When the mall originally opened on October 26, 1967, it was touted by its developer, the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, as the largest mall in the Southeastern United States. The founding anchors included JCPenney, which moved from its historic store downtown on Clematis Street about three miles southeast, Jordan Marsh and Richards. By the end of the decade, the mall also featured Walgreens, Lerner Shops, Food Fair, Woolworth, and The Mall Cinema 1-2-3-4 quadraplex. The Palm Beach Mall was expanded and renovated in 1980, in conjunction with the addition of Burdines sporting a parking garage and Lord & Taylor. Also in 1980 Sears moved into the space previously occupied by Richards, which had closed the same year following a statewide liquidation. The shopping mall's terrazzo floor was replaced with tiles at this time. Furthermore, when Pantry Pride closed in 1987, a food court called Treats was developed from its space. Design features popular in the 1980s, including skylights and a lofty ceiling, were introduced to the Mall at this time. The 2000 renovation replaced most of the mall's interior fixtures, redesigned the food court, and replaced the Wonderfall in center court with a much more modern fountain sporting a seahorse theme.
Closure and redevelopment
On December 5, 2009, the mall's court-appointed receiver announced that the Palm Beach Mall would officially close on January 31, 2010 with the exception of JCPenney, George's Music and Firestone, which have outdoor entrances. Upon foreclosure under Simon ownership, Orix seized ownership of the Mall in December 2009, and along with the City of West Palm Beach, was looking into luring IKEA and Bass Pro Shops to occupy the site, but it never happened. The mall was eventually acquired by New England Development transforming the Palm Beach Mall into Palm Beach Outlets, an open-air outlet mall beside a strip of big box stores. The mall was developed on the 80-acre property by New England Development, Eastern Real Estate and Lubert-Adler. It was announced in February 2013 that Whole Foods Market would open in its own facility towards the southwest end of the mall property, next to the Palm Beach Lakes/I-95 interchange. George's Music relocated to nearby Rivera Beach, closing their mall location on June 30, 2012, originally intending to return with the opening of Palm Beach Outlets, however, this never happened. JCPenney and Firestone were planned to be included in the Palm Beach Outlets with their original buildings, but due to company downsizing, closed the location on May 1, 2013. Palm Beach Outlets opened on February 14, 2014. The mall includes a Saks Fifth AvenueOff Fifthoutlet store as an anchor. Sports Authority closed in 2016 as result of bankruptcy which divided into HomeGoods and Five Below, in May 2020 Pier 1 Imports would close all stores including this location as it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy back on February 17, 2020.
