Where does a Florence holiday list start this year? For the gift wine, it starts at a Mall Road storefront that didn't exist last December. The dinner party groceries come from a Publix on US 42 that opened five weeks ago. A furniture pickup happens at a small IKEA counter in Florence Square. Then, starting Nov. 20, the photo with Santa happens at Florence Mall.
Since late August, nearly every new name on a Florence holiday errand run has landed outside the mall. Over the same months, the mall has filled its calendar with holiday events from Thanksgiving week through Christmas Eve. The building whose future is still being negotiated is where December happens.
Five new names since August, none of them inside the mall
Here are the new names and new addresses since late summer, in the order they arrived:
| Business | Address | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| IKEA Plan and order Point | Florence Square, 7739 Mall Road | Opened Aug. 25. A 4,200-square-foot format for picking up in-store and online orders and meeting staff to plan furnishings |
| Big Sandy Superstore | 8032 Burlington Pike | Ribbon cutting Sept. 3, in the former Value City Furniture |
| Total Wine & More | 7646 Mall Road | Grand opening set for Sept. 24 |
| Publix at Farmview Commons | 8740 US 42 | Opened Oct. 7, with Publix Liquors next door |
| Floor & Decor | 87 Spiral Drive | Grand opening celebration set for Oct. 15 |
The IKEA location surprises people most. Local 12, reporting from the Cincinnati Business Courier, described it as Ikea's second Greater Cincinnati location and a new plan-and-order format. It works as a pickup and planning counter, not a full showroom. If your holiday plan involves a bookcase ordered online, the handoff now happens on Mall Road.
Publix matters for anyone who hosts. LINK nky reported that the 58,817-square-foot store is the grocer's 10th in Kentucky, with Union and Independence locations under construction. Florence's newest supermarket sits at the US 42 end of town, so a run for holiday baking supplies may point you in a different direction than it did a year ago. We covered how the grocery picture shifted down the road in Independence's errands are moving to one stretch of KY-17.
One familiar stop is gone. O'Charley's closed its restaurant at 7414 Turfway Road on Sept. 9, LINK nky reported, as the chain closed its remaining locations. If your family made it a post-shopping dinner spot, this is the first December without it.
Our August post, What's Actually Happening in Florence This Fall, followed retail shifting toward the Houston Road and Turfway corridor. The fall openings carried that further. Errands now spread along the Mall Road strip, Spiral Drive, Burlington Pike and US 42.
The holiday calendar is still inside the mall
With so much shopping spread across those corridors, the Florence Mall events page shows the mall leaning hard into the one thing a strip center rarely does: events you go to on purpose. Here's the run of dates as posted:
- Nov. 20 to Dec. 24: Santa Photos at Florence Mall
- Nov. 23 to 30: Pet Parties with Santa
- Nov. 24: Ugly Sweater Party with Santa
- Dec. 1: Pajama Party with Santa
- Dec. 6: Santa Cares
- Dec. 7 to 21: Pet Photos with Santa
- Dec. 8: Ugly Sweater Party with Santa
- Dec. 15: Pajama Party with Santa
Santa arrives eight days after this post goes up. That's five weeks of Santa photos, two separate pet windows, and a themed night roughly every week from Thanksgiving week to mid-December. If you have a dog who needs a holiday card photo, Nov. 23 to 30 and Dec. 7 to 21 are the two windows. Event details can change, so check the mall's page before you go.
Why the mall's holiday season matters more this year
The mall's holiday calendar matters because the building's longer future is still open. In a July interview with the NKyTribune, Florence Mayor Julie Aubuchon explained what a redevelopment deal would take. The main owner, Namdar, and the four anchors all have to agree. Developers have come and gone over the years because that agreement is so cumbersome.
Speaking to the NKyTribune, she was direct about the mall's prospects:
"As a mall, I don't know. As a redevelopment of some form, absolutely. It's just too valuable of land."
In the same NKyTribune interview, she said the Sears and Macy's anchor properties were being marketed for sale. Any future plan would go through the Boone County Planning Commission, then Florence's planning review, then city council, because the city controls the zoning even though it doesn't own the property.
She also told the NKyTribune that Florence draws shoppers from Cincinnati, from Grant County and from farther south, and that the mall is "not the only attraction in our city." The fall openings back her up. New retail kept landing in Florence while the mall's future stayed unresolved, and the mall's own calendar runs straight through Christmas Eve.
Two other December fixtures, on different nights
The mall isn't the only place with a December schedule. Two other fixtures fill different nights of the week, and they barely overlap with the mall's calendar.
Turfway Park. Live racing at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming returns Wednesday, Dec. 2. Races run Wednesdays through Saturdays, plus select Sundays on Dec. 6, 13 and 20, all with a 5:55 p.m. post time, according to Turfway's live racing schedule. That's an early-evening start, and it fits well after a Saturday afternoon of errands.
The city tree lighting. The City of Florence's free Holiday Tree Lighting is Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Florence Government Center. The city's 2026 event calendar announcement confirmed the date. The Northern Kentucky Chamber's event listing includes Santa photos, Mrs. Claus storytime, choir and band performances, hot cocoa and popcorn.
A Tuesday tree lighting falls on a night with no racing at Turfway, since races run Wednesday through Saturday. It also lands on the same date as the mall's second Ugly Sweater Party with Santa. If your kids want two Santa events on one date, Dec. 8 is it.
Getting between the stops
Driving between the stops may get easier soon. In March, LINK nky reported that Florence secured construction funding for adaptive traffic signals at 28 intersections from Ewing Boulevard to Mount Zion Road, including stretches of US 42 and Mall Road. That report projected completion by the end of 2026, which lines up with this holiday season on the roads connecting Publix, Total Wine, Florence Square and the mall.
A December Saturday that uses the new map could look like this:
- Morning groceries and Publix Liquors at Farmview Commons, 8740 US 42
- Midday IKEA pickup at Florence Square and a stop at Total Wine & More, both on Mall Road
- Afternoon Santa photos at Florence Mall, running through Dec. 24
- A 5:55 p.m. post time at Turfway Park
Every stop on that list is inside Florence, and only one of them is inside the mall.
If all these new storefronts have you wondering what the changes around Mall Road and US 42 mean for your own home, K2 Home Team is glad to talk it through over coffee. We follow these openings because our neighbors live with them every day. Schedule your free consultation or get a quick read on your home with our home valuation tool.
