The Square

I know everyone is ranting around all disgruntled and grumpy about how the are renovating the property and kicking out old tenants… but I for one am super stoked to see the reboot of the property and new life breathed into the location.
So far Pies and Pints, Urban Outfitters, and the soon to open Tony’s are all that have really taken shape here… but it certainly is better than the old nasty places that occupied the slots prior. Now it’s obvious the interior corridors are in drastic need of renovation as well but I understand that you can’t spend the same dollar twice when it comes to construction and that the outside deserved the reboot first.
I welcome the addition of downtown shopping and an actual city center. Hopefully those who oppose downtown renovations will eventually come to their senses.

First, a history lesson. This place was once billed as «Lexington’s 100 year old mall.» You see, there was a block of buildings put up on that site in the 1880’s, and those brick buildings were very classically Victorian in style.
As an urban renewal project in the 1980’s, when malls were very much in fashion, they gutted and heavily renovated them, preserving much of the original façade and outer walls to create an upscale shopping mall called «Victorian Square». The place was HEAVILY hyped in mid 1980’s Kentucky, with lots of TV ads, and marketed as an upscale destination for dining and shopping.
It was filled with art galleries and jewelry stores and all kinds of pricey boutiques. The décor was meant to emphasize the feel of the gentry going shopping in Victorian England.
However, like several other attempts at bringing a big «destination» shopping center to downtown Lexington (Festival Market and Centerpointe come to mind), Victorian Square flopped. There just wasn’t enough traffic for businesses to support the high rent they charged (I dated a girl in college who helped run a store there for a while around 2000 and 2001, the rent was apparently astronomical and despite the store doing moderately decent business, they couldn’t afford to stay open).
They used to have a bona-​fide mom & pop old time drugstore called Hutchinson’s on the corner (complete with vintage soda fountain), where the 3^rd Saul Good location in Lexington is now located. However, high rent, combined with increasing paperwork load from the DEA that was hard for a non-​chain place to keep up with put them out of business a few years ago.
When Rick Pitino was the UK Basketball coach, he was co-​proprietor of an Italian restaurant called «Bravo Pitino’s» in the big open courtyard area in the middle of the mall that now sits empty. He got out of the restaurant business before he left Lexington, apparently it wasn’t very profitable, even with his celebrity name attached.
It’s withered and faded over the decades until DeSha’s, the restaurant that had been the anchor of the place was evicted a little over a year ago because they couldn’t pay the rent anymore. The place is practically a ghost town inside, only a handful of stores, and most of the time even they seem vacant like the lights are on but nobody is in them and just somehow people forgot to close them down.
They’ve attempted to revitalize the place by rebranding it from «Victorian Square» to «The Square» and trying to go with a more modern look for the logos and promotions, but that’s like putting a fresh coat of paint on the Titanic. If you walk through the place it’s still a ghost town.
I’ll give it a second star for Saul Good, and for the fact that it serves as a pedway connection which helps link the downtown together, and for the fact I have some measure of hope that some of the new places going in may give it some future life.
That said, it’s nothing to go out of your way to enjoy.

The Square is a great place to shop and eat. It’s a ture Lexington Landmark. I high suggest that you go check it out if this is your first time to Lexington!

This place is now called The Square. I’m not too sure that I like the way it’s changing. I haven’t quite decided, but I will tell you that the upper levels are like a ghost town and basically a waste of time. Once they put some shops in those spots, then it might be worth while to update my review and to recommend this place again.
I’m not digging the new Urban Outfitters, even despite the fact that I hated DeShas. I am looking forward to Pies and Pints that should be opening quite soon. Saul Goods is the only reason that I’d give The Square a second star.

I had a day to explore Lexington and I decided to stop by this area. This attracted my eyes because it was a block of buildings that looked very out of place. the architecture of this place is unique. I wanted to explore but it was a Sunday and the shops were mostly closed already.
It is a small shopping area but I didn’t see any shops that I would have wanted to check out. I think this is more for the older crowds and not made for young adults.

A very beautiful block of buildings that seems to be under construction just at the moment and is about 80% empty. The third floor was the Explorium (?) museum, which we didn’t visit, and there were a few shops on the first floor, but everything else was a ghost town. Lovely atrium, though, and you can walk over a skywalk to the mall on the other side

Victoria Square just so happens to be one of my favorite places in Lexington. There’s food. There’s shopping. There’s the pedestrian pathway through downtown Lexington.
This building is an amalgamation of older buildings – bridged together via some clever architectural planning. The details of the interior are reminiscent of fancy upscale arcades (like Grove Arcade in Asheville, NC) where metal fixtures, fancy tiling and retail space combine for an aesthetic appeal unmatched in Lexington.
But the best part of this shopping center is the indoor courtyard. It’s open to all the floors, and it preserves the exterior brick feel well. The balconies and skylights only serve to enhance the feeling that you’re in a movie set or Disney World. The appealing geometry of the courtyard is what keeps me coming back.
Walk the pedway. Hit the shops, then relax in the Victoria Square courtyard. This place is truly a hidden gem in Lexington’s downtown.

We walked around Victorian Square as part of a photoshoot while visiting Lexington. This is a beautiful area, with a lot of atmosphere thanks to the older buildings that have been blended into a shopping center, but I can’t help but be sad at all of the closed up businesses and restaurants. A setting this beautiful deserves a better fate.

Great little set of shops in Lexington. Don’t plan on stores being open on a Sunday.

As per the Victorian Square website:
«VICTORIAN SQUARE has been at the heart of Lexington’s downtown since the 1880’s. The block of sixteen buildings has housed, among other things, saloons, hotels, restaurants and an opera house. In 1985 a modern renovation brought them all together under one roof, creating an airy and accessible space that is best observed from the central courtyard. The decorative metal ceilings, ironwork and exterior balconies from these establishments have been preserved wherever possible. The result is a perfect blend of historical architecture and modern comfort that is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.»
*Except*
Yeah, it is pretty and very Victorian in style, I will give it that. But it was as dead and uninteresting as a tomb when we were there around lunchtime on a Wednesday. Even the Cosi sandwich shop was closed! There are three floors, and while the attempt had been made to be open and airy inside, the result was still dim and cold. The first floor had some shops, including an art gallery and a ladies’ accessory shop, but as you went higher, the more empty spaces prevailed. The second floor had a Kentucky gift store (which was pretty lame) and then the rest was devoted to some kind of kid themed activity center or a day care. We didn’t even bother with the third floor.
People of Lexington — you might want to consider revamping this space in some way if you are going to keep listing it in your tourist pamphlets and brochures. I am glad we didn’t make a special trip here because it was pretty disappointing.