I'm giving this place a 5 Star rating...simply because this place gives me lots of good memories of my military days and bringing my little bambeezy's here when they were newborns. If you're used to big city malls, designer stores...etc...don't expect too much. It's a very basic mall for a small town, who's population is probably 90% military, 5% retired military, 5% civilian. But a majority of the people are super NICE. Good ol southern comfort hospitality. I was so used to the West Coast snobs, I almost didn't know how to react to kindness hahaha!! This is a place where people remember your faces and know your names. For a couple years I was a Stay-At-Home military wife and would bring the kids to this mall to kill time. Lots of activities during the holidays. I would either go to this mall or Pensacola Mall (which is bigger) read more

I genuinely have no idea how this mall is even open. There's one hallway remaining, with maybe 5 stores and one restaurant which is never open. There's usually a decent amount of people here, considering the state it's in. I was told Destin Commons put Santa Rosa out of business, but they don't really have any anchor stores there? read more

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The mall is extremely clean and conveniently located. The store selection is very limited with no department store anchors, Old Navy and Shoe Encore seem to be the biggest draws read more

Santa Rosa Mall - Play area - Shopping Centers Near Me - Mary Esther, Florida

We had some time to kill before catching a flight so I stopped in the mall to browse. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this mall sadly looks like most malls in America. Mostly empty and completely quiet. They had a portion of the mall blocked off and closed down completely. The bathrooms were inside of an abandoned store and the stores that were left weren't great. Not really much going on or really any reason to ever visit here again. I will say the mall was still very clean and well maintained despite being mostly abandoned. read more

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Visiting from Utah, our mall is pretty bad but this is 10 times worse. Before you even walk in it already smells like cigarettes and drugs. it smells worse then the Taco Bell bathroom. We were pretty much the only customers on a Saturday. the only other customers was a homeless lady with no teeth riding a bike into the store. It is so ghetto inside it is pretty much abandoned and soon will be a place for the homeless to sleep. there is no store options because most of them are closed. you feel like you are going to get kidnapped the second you walk In. I highly recommend never coming to this store if I could put 0 stars I could. read more

Santa Rosa Mall - Creepy van with shrek and SpongeBob. - Shopping Centers Near Me - Mary Esther, Florida

My wife and 2 kids were visiting from Houston and went here. It's a ghost town which I'm fine with, the creepy part was a guy that came out of a door at the end of the mall after the food court. He approached us as we played a game for my kids trying to win a prize(no one was within 300ft of us). He came within 3 ft and I said what's up man (as he stared at my 3 yr old son) before he responded. Said he wanted to play after us so he did. At that moment we walk off into the dilliards to get away. As we started walking out after awhile(of dilliards), my wife spots him in the store so we left and I noticed him leaving as well after we spotted him. I told her to act like she was racing with the kids to the exit to move faster and she did so they got the the car before me jumped in and once I got there we took off and made sure no one followed us. Please don't go here alone nor with young ones read more

Update: The mall finally, and recently installed central air conditioning for the common areas. I found out from a security guard, a few weeks ago, that the Dillard's department store left a year ago. There's no food court. The mall has nothing to do there of any interest and very few worthwhile stores of any use. Don't waste your time. read more

Zero! Is this even open anymore? Creepy. Very disappointed Pretty much closed, no stores open that I could see after going into 2 entrances. read more

Mall overall is clean but over half of the stores are empty. Not worth the trip to shop in very few places.

