Fort Lauderdale's first department store - Pioneer Department Store

By Jane Feehan 

Frank Stranahan’s New River trading post, opened in Fort Lauderdale in 1895, served as antecedent to the Pioneer Department Store.  Reporters established this lineage through Pioneer’s purchase of stock (or goods) of Oliver Brothers Company, a store started by Stranahan.

Pioneer,  “not merely a name but a description” was organized in 1922 or 1923 with $50,000 in capital (some reports indicate $100,000). It first operated on Brickell Avenue not far from the original trading post.

In 1925, another pioneer, Tom W. Bryan, sold a corner lot at Las Olas Boulevard and Osceola Avenue (later 1^st Avenue) to Pioneer for a reported $70,000. In August that year, Pioneer announced plans for a three-story structure on the lot with a construction price tag estimated to run nearly $112,000 (later claimed to cost $150,000). The architect listed was A. Ten Eyck of Atlanta and Miami; the builder was the Florida Building Company. Executives mentioned were Dr. J.A. Stanford, president; J.S. Hinton, vice president, and Lamar Thistlewaite, secretary/treasurer and store manager.

It was reported that thousands showed up for the opening May 13, 1926 “at the magnificent three-story, modern building.” Reporters and store executives claimed “a new epoch begins in the commercial history of Fort Lauderdale…”

The new and expanded Pioneer Department Store featured two Otis elevators, glass counter tops, mahogany fittings, five large display windows and a “Lampson Cash Tube to reach all floors.” 

About 50 employees served customers who shopped a variety of sections including men’s and boy’s wear, women’s dresses and underwear, a beauty salon (the Permanent Wave Shop), luggage, kitchenware and more.

Indeed, a new paradigm in shopping began in Fort Lauderdale—a mere 30 years after trading post days. Boom times in land sales and population growth of the 1920s drove innovation and demand right through the Great Hurricane of September 1926, months after the department store opened.

“Pioneer Department Store still stands,” their newspaper advertisements claimed less than two weeks after the storm. It was “a monument to faith built on public confidence.” By November 1926 the store was ready for Christmas sales of toys and gifts.

Pioneer weathered the hurricane but not the ensuing decline in the economy.

The store closed in 1939. By this decade there were new owners, Field and Company, with evolving plans. 

There was also new competition. Sears opened blocks away on Andrews Avenue in 1937. 

The Great Depression yet lingered. Pioneer’s claim of being “exclusive but not expensive” was not enough to keep the sales engines running.

 

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale Evening Sentinel, April 17, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Evening Sentinel, May 7, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 8, 1925

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Aug. 6, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 4, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 22, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, May 12, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, May 13, 1926

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Sept. 26, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 24, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 25, 1939

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 26, 1939

Fort Lauderdale News, July 15, 1939

Tags: Fort Lauderdale retail history, Pioneer Department Store, Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1930s, Frank Stranahan

Where Fort Lauderdale shopped in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

 

Downtown Fort Lauderdale circa 1950
Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Many remember the big department stores in Fort Lauderdale, but some smaller stores and businesses listed below may have fallen from memory. A quick and incomplete survey of where Fort Lauderdale shopped in December-March of 1950, and December of 1960 and 1970 indicates a shift from the smaller family-run businesses to the larger,  ubiquitous department stores. The chain stores gained in popularity when they migrated from shopping districts to shopping centers or plazas. 

Also listed are a few car dealerships and other businesses whose owners gained wide recognition because of signature advertising or other well-known pursuits. Complete addresses are included where they could be found. Note – these businesses serve as a snapshot in each of the years mentioned. Other businesses that some may remember but are not on this list may have operated later in the decade. Again, the list is incomplete (of course there was/is Publix, Winn Dixie, etc.) 

Las Olas Boulevard circa 1980
Florida State Archives

December-March 1950

Belk-Lindsey – (department stores) 108 S. Andrews

Bunning the Florist – South Andrews

Burdines Department Store on Andrews Avenue.

Causeway Lumber – 2701 S. Andrews Avenue

Chemist Shop – 817 E. Las Olas Boulevard

David Leonard Shoes – 716 E. Las Olas Boulevard

Duval Jewelry – 208 S. Andrews Avenue

Fort Lauderdale Lincoln Mercury - 501 S. Federal Highway

Gill Construction Company – 105 E. Las Olas Boulevard (and later hotels)

Holsum Bakery – “Home-town bakers for 37 years”

