Crystal River Mall

I lived hear back when this mall was in its prime it had plenty of great stores and customers with it, but now there is no reason for going the only reason I ever go there is rural king. All the people left with the business going from packed to 2 – 3 groups of people and the farmers market thing is a complete joke. It’s a huge disappointment from what it used to be.

They do have a movie theater which is a plus and rural king is great for outdoorsy types but stay away from the hair salons, they have a reputation of really ruining people’s hair.

Absolut dump.
Theres a couple of good shops in the mall but as a hole the mall feels like it’s on its last leg they really need to fill in the empty spots.

They have one person at the ticket counter servicing a very large line. No electronic ticket machines. Are we back in the 1980s?
One concession stand, one employee, two long lines.
Power went out for a few seconds and movie has not restarted for fifteen minutes

Went there while on Christmas vacation at my in-​laws and business is at a all time low. Not at all the mall I remember 10+ years ago. The only major store there is Kmart… and definitely not a great place to shop and their associates don’t know what they are doing and are very rude… would of loved to see more happening stores (like Bath and Body Works, Aeropostale, Hollister, Disney Store, just to name a few). Had to drive to Ocala to go to any of these type of stores, which is a good 45 minute drive. I think they may need to tear down this mall and rebuild it to make it a more exciting place to shop.

This one of the greatest store’s me and my wife have been in, it’s kind of like a Wal-​Mart, home depot, tractor supply, Dicks sporting goods all in one stop. With prices that are the same but a lot less on most items. They picked the right location to place this great place!

Oh god this place. I actually used to work in a store here, over a decade ago. It was going downhill then…
Anchor stores are almost all gone. The place is silent — no music, no noise, nothing. KMart, the movie theater, and a couple food court vendors are the only ones that have stayed for any great length of time. Landscaping budget has all but vanished, letting the parking lot and surrounding area get overgrown and filled with leaves. It’s about as depressing as you can get.
On the plus side, the pizza place sells beer, so you can get belligerent and drunk at a rural mall at 11am on a weekday. Which is really the best thing to do in Crystal River.

A number of rural county seats and other more isolated centers of population in places were population is sparse have malls like this – one friend calls them «smalls» because small they in fact are. Lake City has one and a number of places I’ve been in Georgia and elsewhere in the South can also boast them – Statesboro, Georgia has one of the best ones as «smalls» go, but Crystal River’s little mall certainly has seen better days. Now, as just yesterday Duke Energy made public their plan to not reopen the Crystal River Three nuclear plant, I can only see more dire times for this poor little mall.
Aside from the anchor stores – Kmart, JC Penney, and Belk – the rest of the mall contains a lot of vacant store spaces and what is there in the way of retail seems to be fairly odd, limited-​scope stuff and not name-​brand clothing or other retailers. Instead, there’s a hearing aid store, MetroPCS, a watch repair shop, a GNC. .. about the only thing I found of any interest was a really cool little shop selling nature-​themed gifts and decorations called «All About Nature». Radio Shack and Regis Salon are two of the few name-​brand national chains here, which says a lot. The problem is, most residents – especially younger people – apparently go elsewhere (Ocala? Tampa even?) to shop for clothes and the like. While Lake City’s «small» is paltry, at least it boasts a Hibbett Sports, Bath and Body Works, and a few other stores that I know will draw people in whereas here. .. well, you have to wonder how even the anchors fare, honestly. I would love to see the mall do better but can’t really see it happening unless the general economy improves and now with the loss of the nuclear plant that’s not a bright star on the horizon, really.

I like Crystal River, and I like malls that aren’t too big and busy. The Crystal River Mall is definately both of the above, but I’m not too crazy about it. Numerous shops have closed, and there are far too many «For leasing opportunities call…» signs on locked doors. I guess the Great Recession took its toll on every mall, including this little number by the coast.
Each time I have been in there, the place definately wasn’t crowded. I’ve gone in the late afternoon on weekdays, and I’ve gone on early Sunday afternoons. Each time the place was not too busy; sometimes, store employees would just stand outside their shops, waiting for any sign of life. The ticket girl at the movie theater would just sit bored to tears at her station.
The anchor stores are Belk, K-​Mart, Penny’s, and Sears, and naturally, they are getting most of the business and are just fine and dandy. The mall itself has the basic stores (shoe stores, jewelry, smaller clothing shops) as well as a movie theater. The food court is pretty sparse, but then again, I haven’t eaten in a mall food court since I was probably like 10 years old. Who wants to sit around a bunch of bratty teen-​agers and whiny babies, and sit at tables that probably haven’t been cleaned all day long? Ugh.
The mall is definately showing signs of neglect and disrepair, along with the many closed stores. Bathrooms are pretty dirty, far too many water fountains and vending machines are out of order, and there is a lot of mold forming on drippy ceilings near the entrance near the aforementioned bathrooms and fountains.
So there are many better malls in Florida, but if none are nearby, the Crystal River Mall is better than nothing.