Florence got five notable new stores and restaurants between August 25 and October 7, 2026. IKEA, Total Wine & More, Biscuit Belly, Big Sandy Superstore and Publix all opened in that stretch. Four of them sit within a short drive of Florence Mall. The fifth is the city's new grocery anchor out on US 42. None of the five opened inside the mall.
That split explains how Florence is changing right now. When a business can do a deal on one site, it signs and opens. Redeveloping the mall needs a deal among several parties, and that deal hasn't come together. Your errands are moving to the roads around the mall in the meantime.
Where the Fall's Openings Landed
- IKEA Plan and Order Point with Pick-up, 7739 Mall Road, opened August 25
- Biscuit Belly, 6785 Houston Road, scheduled to open September 1 and now listed as open
- Big Sandy Superstore, 8032 Burlington Pike, held its ribbon-cutting September 3
- Total Wine & More, 7646 Mall Road, held its grand opening September 24
- Publix at Farmview Commons, 8740 US 42, opened October 7
Two of the five are on Mall Road itself, a third is on Houston Road, and a fourth is on Burlington Pike. On a map they almost circle the mall.
The IKEA With No Stock on the Shelves
The IKEA opening got the biggest headlines, and it is also the one most likely to surprise a first-time visitor. LINK nky reported that it's a 4,200-square-foot storefront in the Florence Square Shopping Center, directly across from Florence Mall. It's a showroom built around design consultations, not a warehouse store.
IKEA's Florence page says there is no stock on site, so goods ordered with a planner are delivered to your home. Anyone can walk in and browse the showroom. The main draw is one-on-one appointments with IKEA planners for kitchens, PAX wardrobes, bedrooms and bathrooms, small spaces, living room storage and even business interiors. A planner designs the project, prices it and places the order with you.
The pick-up counter is the other reason to stop by. You can order ahead for curbside pick-up. If you ask staff inside for something that isn't there, IKEA will ship it to the Florence location, where it can be ready as early as the next day. Click & Collect is free for IKEA Family members and $2 for everyone else.
So when a project needs a few flat-pack pieces, you don't have to drive across the river to a full-size IKEA anymore. You order ahead, wait a day, and pick them up on Mall Road.
Total Wine Took the Other Side of Mall Road
A few addresses down, Total Wine & More opened in the Village at the Mall Shopping Center at 7646 Mall Road. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported it as the retailer's fifth Kentucky store, with a grand opening on September 24. The Florence store page lists a classroom and a sampling station. Check the store directly for event dates before planning a visit around one.
Both Mall Road openings share the same name. One is in a center facing the mall, and the other is in a center named for it. Neither one is in the mall.
Breakfast on Houston Road, Furniture on Burlington Pike
The ring kept filling in. Local 12 reported that Biscuit Belly, the brunch chain, would open its Florence restaurant at 6785 Houston Road on September 1. That was part of a regional push that also included Deerfield and Mason. The chain's locations page now lists Florence as open.
On the west side of the ring, Big Sandy Superstore, a furniture and home-goods retailer, opened at 8032 Burlington Pike. The company held its ribbon-cutting on September 3, according to LINK nky.
Put Big Sandy next to IKEA and you'll notice that both new home-furnishing stores opened within ten days of each other, and both picked sites on the roads around the mall.
Why the Mall Itself Is Moving Slower
In a July interview with the NKyTribune, Florence Mayor Julie Aubuchon described why the mall is a harder project. She said the main owner, Namdar, typically buys a mall, develops the outlots around it and then usually sells. She said developers have come close over the years but haven't gotten a deal done, because the owner and all four anchors have to agree.
As of that July interview, she said the Sears and Macy's anchor properties were both being marketed for sale. She also explained how approval would work. The city doesn't own the mall, but it controls the zoning, and any plan would go to the Boone County Planning Commission for a recommendation, then to Florence's planning committee and city council.
That's why the openings went where they did. A storefront across Mall Road can move once a landlord and a tenant agree, while the mall has to line up its owner, four anchors and a plan big enough to win council approval. The mayor described the scale she has in mind:
"You have to have a very bold, a very innovative vision. You can't think piecemeal. This is a project that will re-define our region."
The mall is still open in the meantime. Its website lists a 76-retailer directory. The NKyTribune noted the food court and the two flat, climate-controlled levels that walkers use year-round. On the mall's future, Aubuchon was blunt: "As a mall, I don't know. As a redevelopment of some form, absolutely. It's just too valuable of land."
Publix Pulled the Grocery Run East
The one big opening away from the mall makes the same point from another direction. The Publix Super Market at Farmview Commons opened at 7 a.m. on October 7 at 8740 US 42, and the adjacent Publix Liquors opened at 9 a.m. the same day, LINK nky reported. The store is 58,817 square feet and is Publix's 10th in Kentucky.
The Florence store is part of a wider buildout. Publix has already opened in Walton and Cold Spring, and stores in Union and Independence are under construction. In August, the company held hiring events for the Florence and Independence stores and was looking to fill roughly 140 positions at each.
More of Farmview Commons is coming. The city's first-quarter 2026 economic development report listed a 4,250-square-foot Bank of America under construction at 8748 US 42, plus a multi-tenant building at 8744 US 42 with no tenants announced yet. Like the stores around the mall, Farmview Commons is a single-site project, and it got built.
What's Still in the Pipeline
The same Q1 report shows more single-site projects heading toward the roads around the mall. Their status dates to that report, so treat them as planned, not open.
- Jaggers, 4999 Houston Road, in major site plan review as of Q1 2026
- Dutch Bros Coffee, 7606 Mall Road, in concept plan review as of Q1 2026
- Mi Cozumel, 7484 Turfway Road, forecast at the time for spring 2026
- A second Florence 7 Brew, 7303 Turfway Road, also forecast for spring 2026
Then there's the former Smokey Bones. Aubuchon told the NKyTribune that Bluegrass Hospitality, the group behind Drake's, Malone's and Aqua Sushi, bought the building earlier this year and that one of its brands will open there. The company hasn't announced which one or when.
All four pipeline sites are on Mall Road, Houston Road or Turfway Road. When they open, a new coffee stop or dinner spot in Florence will most likely sit a short drive from the mall, not inside it, until the mall's owner and anchors reach a deal.
If you're planning a kitchen or closet project with the IKEA planners on Mall Road before you sell, it helps to know which upgrades buyers in Florence actually pay for. The Janell Stuckwisch Group can show you what your home is worth today and which projects make sense before you list. Get Your Home's Value.