Jordan Marsh – Sunrise Shopping Center

King Oldsmobile - Sunrise Boulevard

Lauderdale Shoe Store – 224 S. Andrews Avenue

Lovett’s Food Stores – 220 N. Federal Highway

McFarlenes – (televisions) – 300 East Las Olas Boulevard

Ray Allen (men’s and boy’s fashion) – 114 E. Las Olas Boulevard

R.H. Gore Orchids – 1611 SW 9^th Avenue

Rhode’s Furniture – 203 SW First Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue – Sunrise Shopping Center

Scott’s (fashion) – Andrews and 2^nd Avenue

Sears on Andrews Avenue

Smith’s Boulevard Pharmacy - 607 E. Las Olas Boulevard

Thomas F. Gustafson - Painting and Decorating, Interior-Exterior – 822 SW 17^th Street

Watty & Son (jewelry) – 1225 E. Las Olas Boulevard

Wellens Furniture – 223 SW First Avenue

December 1960

Belk Lindsey – South Andrews Avenue

Bird Camera Shop – 617 E. Broward Boulevard

Browning King & Co. – “Attire that is tailored to suit millionaires” - 442 E. Las Olas Boulevard

Burdines – Sunrise Shopping Center

Carl’s Furniture – 808 W. Broward Boulevard

Castro Convertibles – N. Federal Highway

Dart Drugs – 114 S. Andrews Avenue

Goody Shoes – W. Broward Boulevard

Hale Piano – S. Andrews Avenue

Helmly’s – furniture and appliances – 419 S. Andrews Avenue

Ivy Shop – men’s fashion – 7 S. Andrews Avenue

Jefferson Department Stores– N. Federal Highway

Jordan Marsh – Sunrise Shopping Center

Mangurian’s - (furniture) – 3700 N. Federal Hwy

ModernAge (furniture) – Federal Highway

Pan-American Tire Co. – 3010 S. Federal Highway

Pullman’s Furniture - 738 N. Federal Highway

Saks Fifth Avenue – Sunrise Shopping Center

Sears at Searstown, Federal and Sunrise

Sterling’s (fashion for men and boys) – 27 Wall Street

Miller’s Jewelers – 201 SE First Avenue

Overbrook Music - 1001 E. Sunrise Boulevard

December 1970

Associated Carpets – 3991 N. Federal Highway

Bill Binko Chrysler Plymouth – 1750 N. Federal Highway

Burdines – Sunrise Shopping Center

Britts – Coral Ridge Shopping Center

Discount Land – furniture – 4000 N. Federal Highway

Dutch’s Appliances – 2930 N. Federal Highway

Jefferson Super Store - Federal Highway

Jordan Marsh – Sunrise Shopping Center

K-Mart – Oakland Park Boulevard

Levitz Furniture – Powerline and NW 12^th Street

Massy-Yardley Dodge – 1600 M. Federal Highway (today in Plantation)

Penny’s – Coral Ridge Shopping Center

Sears at Searstown – Federal and Sunrise

Zayre – Broward Boulevard

 Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

 

Saks Fifth Avenue 1955 - Fort Lauderdale
Florida State Archives

For more retail history, see index for "Fort Lauderdale retail history"

 

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 4, 1950

Fort Lauderdale News. March 3, 1950

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 11, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 12, 1970

Tags:  Fort Lauderdale history, History of Fort Lauderdale, About Fort Lauderdale

The Chemist Shop on Las Olas Boulevard - once "America's most unusual drugstore"

Florida State Archives/
Dept. of Commerce

 By Jane Feehan

 A quiet drug store on Las Olas served as the unofficial hub of that boulevard long before trendy restaurants and nightspots opened their doors to the beau monde of Fort Lauderdale.

Werner Betz and his wife Marge opened the Chemist Shop Nov. 19, 1956, at 817 E. Las Olas Blvd.  It wasn’t long before the drugstore and its 40-seat restaurant drew nation-wide attention. Only months after the Chemist Shop opened, industry publication Drug Topic, called it “America’s most unusual drugstore.” More on the why after some background.

Wisconsin born Betz, son of a Methodist minister and educated as an industrial engineer at Cornell University, lost his job during the depression and followed it with a successful sales career. He was living in New Jersey (some accounts say New York) when three Florida friends, Al Watson, Ed Beyhan and William Maus (a familiar name to many of us in town), convinced Betz to open a business in Fort Lauderdale. He worked at a pharmacy in New Jersey without a salary for nearly a year to become familiar with the business. It paid off.

With wheels in motion for his own business, Betz moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1955. Acquaintance Welles Squires, a designer of futuristic cars for General Motors, sketched a design for the store. Robert Jahelka served as architect for the project and brought it into reality with an Old English motif storefront and interior.