If you like shopping look elsewhere!!! This is a sad sad mall. All the stores are vacant and the anchor stores are pathetic. Sears, JCpenneys, Old Navy and a Dillard's. None of the stores are updated and it feels like I'm back in time. Why not 1star? With the mall being so vacant my toddler can run around like crazy without bothering anyone. There is no one here!! This is a great place for kids to run around!! read more

Santa Rosa Mall - Shopping Centers Near Me - Mary Esther, Florida

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I come here once a year because they don't have Dillard's in my home town. I can't comment on the rest of the mall because I only visited Dillard's. I don't like to shop where you are bumping o to people and you can't find any sales people to help. So, a mall that is average busy and attentive sales people is what I appreciate and today Dillard's fit that description. I always find too many cute clothes and spend too much but that is what vacations are for. read more

Santa Rosa Mall - At Santa Rosa Mall - Shopping Centers Near Me - Mary Esther, Florida

First of all, this mall smells of old people and stale beer, the only store that has any use to anybody is the barber shop. As I was waiting to get my haircut, I was exploring the mall, trying to see what other shopping endeavors this mall has to offer, when on my journey I was kicked out by a fussy old lady and a security guard, just for trying to release my IBS in the only bathroom I could find, the lights were off but the doors were open and my butt was about to explode, there were other people before me using it. To say the least it was an emergency and they were incredibly unforgiving, not willing to hear me out, and utterly disrespectful/unprofessional. I'm no longer allowed to step foot in side of this mall all due to a massive misunderstanding. Maybe next time they prefer I shit in the corner instead. From the looks of it this mall can't afford to kick customers out as half of the stores are vacant. How am I going to get my haircut now... read more

Use to be a awesome place to go. Back in 2014 when they had the arcade and all the awesome places to shop, and good food in the food court now it's a ghost town and nothings in there anymore. read more

5/16 This mall is really sad! There seems to be more empty spaces than open stores. The anchors are Sears, Penneys, and Dillards. The food court has about three places to get a bite to eat. They have a great looking carousel but it only runs in the evenings. They have little cars for kids to ride but the change machine didn't work. When we finally scraped together enough quarters, the car ate our money. Then we walked away and it started up! Weird. This would be a great place to come for a walk but I'm afraid that's about it. I was hoping to find some Florida souvenirs but we left empty handed. read more

I'm pretty sure it's not going to be long before this mall is on the YouTube channel abandoned. It's 12:05pm and many stores still aren't even open on a Sunday. read more

Are malls dying? I mean, this isn't the 80's anymore, where the only place you went to buy anything was the mall. Record stores and stand-up arcades are almost a thing of the past. With that in mind, this mall is hanging on by a tenuous thread. If you walk in the Main East Entrance, the first four of five shops are some kind of salon. Oops. As you continue to walk, you'll see the skeletal entrances of closed storefronts staring gloomily back at you. The food court is only at partial operating capacity (I mean that the eating joints have shut down) and the anchor businesses are leaving, one by one. The overall effect is a sense of depressed wandering through the halls of half-piqued Capitalism. You still have a few interesting stores that you visit once or twice a year, but overall this place doesn't seem to be doing much. Then again, I haven't been in here after sundown or on a weekend in half a decade; maybe it's still a go-to spot for angst-filled teenagers to go and be bothersome. I'm sorry my language isn't more upbeat, I feel like I just left a casino where nobody wins. read more

I love this mall even tho there aren't a lot of store every worker here is sweet and the mall is always clean and there are still good stores here like Spencer's,hot topic,and old navy the only reason why one side of the mall is dead is because the new apartment complex that just built behind it is building a new part to the property and is breaking down the food court area and moving all the stores further down the mall read more

This mall is practically empty. Don't let their picture fool you; they are old. The food court is half empty, the carousel is gone, even the arcade went out of business. There are only a handful of stores still open and a children's inflatable play place. read more

Not safe at all!!!! This mall just needs to shut down. They allow used car dealers to set up shop and park their cars in the very front of the mall. So if it's dark you have to park way away from the front door. The only reason I shopped here was for Victoria Secret. If I need something I will drive to Destin or Pcola or just order online. There are tons of parking in this vacant mall parking lot. Those crappy used cars do not need to be parked up front. read more

Not really a "MALL". Very few stores. Major stores are Jc Penny's, Maurice's, Sears, old navy, Charlotte Russ, a large shoe store and Dillard's(which I think is too expensive). This mall also has some smaller stores. A small food court. I think 5 food vendors. Small mall but does has something for everyone. read more

