Midtown DeSoto Square Mall is an enclosed shopping mall serving Bradenton, Florida, United States. It was built in 1973 and is currently anchored by JCPenney, and Hudson's Furniture.
History
The center was built by Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. in 1973. It was originally to be called Bradenton Mall, but the name was determined unacceptable by city officials because the mall was not located within city limits. At the time, the mall included Sears, JCPenney and Maas Brothers as its anchor stores. The mall had its grand opening on August 15, 1973 with about 37 shops open and 47 still moving in. Belk-Lindsey was added as a fourth anchor in 1979, after having been evicted from a nearby store at Cortez Plaza. Burdines expressed interest in opening a store at DeSoto Square as early as 1979, but it did not join the mall until taking over the former Maas Brothers in 1991. A year later, Belk sold its store in the mall to Dillard's. Old Navy was added in 2000. Burdines became Burdines-Macy's in 2003, then just Macy's in 2005. Several stores closed in 2009 due to the declining economy, including Old Navy, Foot Locker, Waldenbooks and the Dillard's anchor. The Old Navy space became a family entertainment center called Saturn 5 in 2010. In May 2012, Simon Property Group announced plans to sell the mall. In November of that year, Mason Asset Management acquired the mall for $25 million. Macy's announced the closure of its store at the mall in July 2014, which relocated to the Mall at University Town Center. The theater closed a month later. In 2015, Sears Holdingsspun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at DeSoto Square Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. In March 2017 The MasonAsset Management sold the mall for $25.5 million to New York-based Meyer Lebovitz. Lebovitz chose Madison Properties USA LLC for the task of redeveloping and leasing the mall. Jerrell M. Davis, president of the Madison Properties Southeast Region, will oversee the project. In January 2018, Your Treasure House, a retail store and auction house, opened on the first floor of the former Macy's location. The mall was later renamed "Midtown DeSoto Square Mall" in July 2018. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. After Sears closed, only 30+ shops remained. This included any tenant in the food court. Your Treasure House closed in late 2019 leaving the former Macy's space vacant again. On December 13, 2020, it was announced that the former Sears would be converted to a self-storage facility. On June 4, 2020, JCPenney announced it would be closing by around October 2020 as part of a plan to close 154 stores nationwide which will leave Hudson's Furniture as the only anchor left.
