Countryside Mall — Attraction in Clearwater

As someone born and raised in Clearwater in the 90s, I have grown up with this mall and have seen it change over the years.

I have to say as of late it’s been rather disappointing. First of all, the food court. There are several empty spaces in the food court and why get rid of the chick fil a when it’s the most popular place there? And there doesn’t seem to be any indication that new places are coming to the food court — not really much to choose from in the food court anymore (compare to International Mall which has everything from Chipotle to CFA to Earls to poke bowls in their food court and a much better street of sit-down restaurants in addition!).

I understand that Countryside is very family and child oriented - some of these features do make it stand out and why the rating isn’t completely bad. The ice skating rink, for example, is a stand out and has always been a unique feature of this mall.

With that being said, I do believe that this mall offers next to nothing for young adults looking to shop for apparel. There is a forever 21 and a few other places for teens (Hollister, Tillys etc) but for those just beyond that age point, there is nothing. No H&M, no Zara, no Abercrombie, no Aritzia etc. International is still the place to go for these shops and as a child-less millennial I often choose to venture to International mall over Countryside for this reason.

Additionally, over the years, I have noticed a general deterioration in the cleanliness of the restrooms, the food courts, and other facilities. Not even the department stores maintain clean or comfortable bathrooms.

Aside from the lovely theater on the one side of the mall, that side is completely dead.

Anchors for this mall are pretty solid. Macys, Dillards, and Penney’s appeal to a wide variety of tastes and needs. Having a Whole Foods attached to the mall is a bit strange. I never find myself attaching grocery shopping with a day at the mall.

Overall, the mall still serves as a viable community hang out spot and shopping center for middle-class families in Clearwater. However, it could benefit greatly from some cleaning up, better food court options, and more young adult...

I grew up taking figure skating lessons here in my childhood. Visiting Florida again I stopped by and was happy to see the rink was still there and doing well. The mall itself is not as busy as it once was, but it has basic things you might need without having to drive farther for the bigger, nicer malls. Dillard's and Macy was still there located in the middle of the mall right by the rink while JV Penny's was still on one end of the mall. American Eagle was also available in the mall. Both of my kids were happy to see game stop and Auntie Annie's, while my 10yo daughter was happy to see icing, Claire's, box lunch, and soon Mini So.

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the rink. It is smaller than the ones in sports complexes nearby in the Tampa Bay area but convenient for parents to drop off their child fo lessons and go shopping as my mom and brothers used to do for me. They have a Starbucks set up next to the rink and lots of seating around the outside of the rink for shoppers to sit and eat or work. I thought that was a good idea as I recall many people sitting and watching the skaters while they ate or had a snack.

They have a small play area for kids that is closed in near JC Penny's, and on the other end of the mall there is an open area with a large connect four game as well as a large chess board.

While the food court is now only half full, they do have a few big restaurants now available including Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang's and BJ's. I have not been inside the movie theater but this is also available connected to the mall as well. Though I would love to give it a higher rating because of nostalgia and the rink, because there are several empty spots I probably cannot give it...

Nice indoor mall. Nice variety of shops. We go there for Yankee candle, hot topic, Spencer gifts. There is a Cobb movie theatre that is good for a quick movie. They seem to show more standard movie format times than 3D. For sit down if you don't want food court there is red Robin, Grimaldi pizza, P F Changs and BJ steak. Parking can be a little crazy but Grimaldi and red Robin have free valet parking otherwise it's $5. There is a budget rent a car and Enterprise on the side of Sears. Update Nov.10,2019: since my previous post Grimaldi left and valet parking ended operations. Sears is empty and the Budget/Avis rent a car moved to the shopping center by neighborhood Wal-Mart. There has been a shift in stores to a mix of clothing and variety stores. As seen on TV opened selling many little household items you see in infomercials. A new restaurant is going to open next year that looks really interesting. It is Game Time and is food and arcade all in one. I am including the pictures on the white wall closing off the area it will cover. It will take up the all the store fronts on the 2nd floor in the center of one side of the mall. By far that's the largest restaurant I have seen locally. I will review it...