The Shoppes at Park Place (Pinellas Park, Florida)

USA / Florida / West Lealman / Pinellas Park, Florida
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Back in the day it was a great mall called Pinellas Square Mall, anchored by JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, and Ivey's [later Dillard's]. As the mall declined, they renamed it to ParkSide Mall, adding an ice rink, food court, and new movie theater. This sadly did not catch on, and after the last of the department stores left, it was razed for the strip center you see here (except for the movie theater they added--that was kept).

(thanks to MALL HALL OF FAME for the info)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   27°50'14"N   82°41'6"W

Comments

  • Mostly vacant now, they added an ice skating rink in the middle in the 90s. In the early 21st century, they added a massive and modern movie theater that had had digital screens, one of only a dozen or so theaters in the US that had them. Alas, the format never caught on, and the theater closed after a few years for renovations, meaning it was retrofitted into a conventional movie theater.
  • I remember seeing Return of the Jedi there the day it came out. I skipped school to see it.
  • November 1979 the first Video store, east of the Mississippi River, opened on the upper level, next to J. C. Penney's store. It was called Video Corner and was co-owned by a local entrepreneur, Chuck Neiderhouse and Media Concepts, Inc..
  • I remember Video Corner. I practically lived there. Loved that place.
  • Video Corner rocked! I remember hanging out there alot. The home video market was just starting and they had all the "state of the art" mechandise. BetaMax,RCA Videodiscs,Magnavox Laserdiscs,Front-Projection Coffeetable Widescreen TV setups in the back.It was an exciting time and the Pinellas Square Mall was a new,beautiful Mall.I loved the little 2 screen AMC movie theatre,the videogame arcade,Montgomery Wards,etc..One of the few two-story malls in the Tampa Bay area.The new owners really tried to save the mall with the big remodel in the 90's(when the skating rink was added)but it never seemed to attract shoppers like it used to.When Montgomery Wards folded and JCPenny left it was the final nail in the coffin.
  • The first time I ever went to this mall was around 1978 or so, when my folks and I drove down from Palm Harbor to see "Message From Space" in the crappy little 2-screen theater. I got a popcorn husk lodged in my throat and spent about a quarter of the movie time in the bathroom hacking until I dislodged it, then going back to my seat, realizing the husk was still there, spending more time hacking in the bathroom, back to my seat, more hacking, etc. Ah, good memories. Good memories. There was also a place in the '90s that had good Calzone. The skating rink was poorly thought out, and tended to obstruct foot traffic on the first floor.
  • Was there a Morrison's Cafeteria restaurant here? I remember my grandparents taking me there...would have been late 70s/early 80s.
  • Yes,Morrison's upstairs across from the Movie Theater and Ponderosa Steak House downstairs near JCPennys.
  • i remember a great computer game store there called "The Program Store". it was upstairs form what i remember.
  • Back in 2008, I followed my GPS looking for the "JC Penney" here. I ended up in "American Signature" where I bought my furniture. On Fridays, the "Pinellas Park Police Department" CRA officers patrol the area specially by the cinema. As for me, a good place even when is not roofed.
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This article was last modified 11 years ago