Mount Dora retailer to move into iconic downtown building

Downtown Mount Dora’s most prominent intersection is about to see a positive change.  After nearly 20 years of conspicuous vacancy, Mount Dora's Mardi Gras building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Donnelly Street will soon breathe new life.  Walk in the Woods, downtown's outdoor apparel and accessories store, will relocate from their current downtown locations in October to occupy over 4,000 square feet in the New Orleans-inspired building’s ground floor.

Known for its selection of Crocs, Merril shoes, Life is Good and other outdoor apparel brands, Walk in the Woods has been a popular retailer since it opened in 2005 on downtown Mount Dora’s Fifth Avenue. In 2018, Steve and Dana Rocca purchased the store, and last year the couple expanded the business with a second store at 237 W. Third Avenue. 

The expansive new location will have ample space for the two downtown stores to be combined under one roof.  Walk in the Woods - The Outpost, as it will be called, will occupy the Mardi Gras Building’s corner space, plus all of the frontage along Fifth Avenue.

The two-story building was built in 1922, and had the ornate iron work added six decades later.  Formerly known as the The Ramsey Building, it boasts 13,592 square feet on one of the city's most prime locations.  In recent years it has undergone improvements that included the addition of an elevator, new windows and fresh paint. 

​In 1971 The Cubbyhole Corporation purchased the nondescript building and renovated its exterior to include the New Orleans-style wrought iron detailing that still adorns it today.  

In 1970, The Lamp Post restaurant opened in the building and operated until both the building and business were sold in 1991 and became Lampu, Mount Dora's first Japanese steakhouse.  

In 1993, the business sold to become Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and in 1994 it sold again to a new owner, John McKinney, who returned it to the name Lampu.

That was hardly the last transition for the historic building.  It sold again in 1996 for $1 million while it housed three restaurants:  Lampu, Juliana Restaurant, and The Sandcastle upstairs.  Reportedly, the restaurants weren't part of the new buyers' vision for the large structure.

That vision ended relatively quickly when the building transitioned again in 1997 to its current owner, Mardi Gras of Mount Dora, Inc and fetched another $1 million purchase price, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser.  

Walk in the Woods - The Output isn’t the first retailer to occupy the Mardi Gras Building.  Over the last century it was also home to stores like Stokley's Pharmacy which later became Lake View Pharmacy, Piggly Wiggly, and Sally’s Dress Shop.

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