Florida State Archives/
Dept. of Commerce

 Betz approached the business with a winning philosophy: “offer more variety and a wider range of prices than any other store.” And so, he did. The Chemist Shop offered an array of difficult-to-find products: special soap for latex swimsuits, bees wax candles, French perfume, German cologne; a torsion balance to measure thickness of lipstick, soap from Spain, Egyptian pewter-washed copper, Droste chocolate from Holland; rhinestone dog collars and dog perfume. They also sold magnetic hurricane tracking charts and fresh flowers … one-stop excellence for the discerning shopper. (A Texan offered Betz a $1000 a month to oversee the development of a Chemist Shop in the Lone Star State but Betz turned it down).

Another feature of the Chemist Shop, perhaps as popular as the merchandise, was its 40-seat restaurant, Fantasy Fountain. Betz later said he often counted as many as 60 waiting to get a table. Lunch was served during most of the day until 4:30 and it could be a shrimp salad plate for $4.95, the Las Olas Sandwich (chicken, bacon, tomato and Roquefort dressing on toast) for $3.95, clam chowder for $1.25 and an array of ice cream sodas with house-made syrups. Prices were above average for the day.

Movers and shakers about town, including former Mayor Virginia Young, met at the Fountain daily. With tables set unofficially aside for power broker breakfasts, the Chemist Shop became the “hub of Las Olas Boulevard.”

Werner Betz ran the store with his brother Gerhardt until 1980. (Gerhardt purchased Gore Nursery at N.W. 9^th Ave. where his two sons, Bob and Frederick worked, another family business). In its early days, the Chemist Shop employed 29 during the season and 17 during summers.

Bernard Schuster, one of three Chemist Shop pharmacists, bought the store through a stock transaction in August 1980, making him sole owner. Werner died just months later, in October that year in North Carolina. Gerhardt Betz died January 8, 2008.

The business climate changed during the 1980s and 90s. The Las Olas Merchant Association wanted to elevate the types of stores, clientele and shopping experience on the Boulevard. Bernie and wife Virginia (Ginger) were asked to remodel the Chemist Shop and keep it open until 9 p.m. According to the Sun-Sentinel, rent was raised to $11,000 for its 6,000 square feet, making it unaffordable to operate. Bernie and Ginger closed that location in 1997. They moved the Chemist Shop to the Nations Bank Building on S.E. 3^rd Avenue where they rented 1,980 square feet. Business dropped off by half at the store and restaurant; the breakfast club moved to Café La Bonne Crepe (which remains on Las Olas).  

Bernie and Ginger sold the pharmacy in 1999 to Eckerd Corporation (a store sat nearby) where they kept Chemist Shop employees with their seniority and pay. Bernie, a Fort Lauderdale High School grad, died in 2008. I haven’t found anything more on Ginger.

The Chemist Shop, once emblematic of successful Fort Lauderdale family-owned businesses thus closed but remains fondly in the memories of many. Werner and Marge Betz, and later Bernie and Ginger Schuster, ran a unique and much-loved store, one seldom see anywhere today.  

Note: Another Chemist Shop is open on Las Olas at the 1100 block but bears no resemblance or connection to the original.

 Copyright © 2021, 2022. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 26, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, July 21, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 18, 1979

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 7, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 26, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, March 5, 1984

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 16, 1988

Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 9, 1992

Sun-Sentinel, July 23, 1997

Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 6, 1999

Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 21, 2008

Tags: Chemist Shop, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Jane Feehan

Sears story in Fort Lauderdale didn't begin with Searstown

Andrews Avenue 1939
Florida State Archives/ Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan

Sears, Roebuck and Company, founded in 1886, has had its ups and downs over the years. The largest retailer in the United States until 1989, it now occasionally announces store closings.  Fort Lauderdale residents wonder if Searstown on Federal Highway at Sunrise will be shutting its doors. Now they know. In January 2022  the landmark department store announced its closing after 66 years. 

Few know the history of Sears in Fort Lauderdale; it did not begin with Searstown.

Sears opened its first Fort Lauderdale store Jan. 7, 1937 at 101 S. Andrews Ave. Mayor Lewis Moore (in office 1937-39) officiated at the event along with Chamber of Commerce President J.D. Camp. A reported 2,000 residents “thronged” to the 19,000 sq. foot store. With plenty of product lines to choose from, the store also operated an automotive department offering free tire and battery servicing to those who purchased the products at Sears. Opening day was so busy Store Manager E.E. Carroll summoned additional help to assist at registers and in the aisles.

Sears’ business continued to expand in the growing city. In 1955 the new Searstown opened at 901 N. Federal Hwy where it entered memories of current long-time residents. The transition day between the closing of the store on South Andrews and the opening on Federal was the first business day Sears had closed in the 18 years it had been in Fort Lauderdale.