Very limited stores. Dillard's, JcPenny and Sears are the anchior stores. From what I coukd gather, these stores do not carry as much merchandise. Location is convenient and mall is clean and quiet. Has a Planet Fitness as well. read more

Upon pulling into the entirely too large/empty, worn out parking lot my heart sank. As I had just left the premium outlet mall in Destin. Came here for the bath and body works and Victoria's secret. That was it. They were both dirty and worn out on the inside. Very sad. Everything else was very sad looking too. This is a vintage mall from the 60's that has had minimal upgrades inside and out. Not to be completely negative, but I got the 90's feels when I walked on that pink and sandy colored tile they have. I kept waiting for the backstreet boys or nsync to pop out from a corner and serenade me. I recommend taking seniors here. They will love it as it is almost completely empty during the week and a less stressful shopping experience. Also if you want to get a large group together and play hide and seek here. I am almost 100% positive no one will notice. Cheers. read more

Seriously? This mall makes me feel like running to the doctor and asking for a script for strong antidepressants. I don't know what it is, but it just feels like the entire country's economy can be felt with a stroll thru that venue. Now I'm not one for the rumble of thug teens in trenchcoats loitering at the entrances or gimungous cinemas with the look of Vegas, but there are Galleria malls with some elegance and skylights that speckle sunlight throughout that just make it less mall-ey and more 'community'. That's what I'd love to see here, instead of that weird quietness and dead-end routes that make you feel like the few places left in there are circling the drain. To be fair, I understand we're in a town that would all but evaporate if the military weren't here, and people are always getting PCS'd in and out, so I'm sure that has an impact. But for what's there, even the shopkeepersaren't very welcoming. Case in point: Just a few days ago, Halloween, at least three stores who were participating in the trick or treating turned my 5 year old away when she gleefully asked "Trick or Treat?"...Why? Because, they snapped, the trick or treating started at 4pm, and it was 3:47. God forbid they give out a piece of candy too soon. And call me a killjoy, but I was somewhat alarmed to see a too-old-for-trick-or-treating teenager in military gear toting a rifle in the mall. Yea, I know the little orange thing on the end is supposed to make me feel safe, but you know what? It doesn't. Anyone can snap a little piece of orange plastic on the end of a weapon to disguise it. The management should have not allowed weapons in the mall - we brought our little ones there as a safe Halloween option, and not bringing weapons to the mall is a no-brainer. We want to be scared on Halloween, but not THAT scared. Anyhow, I don't know if they still have the pet store in there or not, but I can't support that, either. There's no excuse for pet stores when there are millions of homeless animals in shelters. That's my two cents. read more

Seems that there was less shopping available. Less kiosks since my last visits. I would also like to know why the bathrooms are on only one side of the mall. It took me almost ten minutes to get to the bathroom. Highly doubt I will return again. read more

Just happen to find this mall because of yelp on one of my days of exploring the local area. Yes, the mall has that going out of business feel IF you come in through the back like I did, It does have a few key stores that the teens will come and spend their money at but overall its a ok mall. I am excited to see that they have a Great Steak & Potato Company in the food court since its one of those things I had as a kid in the bay area. It's not a bad mall and it is surrounded by a few other stores in the neighborhood. read more

I've been in much bigger malls, but this one was decent enough I guess. There's not that many stores to choose from, but it wasn't too bad. Practically everything you need without the glamor. I do like the fact that they have a big FYE store though and a Toy's R US :) read more

Nice mall, great place to get out of the heat. Ate at crackers, manager served us. Very nice person. Let us sample different salads to see what we liked. Good prices, excellent food. This is a nice place to shop and stay out of the heat. Store people friendly and positive. Will be back read more

Just stopped by here for the food court. Only has like 5 small restaurants and none were all too great. My suggestion: go elsewhere for lunch! read more

like all of the stores are closed down an the food court has like barely anything and they need just more stores

