The Avenues is an indoor shopping mall located on the southside of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 at the intersection of U.S. 1

U.S. Route 1 in Florida

U.S. Route 1 in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River into Georgia north of Boulogne, and south of Folkston. US 1 was designated through Florida when the U.S. Highway System was established in 1926.US 1 runs in the state of Florida, and...

 (Philips Highway) and Southside Boulevard near Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in Florida

Interstate 95 is the main Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States; it serves the Atlantic coast of Florida. It begins at a partial interchange with U.S. Highway 1 just south of downtown Miami, and heads north past Daytona Beach and Jacksonville to the Georgia state line at the St...

. The mall opened in 1990 with four anchor store

Anchor store

In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....

s; Gayfers

Gayfers

Gayfers was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Most stores were located in the Southeast. The chain became part of Dillard's in 1998.-History:...

, Dillard's

Dillard's

Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...

, JCPenney

J.C. Penney

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...

 and Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

. The Gayfers

Gayfers

Gayfers was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Most stores were located in the Southeast. The chain became part of Dillard's in 1998.-History:...

 anchor store was later converted to a Belk

Belk

Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...

 store. A Parisian department store was built later. The mall, owned by Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate company, ranked #1 in the United States as the largest real estate investment trust. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, The...

, has two shopping levels and features a parking garage on the north side of the complex. Some of the 150 stores inside of the mall include: Gap

Gap (clothing retailer)

The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...

, Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn is an American-based home furnishing store chain with retail stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since September 1986, when it was purchased from GAP, Inc, Pottery Barn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc....

, GameStop

GameStop

GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...

 (formerly EB Games), Aéropostale

Aéropostale (clothing)

Aéropostale, Inc. is a mall-based, specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally targeting 14-to-17-year-old young women and men through its Aéropostale stores and 7-to-12-year-old kids through its P.S. from Aéropostale stores...

, Banana Republic, Express, Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor (retail chain)

ANN INC. is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women, headquartered in New York City, . The stores offer classic styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories...

, Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is a high-end American consumer retail company that sells kitchenwares, furniture and linens, as well as other housewares and home furnishings, along with a variety of specialty foods, soaps and lotions...

, and Coach

Coach (company)

Coach, Inc. is an upscale American leather goods company known for ladies' and men's handbags, as well as items such as luggage, briefcases, wallets and other accessories . Coach also offers watches and footwear.- History :Coach was founded in 1941, in a loft in New York...

.

Renovation

A major renovation in 2005 featured a new entrance with stained glass, neutral paint colors to complement Italian limestone on the ground floor, replacing restrooms, ceilings, lighting, benches and lounge chairs, and a new children's play area. Nearly $10.5 million was spent and the changes were completed in April.

Lineup change

The mall was home to an official store for Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...

 which was played in Jacksonville in February, 2005.

On August 2, 2006, Saks Incorporated announced an agreement to sell its Parisian specialty department store business to Belk, Inc. Shortly thereafter, the Avenues Parisian store was briefly closed and converted into a Belk Men, Children and Home store.
The original Belk store was transformed into an establishment catering to Women, Misses and Juniors.

On November 18, 2010 "Forever 21" opened its doors in the location formerly occupied by the "Belk Men, Children and Home" store. This is Forever 21's second largest location in the country, at 116,000 square feet (at the time, the space represented 8.8% of the mall's 1.3 million square feet).

Due to the economic downturn and the sale of Parisian, The Avenues lost a few key tenants including Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....

, Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer

Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is a holding company that operates the Eddie Bauer clothing store chain, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States. EBH was formed after Eddie Bauer's former parent company, Spiegel, Inc., went bankrupt in 2003...

, Oakley

Oakley, Inc.

Oakley, Inc., based in Foothill Ranch, California, makes sport equipment including sunglasses, sports visors, and ski goggles, as well as watches, clothing, bags, backpacks, shoes, prescription glasses, football and hockey eyewear, Golf gear and other accessories...

, Select Comfort

Select Comfort

Select Comfort is a U.S.-based manufacturer that manufactures the Sleep Number bed as well as foundations and bedding accessories. The company is based in Plymouth, Minnesota. In addition to its Minnesota headquarters, Select Comfort has manufacturing and distribution facilities in South Carolina...

, Kirkland's, and a few more national and mom n' pop stores. However, the mall has also acquired several new retailers lately including Francesca's Collections, Charming Charlie, and LensCrafters

LensCrafters

LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription eyewear, and prescription sunglasses, and the largest optical chain in the United States, with about 90 stores in California alone. It was founded in 1983 in the U.S. and has subsequently expanded to over 850 stores in Canada, the United...

. This could be a result of the opening of Forever 21 in the former Parisian building.

Current anchor stores

• Dillard's
  Dillard's
  Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
  
   (210,104 sq ft.)
• Forever 21
  Forever 21
  Forever 21 is an American chain of clothing retailers with branches in major cities in The United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that offers fashion and accessories for young women and men....
  
   (116,298 sq ft.)
• J.C. Penney
  J.C. Penney
  J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
  
   (123,029 sq ft.)
• Sears (125,330 sq ft.)
• Belk
  Belk
  Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
  
   (181,460 sq ft.)

Former anchor stores

• Gayfers
  Gayfers
  Gayfers was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Most stores were located in the Southeast. The chain became part of Dillard's in 1998.-History:...
  
  
• Parisian
• Belk Men, Children and Home