Searstown, touted as having plenty of parking--and always had--was anchor store to a collection of 15 other businesses by 1958: grocer Piggly Wiggly (second largest in the center), Billet Doux Card Shop, Stevens Bakery, Dr. Harold S. Doubleday, optometrist, Pribbles Jewelry, Searstown Beauty Salon, Chat-N-Nibble Sandwich Shop, Deluxe Barber Shop, Monty’s 5 & 10, Gift Box, Broward Drug and Surgical Supply, the Religious Shop, Dr. William Migden, physician and surgeon, and Town Properties Realty.

By 1958, Searstown was upgraded in the Sears roster of highest revenue producers to number 75 out of its top 122 stores. I wonder how it ranks today … 

Update:

Sun-Sentinel Nov 7, 2023

Denver-based Aimco announces plans to develop three mixed-use towers on the property. 

As of early 2024, the property has been cleared.

Oct. 15, 2018 national story on Sears bankruptcy filing.
 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bankruptcy-20181015-story.html

Update: Sun-Sentinel 5/14/23

Plans uncertain for closed Searstown. RK Centers has already bought/sold the property. Another developer, Aimco, has proposed tamed down version of the first: 797 apts instead of 954, three towers instead of four but city doesn't like it. Not spectacular enough. Dubbed 901 North, the new plan presents no "gravitas" as city entrance. ( JF note: Now Mayor T is worried about traffic impact. Now, he's worried. Others worry about lack of infrastructure to support it ... now they're worried). Anyway, nothing for 2023 project start. 

Searstown closed January 2022 to make way for a $400 million mixed use project of apartments (condos?), offices and retail space by RK Developers. The project is expected to begin mid 2023. Get ready for even more traffic nightmares.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-fort-lauderdale-searstown-closes-20220122-koppuu6pcjfpjakv5t2qdmmjba-story.html

Update January 2024:

Searstown completely torn down.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 6, 1937

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 7, 1937

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 10, 1958

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, History of Fort Lauderdale, Florida retail history, South Florida history, Broward County history, About Fort Lauderdale

Jane Feehan

Coral Ridge Shopping Plaza opens in Fort Lauderdale with Britts as anchor - 1962

Today: new name, new stores

By Jane Feehan

Construction plans for Coral Ridge Shopping Plaza were announced August, 1960.  James Hunt and Steve Calder, under the aegis of Coral Ridge Properties, and Jack Cantor of Miami-based Cantor Company, teamed up to develop a 33-acre track at Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway.

A 275,000 square-foot shopping center with parking for 2,500 cars opened late 1962 on the $8 million property. Its two anchor stores were JCPenney and Britts Department Store. The plaza was constructed in four sections, or covered malls and was later enclosed, giving rise to the claim it was the first airconditioned  mall in Florida. (According to some sources, Hollywood Mall, in Hollywood, FL built in 1964, is the first airconditioned mall in South Florida with a major department store; another source claims Lauderderhill Mall, opened in 1966 on N. State Road 7, was the first enclosed, air-conditioned mall built in the southern United States; by then the Coral Ridge Plaza was already enclosed and airconditioned.)

Britts opened Nov. 8, 1962. It was owned by the JJ Newberry Company, which had been known as a five-and-dime retailer in its early days. The first Britts was built in Fort Lauderdale. Newberry chose the name out of 200 suggestions. In 1928, the company had taken over a chain of Britts dime stores in the Pacific Northwest. Newberry wanted a name that was short and easy to remember for its more upscale department store; Britts it was.

The 165,000 square-foot store had 204 departments on two floors. They sold televisions, gourmet food, and home services such as decorating, roof painting and landscaping. Britts also had an art gallery – and a fur salon with items ranging in sale from $159 to $1,600. They also offered cold 

storage for furs, a service my mother used during the humid off season.  A hearing aid center also drew shoppers. One of its biggest attractions was a great cafeteria with a cocktail lounge. Those who grew up in Fort Lauderdale during the 1960s may also remember a promotional visit by Michael Landon, Little Joe Cartwright of the TV show, Bonanza.  He patiently signed hundreds of autographs that day at Britts.

Three additional Britts stores opened in Lauderdale Lakes, Palm Beach Lakes, and Winter Haven. By the late 70s, JJ Newberry was acquired by McCrory Stores. McCrory’s soon entered its decline and eventually went bankrupt. Britts in Fort Lauderdale was closed during the early 80s. JBryons moved in and also met its demise. Today, Target is now the center’s most popular anchor store. Coral Ridge Shopping Center is now Coral Ridge Mall.

Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

New York Times, Aug. 24, 1960

New York Times, Nov. 9, 1962

Palm Beach Post, Nov. 21, 1978

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s, Fort Lauderdale shopping centers, Florida film researcher,  historical researcher