OK I'm giving this mall three stars, in part because it's still here. Another user asked "are malls dying?" and the answer is pretty obvious. Many of them are. Why? For the same reason people stopped going downtown and started going to malls instead. This kind of thing seems to happen every 30 years. People would rather go to Wal-Mart or shop online; those people fortunate enough to have money to spend, that is. Another reason malls are dying is the economy. To paraphrase another yelper: "The entire country's economy can be felt when you stroll through this mall." I think that's a pretty accurate observation. There's not a "going out of business" sign hung on the mall (yet) but it does sort of feel that way. You can often find yourself walking alone down big, empty, eerily quiet corridors. It's haunting. You can almost sense the presence of the large crowds of happy people that used to shop here. Imagine walking through a still functional, yet almost totally abandoned amusement park (with zombie-like employees still going through the motions): that's what this mall feels like on some days. To be fair, weekends are somewhat better. Large, sort of happy crowds can still be found at this mall on weekends. And the food court isn't too terrible; it stands as a relic of late 90s food courts in that it hasn't changed an awful lot since the late 90s. And I like that. Chick-Fil-A closed over a year ago, however, which is a shame. One of the anchor stores, Belk, indeed closed some months ago. I don't think that bodes very well for this mall's future, because as another yelper pointed out, the mall does evoke a kind of "circling the drain" feel. Will the rest of the mall meet Belk's fate? Quite possibly. All I know for sure is that the empty building that Belk used to occupy is depressing to look at now; that deserted parking lot with all those empty parking spaces that would have been filled with shiny cars in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. Yes, there's a "United Artist" theater located across the empty parking lot from Belk's. This is actually a Regal Cinema now, but to cut costs they left the UA sign on the building. I actually have no problems with this movie theater because, like the food court, it evokes a very nice late 90s feel. I remember when every good mall had a movie theater; virtually none do anymore. The mall still has a decent arcade, Sears, Dillard's and JC Penny. FYE is still, inexplicably, going strong. With plenty of DVDs and CDs for sale (LOL). That there's still a place in the mall that sells music is something I personally appreciate, but I can understand how it seems weird to some people. And my daughter loves Claire's. The sad fact is that malls are meeting the same fate downtowns met 30 years ago. Businesses slowly but surely dying, closing, boarded up, torn down. Just like Circuit City. Just like Blockbuster. Just like Waldenbooks (this mall lost its last bookstore about three or four years ago). You can't stop it. So, appreciate this mall while it's still here. read more

Reviewers need to readjust their expectations before hating on this mall so much. Fort Walton Beach is a small touristy place, it's not a metropolis and the size of the mall reflects this. It does not have a 'going out of business' feel like some have suggested, it's just a small town mall where you can go to kill a few hours or buy basics or retro stuff. The plus side for guys is that there are as many shops for dudes as there are for dudettes. There is also a cinema in the same location if you fancy it (pricey for the area though in my opinion). Overall not a bad place to spend an afternoon. Just remember; you're in FWB, not NYC. read more

I have been to this mall quite a few times. It's an average sized mall and it has the basic stores that a mall should have. Because it is in a small town area, it does lack a few designer stores, but the major department stores make up for it. It has Dillards, which is my mom's favorite department store and JCPenny's. read more

This is the WORST mall and unfortunately the only indoor mall in Fort Walton Beach. In desperate need of updating and more stores; certainly more and better eating places in the food court. Such a sad shame that stores are constantly leaving the mall. Will have to go to Destin for great shopping in the future!! read more

