tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post668033116805867122..comments2024-03-28T03:33:03.574-04:00Comments on My Florida Retail Blog: Osceola County's Forgotten Mall - Mill Creek Mall - Kissimmee, FLAlbertsons Florida Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post-42930577841912428912020-06-08T23:56:20.344-04:002020-06-08T23:56:20.344-04:00This is an awesome find. There are probably a lot ...This is an awesome find. There are probably a lot of these types of malls still remaining in the USA, but a lot of them are hidden. jehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642257521152353045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post-74344060488005377332020-05-07T18:43:45.891-04:002020-05-07T18:43:45.891-04:00Thank you for the compliment! Kissimmee's Mill...Thank you for the compliment! Kissimmee's Mill Creek Mall is a nice relic of the malls of days gone by. While it's not a major mall by any means, it's still a quaint little place to walk around. Kissimmee's Mill Creek Mall was never anything more than a neighborhood shopping center, and certainly didn't have the draw those other, similarly named complexes throughout the country had.<br /><br />Florida has a lot of Dunkin Donuts locations, so that's probably why most of the standalone Baskin Robbins locations have been consolidated or closed. There's a Dunkin Donuts not far from here with a Baskin Robbins inside, so that probably didn't help keeping the Mill Creek Mall location around any. It's crazy the Baskin Robbins labelscar was left exposed for so long, and that Taco Bell example you shared is pretty crazy too!<br /><br />The Habitat ReStore in Mill Creek Mall closed in 2016, but it coexisted with Goodwill next door for a good 5 years. The merchandise selection at ReStores in Florida varies by the local Habitat for Humanity organization running them. Some Habitat branches only sell hardware, furniture, and other household items at their ReStores, while some run their stores like a regular thrift store (with clothes, books, knickkancks and such alongside the hardware and household goods). Goodwill of Central Florida has been on a remodel/relocation kick for the last 5 years, so they've done a good job cleaning up their stores around here. The wood paneling around the ceiling was actually a remnant from the Publix that used to operate in this space, and has been there for 40 years now!<br /><br />That's a good catch about the label - I didn't notice the product description was different than the game itself (although I did think $8 was rather cheap for a video game). How the label got there is a mystery, but it's still a neat relic, like your Sears and Montgomery Ward labels on those devices you own.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post-3699552373957250092020-05-03T22:20:38.094-04:002020-05-03T22:20:38.094-04:00When I think of the name Mill Creek Mall, I immedi...When I think of the name Mill Creek Mall, I immediately think of the Millcreek Mall in Erie, PA. That is a very big mall, supposedly the 10th largest shopping complex in the US, mostly due to it being located in a corner in Pennsylvania which is near Ohio and New York. Shoppers from those states, and Canada as well, go to Millcreek Mall due to favorable sales taxes in PA. Anyway, this Kissimmee mall is certainly not a big mall like the PA Millcreek Mall! Wikipedia also indicates there is a mall in New Jersey called The Mall at Mill Creek, formerly Mill Creek Mall, which once had indoor stores that were replaced with big box stores.<br /><br />These are some great photos, thanks for the details. I've been to Kissimmee many years ago, but I doubt I went to this mall. The flooring and skylights are certainly a relic of the 1970s/early 1980s when malls tried to recreate the ambiance of a forest inside their corridors. <br /><br />Here in Houston, standalone Baskin Robbins are still common. Dunkin Donuts is not a popular brand here so they only have a few locations. That Baskin Robbins labelscar is pretty funny. It reminds me of the Almeda Mall here in Houston which once had a combo KFC and Taco Bell in the food court. That location closed and was replaced with a Krispy Krunchy Chicken location which also sells tacos. They left the 'Taco' part of the Taco Bell sign and took the Bell part off. I think to anyone paying attention, it's clear that it is half of a Taco Bell sign! Here is a photo of it from the Historic Houston Retail blog: <a href="https://houstonhistoricretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/almeda-mall-sesame-hut.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://houstonhistoricretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/almeda-mall-sesame-hut.jpg</a><br /><br />It seems rather interesting to me that this mall has both a Goodwill and a Habitat for Humanity ReStore location. I suppose this mall is very convenient for thrift store shoppers. I don't know about ReStores in Florida, but here in Houston the ReStores sell housewares, books, CDs, and electronics just like a Goodwill store does. I wouldn't say that Houston Goodwill stores look bad, but this Goodwill looks nicer than ours. The wood paneling along the ceiling is a nice touch. I'm guessing Goodwill put that in themselves, but I don't know. <br /><br />That Kmart label on that PS2 game is a good catch. I wonder if that label really belonged on that item though because it seems to be referring to some other item (RC Robotic Beasts?). Maybe the former owner of that game or some thrift store shopper slapped that label on there. I'm not sure how a Kmart label would get on a game package anyway as presumably Kmart would have sold that item with a plastic seal on it. Then again, I have a JVC cassette deck from a thrift store which has a Sears label right on the side of the deck. I also have an Montgomery Ward Admiral Hi-Fi VHS VCR (Admiral was Wards' house brand at that time, the VCR is actually made by Sharp) with a Montgomery Ward price tag right on the VCR. I got both of these in thrift stores. In theory, neither of these electronics items should have had price tags right on the item if they were originally sold new in the box, but perhaps these were old floor models which were sold at a discount. I'm certainly not complaining, I like having those old Sears and Montgomery Ward labels on there and they do actually correspond to the actual item.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post-30348058052350145632020-05-03T20:48:02.978-04:002020-05-03T20:48:02.978-04:00This was certainly a fun place to walk around, and...This was certainly a fun place to walk around, and it's nice to know the owners care enough about the place to maintain it (even if those owners think fake stone is an improvement over tile art!). I enjoy finding timewarped places like this, reliving the glory days of retail, even if the mall corridors here are nothing more than a shell of their former selves these days.<br /><br />Ah, so those are old pictures you're posting - all this time I thought you were using your TARDIS! :)<br /><br />Finding the sign is one thing, but I'm surprised it took so long for anyone to paint over the Baskin Robbins labelscar! I'm 99% sure all the stores had matching interior signs at one time, as the "Optical" sign in the same corridor (also from an original tenant) was in the same font as the Baskin Robbins one. The old Baskin Robbins logo font is similar to the mall sign (I actually didn't realize that until you brought it up), but appears to be a bit different than what was seen on the sign in the mall.<br /><br />With all this pizza and ice cream talk, I think it's time we both find something to eat!Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893799636127751150.post-77183800491932184142020-05-03T14:38:16.094-04:002020-05-03T14:38:16.094-04:00Pretty cool place! I love the retro interior of th...Pretty cool place! I love the retro interior of the mall corridors, and cool that those are still intact all these years later. Like you said though, while it's good to see the property owners updating the place, it's a shame that had to come at the expense of the plants, skylights, and Publix murals.<br /><br />(Also: lol at the "plenty of old Publix to go around," and I too have the same "ability" to time travel!)<br /><br />That's especially cool about the old Baskin Robbins sign as well!! Great find there, even if half of it was just a labelscar (that was later painted over, to boot). Are you sure all the signs in the interior would've had the same font, though? I thought that was just the classic Baskin Robbins logo.<br /><br />Oh - and between that and the Cici's, I'm definitely hungry now, haha!Retail Retellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12636351832804174132noreply@blogger.com