The story of Daytona’s enclosed shopping centers began in 1971, when Sunshine Plaza opened its doors with 43 stores and a Woolco discount mart. Two years later, the Daytona Mall debuted at International Speedway Boulevard and Nova Road. But it was Volusia Mall, opening on October 14, 1974, that quickly became the dominant force in the region’s retail landscape.
Built on 93 acres near the Daytona International Speedway, the $30 million project was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, a Youngstown, Ohio-based firm that helped pioneer the concept of suburban shopping malls. Founded in 1944 by Edward J. DeBartolo Sr, the firm owned and/or operated nearly 80 million square feet of retail space by the early 1990s. Opened in 1963, Jacksonville’s Normandy Mall was one of DeBartolo’s earliest in Florida. DeBartolo’s Florida footprint eventually included Miami International Mall, Aventura Mall, Westland Mall, Lakeland Square Mall, and the Florida Mall, among others.
A Retail Powerhouse in Its Prime
Volusia Mall is the only mall in the country with three Dillard’s stores.
When Volusia Mall opened, it was anchored by Ivey’s, May-Cohens, Sears, and JCPenney. Expansions soon followed, with Burdines and Belk-Lindsey joining the lineup in 1982. Over the next decade, retail consolidation reshaped the tenant roster: May-Cohens became Maison Blanche, then Gayfers, while Dillard’s emerged as a major presence by acquiring Ivey’s, Belk-Lindsey, and Gayfers. That unusual sequence left Volusia Mall with three separate Dillard’s locations, a distinction unmatched anywhere else in the country.
By 2005, Burdines was rebranded as Macy’s, further cementing the mall’s status as a regional hub. At its peak, Volusia Mall boasted more than a million square feet of retail space and served as a gathering place for residents across the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metropolitan area.
The Decline of the Mall Era
The mall entrance of the closed Macy’s department store.
Like many enclosed shopping centers nationwide, Volusia Mall has struggled in recent years. The Piccadilly Cafeteria, one of its original tenants, shuttered in 2014 after four decades of business. Sears closed in 2018, followed by Macy’s in 2021. Both anchor spaces have since been sold for redevelopment, with plans including a self-storage facility and a four-story, 350-unit apartment complex known as Legacy Daytona. The mall faced fresh setbacks in early 2025 with the closures of Applebee’s and Bahama Breeze, signaling the continued erosion of its once-diverse tenant mix.
Still the Region’s Largest Mall
Now owned by CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., Volusia Mall remains the largest shopping center in the Daytona Beach area, encompassing 1,060,283 square feet of retail space. Despite losing major anchors, it continues to serve as a commercial anchor along International Speedway Boulevard, a reminder of the city’s retail past and a question mark for its future.
Located at 1700 West International Speedway Boulevard, the mall’s legacy endures even as redevelopment looms. For many longtime residents, Volusia Mall is more than just a shopping destination; it is a marker of Daytona Beach’s postwar growth and suburban expansion, a place where memories were made, and where the future of retail is still being rewritten.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com