George Sanders developed the Edison Mall, which opened in 1965 on U.S. Route 41 at Colonial Boulevard on the south side of Fort Myers. At the time, US 41 was only two lanes wide, and the only other businesses near the mall were a Publix supermarket and a drive-in theater,. The mall's opening led to more commercial development south of downtown Fort Myers. Upon its opening, the Edison Mall featured rival chains JCPenney and Sears as its anchor stores located at each end of the mall. This marked the first time the two rival stores were co-located in the same mall in the United States. Both JCPenney and Sears stores were relocated from previous stores in downtown Fort Myers. JCPenney's previous store downtown was located in the Langford Building, and Sears' downtown store was located across the street in the Heitman Building. The Edison Mall also notably included a Woolworth's five-and-dime store. The Tampa-based department storeMaas Brothers also opened in 1965 as a third anchor in the center of the mall. This would be Maas Brothers' first store to anchor a shopping mall as they previously only operated freestanding stores in downtown areas. Maas Brothers would later go on to open more locations in malls on Florida's Gulf Coast starting with WestShore Plaza and Tyrone Square Mall. As with their previous stores, Maas Brothers operated a restaurant within the store on the second floor. George Sanders sold the mall to Aster Realty in 1979, and the mall received a major expansion the same year, thus resulting in a new wing with a second mall entrance to Maas Brothers. The new wing also included the addition of a fourth anchor, Miami-based Burdines. JCPenney was also expanded in 1979 with the addition of a second floor. Another expansion in 1985 added J. W. Robinson's of Florida, who sold its locations to Maison Blanche in 1987, which in turn then sold its store and six others on the Gulf Coast of Florida to Dillard's four years later. Also in 1991, Maas Brothers was acquired by Burdines, with the former Maas building which was heavily renovated becoming a women's store while the men's, kids, and home departments were retained in the original location. Dillard's was expanded and renovated in 1999 and along with the rest of the Burdines chain, the two locations at Edison Mall were renamed Burdine's-Macy's in 2003, dropping the Burdine's name two years later.. Also in 2005, Simon announced a further renovation of the mall, which added an outdoor lifestyle center wing and renovated the interior. In 2015, Sears Holdingsspun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Edison Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. In late 2017, a new wing was opened within the mall connecting two existing corridors. The new wing was part of a $4 million renovation and was designed to shorten the distance between the two ends of the mall. On February 2, 2020, Sears closed its Edison Mall location after 55 years of operation. The store was last Sears store to close in Southwest Florida after its locations at Coastland Center and the Port Charlotte Town Center in Naples and Port Charlotte respectively closed in 2018.
