Dover Mall is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located on U.S. Route 13 in

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

. The mall's

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

stores include Boscov's,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

, Furniture & More, and Dick's Sporting Goods. It is a one-level, enclosed regional mall that is managed by majority-owner

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

. At , it is the second-largest mall in Delaware. There are two vacant anchor spaces, last occupied by Macy’s and

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

Location

The Dover Mall is located along U.S. Route 13 (North Dupont Highway) in the northern part of the city of

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

in Kent County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, and serves as the only enclosed mall in the Dover area. The mall is situated in a retail corridor and is located just northwest of Dover Motor Speedway and Bally's Dover casino resort, and across the street from Delaware State University. The Dover Mall is located a short distance south of an interchange with

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Delaware, Fenwick Island, Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex County, where the ...

. Dover Mall is served by DART First State bus routes 108, 109, and 112, which provide local bus service to points in Dover and Kent County.

Description

The Dover Mall is a one-level shopping mall with a gross leasable area of . It contains approximately 65 stores and eateries as of 2025. The Dover Mall also includes a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. The mall offers tax-free shopping and has a trade area that covers the city of Dover and much of Kent County, while also attracting tourists who visit the Dover area.

History

1980s

The Dover Mall opened on August 4, 1982, becoming the second enclosed mall in Dover, following the 1968 opening of the Blue Hen Mall (now the Blue Hen Corporate Center). The Dover Mall was built to provide a home for

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

and other interested retailers, after Sears was unable to reach an agreement to build a store at the Blue Hen Mall. The mall was originally anchored by Boscov's, Leggett, and Sears, and cost approximately $20 million to build. The Boscov's store at Dover Mall was the first Boscov's location outside

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The mall's original design featured raised brick planters throughout the mall and "walkways spanning a bubbling fountain" in the center court. The food court opened with several eateries including 1 Potato 2, The Great Hot Dog Experience, and Sbarro Pizza. In December 1983, a six-screen

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

opened at the mall, despite a lawsuit filed by the rival Blue Hen Mall. The theater was owned by Reading, PA-based Fox Theaters, which also owned the Dover Cinema at the Blue Hen Mall. The lawsuit had claimed that a 1979 lease agreement prohibited the theater operator from opening any new locations within a radius of its mall. In 1988, the mall's then-owners ( Cadillac Fairview) built a new strip shopping center in front of the Dover Mall, parallel to the mall's south access road from U.S. Route 13. Named Dover Commons, the center added an additional of retail space to the property.

Silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

and Pier 1 Imports became the center's anchor tenants.

1990s

On September 28, 1992, construction began on a addition onto the east side of the mall, to house a fourth anchor store.

opened on August 4, 1993, after relocating from the struggling Blue Hen Mall, south. The new location was larger than the previous Dover store, in addition to presenting a "richer, more upscale appearance". The Dover Mall received its first renovation in 1993, removing the existing raised planters and fountains. A black and teal color scheme was introduced through new floor tiles and benches. Potted palm trees and additional skylights were also added. At the time of renovation, the mall held 95 stores and a 96.5% occupancy rate. On October 1, 1993, the Dover Mall became the second shopping mall in the state to ban smoking indoors, after a survey of 500 shoppers showed that nearly 80% were in favor of the ban. In 1995, the Silo store at Dover Commons closed suddenly due to the chain's failure. It was replaced by a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant and arcade. Leggett closed its store at the mall on March 15, 1997, after the chain was purchased by

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

. It was replaced by Strawbridge's, which opened an expanded store on November 21, 1997. During the same time period, Boscov's underwent a substantial renovation and expansion, and Sears completed an interior renovation. Fox Theaters was taken over by

Carmike Cinemas Carmike Cinemas, Inc. was an American motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United State ...

in 1996. Three years later, the theater was expanded from six screens to fourteen, with stadium seating in the eight new auditoriums. The theater also received a new mall entrance from the food court. At the same time, the food court itself was enlarged and renovated.

2000s

Old Navy opened a store in the fall of 2000, filling space vacated by Lerner, Express, and Structure. The Mills Corporation acquired the mall from Cadillac Fairview in 2003. The Mills wanted to add approximately of new stores and entertainment venues to the property, including an ice rink and skate park. These plans never advanced beyond the early planning stage. The mall's Strawbridge's store was converted to Macy's on September 9, 2006, after

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

purchased May Department Stores, the owner of Strawbridge's. In April 2007,

acquired the mall along with the other Mills malls. It is Simon's only Delaware property and Simon is the mall's third owner since 2000. JCPenney completed a comprehensive interior renovation in 2009.

2010s

In 2013, the Dover Mall added several new stores, including

Forever 21 F21 OpCo LLC, trade name, doing business as Forever 21, was a multinational fast-fashion retailer. It was originally founded as Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984.Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved ...

and a Dick's Sporting Goods that opened on November 10, 2013. In 2017, the movie theater was rebranded to AMC Classic Dover 14 after Carmike Cinemas was purchased by AMC. On May 3, 2018, Sears Holdings announced that the Sears location at Dover Mall would be closing as part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide. Liquidation sales began on May 18, 2018 and the store closed in August 2018. The Sears Auto Center closed by the end of 2018. A children's play area was added to the former Sears court in 2019.

2020s

The Pier 1 Imports store in Dover Commons closed in early 2020 due to the chain's bankruptcy. It was replaced by a Boot Barn in 2022. On October 15, 2020, Macy's announced that they would convert the Dover Mall Macy's store into a fulfillment center as online shopping spiked during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Macy’s fulfillment center closed at the end of 2023, leaving an empty anchor space. In 2022,

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

opened a truck driving school at the mall, as part of an "Associate-to-Driver" pilot initiative. The program offers employees from Walmart stores and distribution centers the opportunity to earn a

commercial driver's license A commercial driver's license (CDL) is a driver's license required in the United States to operate large and heavy vehicles (including trucks, buses, and trailers) or a vehicle of any size that transports hazardous materials or more than 15 ...

(CDL) upon completion of a 12-week course. Graduates then become full-time, salaried drivers for Walmart. Trucks used by the program are stored in the mall's parking lot. On March 17, 2024, the AMC Classic movie theater permanently closed. It was the last remaining movie theater in Dover. The theater had faced increasing competition from newer theaters, especially Westown Movies in Middletown, which opened in 2013, and Milford Movies 9 in Milford, which opened at the end of 2020. AMC was also experiencing chain-wide financial difficulties and closed several theaters across the country during this time. In May 2024, Furniture & More opened in the former Sears location at the mall. On March 16, 2025, Forever 21 announced it would be closing all of its remaining U.S. stores, including the Dover Mall location. Shortly after, it was revealed that Portabella, a regional clothing chain, would open in the former Forever 21 space.

References

External links

Dover Mall official Website
{{Philadelphia Malls Shopping malls in Delaware Shopping malls established in 1982 Simon Property Group Buildings and structures in Dover, Delaware Tourist attractions in Dover, Delaware 1982 establishments in Delaware