Omni International Mall of Miami

The Omni International Mall is a shopping mall that opened in 1976 and was the brainchild of developer Tibor Hollo in Downtown Miami in the United States.

It was built around an existing Jordan Marsh store on Biscayne Boulevard and 15th Street in Downtown Miami. Another anchor store, JC Penney, opened on the other end. The mall consisted of two floors called "Upper Mall" and "Lower Mall".

There was also a hotel, which is still active under the Hilton name, and a 24-hour children's day care.

Omni means "all" and it really seems like the concept for the mall was to have everything. The mall opened with a wide variety of boutiques, from mall staples like Florsheim Shoes and Casual Corner to designer boutiques like Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Lanvin, and Hermes. Two of the more popular bookstores of the time---B. Dalton Booksellers and Waldenbooks---had shops there.

In addition to clothing, shoes, books and accessories, there were also banks, doctor's offices, Oriental Gifts, a tobacco shop, a video game parlor, a Hallmark card store, an art emporium, antique shops, a record store, crafts stores, jewelry stores, home furnishing stores and two movie theaters. There were also a number of restaurants, like Lindy's Deli, the Golden Greek, the Potato Place, and Cozzoli's Pizza. One of Miami's first mall food courts was also showcased at the Omni, a baseball-themed area filled with fast food stands known as "The Ball Park".

One of the more fondly remembered areas of the mall: a children's entertainment area called Treasure Island that featured video games and classic fair games, like ski ball and the water gun shooting-the-clown-in-the-mouth-to-blow-up-the-balloon game. Treasure Island also featured rides, the most remembered being a Florida-themed carousel, which remained in use long after Treasure Island was shuttered some time in the mid-80s and replaced with more boutiques and stores, like Lerner and Lane Bryant.

In the early 90s, Jordan Marsh closed up after being at the site since the 1950s. Many say this was the beginning of the end for the mall. It's a popular belief that the deterioration of the downtown area also contributed to the mall's downfall. A Burdines opened in the Jordan Marsh space, but closed a year later as well. The downward trajectory of the mall started slowly in the early 90s, but took a steep nosedive by the later part of the decade.

By 1999, rumors of the mall's closing started coming to pass, JC Penney was now gone, and Omni was no longer the designer mall of the 70s and 80s. The mall that once housed designer boutiques like Pucci and Hermes was now the site of a dollar store. In December 1999, an Oriental Gifts shop and a Radio Shack, which were present during the mall's heyday, hung on to nearly the very end but closed soon after because by January 2000, only one store remained. The mall closed for good shortly after.

Some say the mall was ahead of its time, especially now that downtown is seeing a resurgence with a recent boom of condominiums throughout the downtown area and the rise of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, which is a block or so away from the Omni.

In recent years, an art school has taken up residence in the first two floors of the former Jordan Marsh site. And there was talk of demolishing the mall and its multi-floor garage to make way for condominiums and sidewalk boutiques.

There are supporters and detractors for the idea: Some would like to see the massive complex torn down, others would like to see an attempt to bring it back to its glory days with a vigorous refurbishment.

Movie buffs might be interested to know that a small scene in Transporter 2, starring Jason Statham, was filmed in the former mall: It was a scene involving two silver elevators by the school currently in the former Jordan Marsh space. The outside of the mall could also be seen in several episodes of "Miami Vice".

Omni has been a "dead mall" since 2000. Omni's owners have announced different plans over the years for the property, but so far, all have been scrapped before commencement. Despite plans in 2007 to replace the building---owned by Argent Ventures of New York City---with a complex of six towers between 58 and 65 stories tall by 2022, [http://bobmiami.com/2007/03/29/argent-ventures-1-billion-omni-plans-approved/] the building is now being given a facelift and being turned into "The Omni Offices" and "The Omni Shops". [ [http://theomnioffices.com/ The Omni Offices] ]

----Thoughts on Omni

According to a January 16, 2000 article in The Miami Herald: "When the mall was opened in 1976, there weren't as many people in the area as there are now. Now, there are more people and there are many new things in the area. With the right concept, Omni could be even better than it was during its prime." Tibor Hollo, original Omni developer and owner.

In a December 1999 Miami Herald article reporting the probable closing of the mall,"People used to dress up to come to the Omni. It was a much classier mall than Dadeland, Aventura or International Mall." Luis Bates, Omni shopper.

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References

* Deadmalls.com editorial by Edward Corser. [http://deadmalls.com/malls/omni_international_mall.html]