Gateway Shopping Center: Fort Lauderdale's first shopping center ... would alleviate downtown traffic

2023

By Jane Feehan 

Fort Lauderdale announced its first shopping center in 1949. The Fort Lauderdale News reported that a “syndicate” of businessmen from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, joined by a local group headed by Richard Combes, purchased 20 acres at 10^th Street (today Sunrise Boulevard) and Federal Highway. It was the site of the closed Clyde Beatty Jungle Zoo, where lions had been raised in a pit.* After closing in 1945, the site had become an eyesore at the “very entrance to Fort Lauderdale.”

Gateway Shopping Center would not only replace the eyesore but was also expected to relieve traffic downtown (hard to believe given today’s downtown development and gridlock). A self-contained community was envisioned for the property, with shopping, hotel, apartments and private homes—similar to today’s pedestrian-friendly plans. 

The forward-thinking architect was Clinton Gamble and Associates, a big name in Fort Lauderdale’s mid-century development projects. An idea for basement parking in the old lion pit was mentioned in news accounts but the finished center came with surface parking for 350 cars.

Two buildings were completed and then leased by Gateway Properties (or Gateway Realty) headed by Arthur W. Dickson, president. T.R. “Bud” Starr**,  a former advertising executive from Pittsburgh was tapped as sales manager; he was a key player in naming and  launching the shopping center and Gateway Theater.  Leases for the shopping center were advertised for $100-$150 per front foot.

By 1951, the center, advertised as “Fort Lauderdale’s newest, most convenient and friendliest shopping center “ housed a collection of businesses including Kim’s Alley Bar (still there), Gateway Liquors, Carl’s Market, Melody Lane (cocktails), and Olwell Travel. Another building of 15,688 sf was added in 1958. Between 1951-1959, Gateway businesses included:

• Carrie Cain Young fashions
• Gateway Dress Shop
• Gateway Natural Foods
• Gateway Toy and Hobby
• Gateway Men’s Wear
• Gateway Marine and Tackle
• Georgette Vermont Dressmaking Salon
• Kingham’s Perfumes
• O'Brien Hardware
• Shoe Box
• Smith’s Drugstores (formerly on Las Olas)

Food Fair eventually replaced Carl’s Market and left before 1980. Shopping centers in Fort Lauderdale (and across the nation) sprang up during the l950s and especially the 1960s. The Sunrise Shopping Center (later the Galleria) opened in 1954, a few blocks from Gateway. As the city grew so did problems for the Gateway Shopping Center. It never seemed to lose customers, just its luster. Headlines turned negative in 1979 and 1980.

Two firebombs were thrown at Top Banana, a headshop, in 1979—allegedly by a competitor. In 1980, 18-year-old Texas native Jeanette Rogers was found strangled in a Gateway Shopping Center utility room. In 1982, a “gushing gas leak” near Gateway prompted the evacuation of 1,500 people in the center and throughout its surrounds. A paving company working on the Middle River Bridge hit an unmarked pipe below Gateway. A cloud of gas could be seen rising above the center. No one was injured in the hours-long incident.

Also affecting the center was traffic, the very thing it was once lauded for alleviating. Additionally, Gateway was owned by six to 11 absentee landlords over the years. The center needed a facelift, and it was difficult to get approvals and payment for renovations. One solution was the formation of the Victoria Park Merchants Association who assumed management of the Gateway Shopping Center during the late 1990s or early in 2000 (a current merchant said it’s now the Gateway Merchants Association).

Over the decades, merchants have come and gone such as Nathan’s Game Room, Clothes Encounters, Animal House Pet Supplies, Sukhothai (closed in 2015), and Tipico Café, which closed during the fall of 2022 because of a steep rent increase. Some have left because of personal circumstances, or failing business, but in most cases tenants left when faced with extreme rent increases. A whopping rent increase also prompted Monster Subs’ exit after a nearly 20-year run. Popular vintage shop Jezebel left early 2023. 

Native Realty, a new owner of part or all of the center (status unclear by request) came in during the fall of 2022 and raised rents. Some merchants remain in limbo because not much has been shared with them about ownership changes..

