on the exterior, the facade of Macy's has begun to "crack" on the large panels, and Sears has outdated exterior signage, rust near the entrances, and the former garden center has become increasingly dirty and dingy in appearance.
Inside, Ollie's Bargain Outlet has sealed it's interior entrance for reasons unknown, leaving a blacked out entrance still in Sports Authority colors. Dollar Tree left the mall in the mid 2000s for a location in Palm Cay Plaza, and was replaced with mom-and-pop tenant Dollar Star, who sell an eclectic mixture of out-of-season and overstock goods for extremely low prices, as well as a selection of unlicensed merchandise such as "Super Charisma" figures, crude bootlegs of Power Rangers toys. Mall directories have not been updated since at least 2016; still displaying now closed stores such as Vitamin World, Sports Authority, Things Remembered, JCPenney Salon, and others. Perhaps the most dire is the increasing presence of mold in the mall, due to unmanaged roof leaks. The Cobb Cinemas suffers most of all, described by one reviewer as "A 4D experience, and I only paid for 2D!" after watching a movie during a rainstorm. Gamestop (a former EB Games) closed in 2019 due to mold issues, and rumors say that Zumiez and Rack Room Shoes also suffer from mold in their backrooms. Over the years the mall has lost many national tenants, including but not limited to Lids, KB Toys, 5-7-9, Hair Cuttery, Mastercuts, Cellular Express, Cookie Company, Body Shop, Kay Jewelers, Bealls Home Outlet, Payless Shoe Source, Radioshack, and Piccadilly Cafeteria as well as other closed stores mentioned above.
==Points Of Interest==
Cobb Cinemas, despite it's flaws, has a large amount of colorful neon in the mall entrance and interior. Sid's Men's Shop, an original tenant since opening day, has a unique storefront and neon signage. Some stores retain outdated signage, including cl@ires era signs, and Sears' outdated logos inside and outside the mall.
Many vacant storefronts remain virtually untouched since their closure with the exception of the removal of signage and in some cases interior fixtures. This includes storefronts from 5-7-9, Mastercuts, Piccadilly, KB Toys, Lids, Cookie Company, Hair Cuttery, JCPenney Salon, Vitamin World, Best Buy Mobile, EB Games, and Things Remebered. While updated on the interior, Ruby Tuesday retains a vintage wood exterior and interior entrance. Merritt Square is also home to one of Brevard County's two FYEs, and Books A Million is the last chain bookstore in Central Brevard. The food court also has several tenants with neon signage, as well as a vintage Pretzel Twister located inside the mall. Ollie's Bargain Outlet has preserved the Sports Authority facade, though it has been repainted and gutted on the interior. They make use of a fleet of modern ex-Toys R Us carts.
==Outparcels==
A selection of restaurants are located in front of the mall, including Outback Steakhouse, Chick-fil-A, and Bonefish Grill. 
A strip mall behind the mall opened in 1970 with a late Wing Era Publix as it's anchor, which was majorly remodeled in 1986, and then closed in 2002 for a new location. It received interior renovations for an unknown reason sometime after, and as of 2019 is being converted into a U-haul location. In 1986, AMC opened a 6-screen annex to it's mall theater in this strip mall, which was demolished in the early 2000s after it's closure. By 2018, the strip mall had few tenants, with evidence of a veterinarian and a restaurant called European Crew Corner. As of 2019, these stores had closed, and the strip mall was undergoing interior demolition for unknown purposes possibly relating to the renovation of the former Publix for U-haul next door.
== Directory ==
The mall consists of 125 stores and restaurants including a Cobb's Theatre 16 & IMAX.
Category:Malls in Florida
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Single-Level Malls
Category:Malls that opened in 1970
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Ollie's Bargain Outlet-anchored Properties
Category:JCPenney-anchored Malls
Category:Books-A-Million-anchored Malls
Category:Bed Bath & Beyond-anchored Malls