What made me write was a pic and message left by Shannon B. The last pic was very sad to say the least. I've been back in this area since 78, at first I was sad about it. I lived in this area from 2nd-7th grade. There were no such thing of malls at that time, no iPods or iTunes and no cable tv...at that age it would been great. When we left, around mid 73, that area was nothing but woods I remember us running and playing in the woods going from the Hurlburt Arms Apartments to Mary Esther Elementary School. When we were stationed back here again from England in mid 78. What a cultural difference! Our main play area was now a big building filled with. At first it was met by us with shock and awe all the shopping we needed to do, besides groceries under one roof. And as soon as teens do I ended up working there in about 6 different stores as time went on. At one time I work at 3 places at once and I loved it even though every night ended up with my feet burning, especially after double shifts that ended long after the mall closed. It's impossible to see what's happening/not happening there and that photo hit hard. I knew that business was slowing down but that's awful. I remember it being so busy that you would always run into someone you know or make a friend by accidentally bumping into some one. Now nothing. It use to be fun walking with your friends threw a place that you guys could eat, shop, and then go to a movie all in one place. I've never posted anything but I was checking on a rumor that I heard that they were closing today and I wanted to see if anything was printed here but haven't seen anything. Which would be good. It makes me hope that more people would go back and bring their kids, and let the tradition come back. :) read more

Walking up to it, I didn't know what to expect. It was the first mall I had ever seriously visited outside of the DFW area, and in a small town no less. I was nervous, like a guy heading to Starbucks for an OkCupid date. Would it be attractive? Would the employees be helpful? Would the bathrooms be clean? Who knows. The mall itself is a large, drab, brown bricked structure that seemed to date from some part of the 80's. I walked into a Dillard's and the first thing that hit me was the smell. It was "the funk of 40,000 years". The perpetually humid Florida climate did the mall no favors. As you travel throughout the mall, various scents will hit you and mix together like some poorly planned casserole. The sickly sweet of perfumes, plastics from the home furnishings, Chinese food from the food court, more old building and more. The main areas of the mall have a slightly nautical 80's theme, though even for the time it probably wasn't terribly flashy. There were tile floors as far as the eye could see in lots of pastel blues, mauves and greys. Skylights punctuated the dimly lit hallways. As you walked down the main halls, at times you were surrounded by nothing more than empty windows and shuttered stores. Only some old mall standbys like Victoria's Secret, Claire's, Hot Topic, Earthbound Trading Company, Gamestop and GNC seemed to hang on for life, but it all seemed nearly abandoned. I walked to the main area at the center of the mall, and was greeted by an even more peculiar sight. A single merry go round. I walked to the food court nearby to check out what they had. The workers in the food court eyed me curiously from behind steaming trays of food as if they had never seen a customer before. At this point feelings of depression and helplessness had reached critical limits and I decided I'd had enough. So I made a break for it, past an ecigarette store and a closed H&R block. I rushed back to the parking lot, got into my car, I peeled out of the parking lot, swerved onto Mary Esther Boulevard and hit the gas. The tach pulsed as I switched gears. I turned on the radio and I Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis came on. As I hit 88mph, rubber burned as I raced back to civilization (meaning anywhere outside of the Pensacola / Fort Walton Beach area). I breathed a sigh of relief. Not even supercruising F-22s scrambled from Eglin could catch me now. So in the end I didn't really buy anything here but I did get a really nice, free KitchenAid marketing brochure which will come in handy in the future. It's a great tragedy that this mall might have been quite busy at some point in the distant past, but globalization has allowed greedy corporations to sell out the American worker in favor of overseas labor, slowly gutting the middle class. Not even the stream of steady government, military variety Velveeta flowing into the pockets of citizens in the area was enough to bring paying customers into this mall. Santa Rosa Mall gets a solid 3/5 for what could best be described as "Kafkaesque, nautical, 80's ephemera". I would visit again, but with a camera to capture the exquisite decay. read more

If you want a nice relaxing shopping day (not fighting crowds and long lines) this is the place to go! I have memories going here when I was a teenager.( and I am 47) I hope Ft Walton will support this mall so everyone will continue to have a nice air conditioned place to shop. I still like to see things in person before I buy and do not want to fight traffic and crowds in Destin or Pensacola. read more

What happened to this place?? I use to come here all the time when I was a teenager and remember it being PACKED! Now the only time you see anyone there is during Christmas. It's depressing. All the good stores are gone and there's only mediocre stores left. Not to mention only three options to choose from to eat read more