South Florida

Like shopping in South Florida? Here are five changes at malls and stores

Stories by Miami Herald journalists, with AI summarization

Malls are changing in South Florida. Stores come and go. And amenities get added.

Catch up with our coverage on some of those changes.

Coral Gables’ Behar Font Partners’ artistic rendering of a proposed 8.12-acre mixed use development for 3655 SW 22nd Street. That is where a Sears store has been located since 1959. The site plan was approved by Miami in April 2025. That doesn’t guarantee the project will move forward.

NO. 1: LAST SEARS STORE IN SOUTH FLORIDA COULD DISAPPEAR. HERE ARE THE PLANS

What to know about the future of the site. | Published May 19, 2025 | Read Full Story by Howard Cohen

Black Friday shoppers on the move at Dadeland Mall near Lululemon look for bargains on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. By Lex Foderé

NO. 2: NEW STORES ARE COMING TO A BIG MIAMI MALL, AND OTHERS JUST ARRIVED. SEE THE LIST

The new arrivals include restaurants and clothing shops. | Published May 29, 2025 | Read Full Story by Howard Cohen

An aerial view of Carsten Höller’s 93-foot glass-and-steel slide and Robert Indiana’s ‘Love’ sculpture are among the art installations welcoming visitors to Aventura Mall on Sept. 25, 2024, in Aventura, Fla. By MATIAS J. OCNER

NO. 3: THIS MIAMI AREA MALL WAS JUST VOTED BEST IN THE COUNTRY. HERE’S WHY IT’S NO. 1

What South Florida favorite destination didn’t make the Top 10? | Published June 12, 2025 | Read Full Story by Howard Cohen

TSA agents check in passengers on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. By Pedro Portal

NO. 4: A MAJOR SOUTH FLORIDA MALL ADDS A TSA KIOSK TO SPEED THINGS UP AT THE AIRPORT

Getting through airport security faster can start with your next trip to the mall. | Published August 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cordell Jones

In this file photo from April 17, 2004, Bonnie and Marla Schaefer, daughters of Claire’s founder Rowland Schaefer, are pictured together at the Claire’s store in Pembroke Pines. They took over Claire's Corporation at the time when their father stepped down in 2003. By C.W. GRIFFIN

NO. 5: WHAT WILL THE TWEENS DO? CLAIRE’S CLOSING SOME STORES IN SOUTH FLORIDA. SEE LIST

Claire’s, a mall boutique chain that began life as a Chicago wig store more than 60 years ago before it became a fashion favorite of tweens, teens and young women looking for accessories and jewelry, is set to close more than 290 stores. | Published August 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Howard Cohen

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.