One merchant in limbo is Joseph Aminov, owner of the Shoe Doctor & Leather Spa at Gateway (BestShoeDoctor.com). Aminov came to New York City in 1989 from the Soviet Union (now Russia) with two suitcases and a family trade he elevated to  artisan’s craft with what he learned in Italy—custom leatherworks and shoe repair.

“I had 16 stores in New York,” said Aminov about his 22 years of entrepreneurship in the Big Apple.

He and family moved to South Florida in 2011 where he’s grown his business—and reputation—at Gateway Shopping Center with his craftsmanship (I‘m one of his many happy customers). Aminov is enterprising. He'd like to buy commercial property. The Shoe Doctor space is currently on a month-to-month lease because of potential landlord changes. Aminov recently tried to buy the section of Gateway his store operates in but the landlord backed out of the deal. The leather craftsman leases two other spaces, one with a 15-year term...but no storefront.

Uncertainty and rents increased during the summer of 2022 when Native Realty arrived. They reportedly represent a new buyer or are possibly the new owner of a section of Gateway. The realty company opened an office in the southwest corner of the center and claims to be owner of some of the space, including that of the Jezebel shop.

Shoe Doctor interior and
 collection of leather 

“Rents in the center have gone up about 40 percent,” said Aminov and “people are mad.”

As of April 24, 2023, one space left for lease by Native Realty: “2,400 sq. ft for $45/per SF/YR.”***

Meanwhile, let’s hope Gateway Shopping Center doesn’t fall to developers. That doesn’t seem imminent, but if  it does, they may have to get approval from residents of Victoria Park first. Stop by, parking is free and easy ... and merchants are there to please.

Additional photos below.

 *For more on the lions and Clyde Beatty’s zoo, use this blog's search box 

 **For more on Gateway Theater and Bud Starr, use blog search box

 ***For available space details, see:  Commercial Search

Below: some sections getting flashy new paint and murals; others remain the same. The Tipico sign remains but a new restaurant will soon open at the site.

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 30, 1948

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 29, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 26, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 15, 1951

Fort Lauderdale News, June 24, 1959

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 3, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, March 7, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 9, 1982

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 31, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, May 22, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, July 13, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 26, 1982

Fort Lauderdale News, July 29, 2000

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 16, 2022

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 26, 2022

 Tags: Fort Lauderdale shopping centers, Fort Lauderdale history, Gateway Shopping Center

Before Fort Lauderdale's Galleria, Sunrise Center: "One of the most magnificent in the world ..."

Sunrise Shopping Center
Florida State Archives/Erickson

By Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale gained national attention when Sunshine Shopping Center (try saying that three times - fast) opened in January, 1954. It was developed by Antioch College, which was bequeathed the property by Hugh Taylor Birch. Within a year, restaurateur and area businessman Charlie Creighton*began negotiations to buy the center.

By 1957 the $14 million development was Creighton’s and renamed Sunrise Center, drawing upscale retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue. The center soon became known as “Florida’s Fifth Avenue.”

According to the Miami News (Feb. 23, 1957), Creighton had bigger plans for the development. He announced the upcoming construction of the largest movie theater in Florida with 2,865 seats and a hotel overlooking the nearby Intracoastal. He also built a restaurant, Creighton’s, adjacent to the shopping center.

Jordan Marsh jumped into Fort Lauderdale in 1957 with plans for a $7 million, three-story department store at Sunrise Center.  Allied Stores had opened a Jordan Marsh in Miami the previous year. According to the Miami News, store executives had wanted to open in Fort Lauderdale first. “This is the place to be,” said Richard. V. Dagget, president and managing director of Jordan Marsh.

Two other stores announced their debut at the Sunrise Center that February, DePinna’s and Bramson’s. Saks Fifth Avenue expanded into larger quarters shortly after. Architectural firm Gamble, Pownall, and Gilroy designed the additional buildings and expansion to two stories, all air conditioned.  “… all tie together into one of the most magnificent shopping centers in the world,” said architect Clinton Gamble.

Creighton’s is gone, there is no longer a movie theater but the Sunrise Center evolved into today’s beautiful Galleria Mall.  *For more on Charlie Creighton and his civic contributions, see index.

  

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Antioch College, Hugh Taylor Birch, Sunrise Shopping Center, Galleria Mall, film researcher

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