Decades-old DeSoto Square Mall will close its doors for good Friday

BRADENTON, Fla. - For loyal customers and business owners who have called the DeSoto Square Mall home for decades, Friday comes as the end of an era as the mall will open for the last time. 

Currently, there are no immediate plans for those doors to reopen anytime soon.

DeSoto Square Mall has been a staple in the Bradenton community. The 60-acre mall has been open since 1970 and is the only indoor mall still in the area. 

While this mall is a piece of Bradenton's history, it has seen better days. Over the past few years, the mall has emptied out as tenants have slowly started to leave. Many stores couldn’t survive and went out of business or simply relocated, leaving the mall with just a few businesses left. 

Adding in the current owner’s financial woes, tenants knew this day was coming. 

There are no firm plans for the future of the site. However, last year, a Sarasota firm did have big plans for the mall, saying they would want to develop it into a residential lifestyle center including residential garden homes, senior housing, a grocery store and medical offices. 

PREVIOUS: DeSoto Square Mall owners face foreclosure; plans proposed for residential development

If that plan were to become a reality, it would take about a decade to fully complete. 

The mall will open one final time at 11 a.m., locking its doors for good at 6 p.m.