Remembering Furchgott's Department Store

[Keith-N-Jax]

What a pitty that Post office building is not still around. What a gem that was.

[stjr]

Furchgott's was top drawer.  My grandmother's favorite store.  And, all the help not only knew her, they knew her shopping preferences.  You could call them and they had your order ready before you arrived.  Alas, those brass elevators run by many of the same lady operators for decades - everyone knew them as well.  Ahhhh.... the days of personal service by help that never turned over, just retired from a job.  Gone forever.

Add to your list of venerable downtown stores that mostly survived into the 70's to mid-80's: the Luggage Shop, F. W. Woolworths, JC Penneys, Sears Roebuck, Gus's Shoe Repair, Jake's Newstand, that orange juice stand (name escapes me at the moment), Sunshine Stamp & Coin, Paulus (?) Music, Underwoods and Jacobs Jewelers, May Cohens, even the Downtown post office (old Federal courthouse's ground floor).  One of the oldest remaining businesses often overlooked is Pete's Pawn Shop, now known as Fox Jewelry and Loan, on Bay Street near the Federal Building.

[mtraininjax]

What a pitty that Post office building is not still around. What a gem that was.

+1

[Timkin]

It is imperative that we hang on to what remains.  And in future building designs, possibly incorporate some of the beautiful examples that have been destroyed.

[urbaknight]

It is imperative that we hang on to what remains.  And in future building designs, possibly incorporate some of the beautiful examples that have been destroyed.

I hope so too.

[MajorCordite]

Ocklawaha, you are so right about the "fads" of the times.   I was at Ft. Caroline Junior High School in the mid 1960's and it was a big deal if you got something from Furchgotts or Rosenblums.   We had to have Gant shirts with a loop on the back and scotch grain saddle loafers with a matching belt and Gold Cup socks that were either bright green, yellow or blue.   I guess you would call it the preppy look today.   Is Gus's Shoe Repair still around?  I remember going into this shop in 1978 as a college student and standing in line to pick up my shoes.  When I got to the counter I think it was Gus who asked me for my "pickup ticket."   I told him I left my ticket in my car.  He peers over his glasses, turns and points to a wall of several hundred pair of shoes and says; "Young man I have been in business 40 years and I have never had a car come in here and pickup a pair of shoes before.   Next you'll be telling me that your shoes are brown and they lace up.  Do I have time to look for them?  No!  Next!"   The whole placed erupted in laughter.   

[JECJAX]

I would love to tour the old Furchgotts department store.  I remember going there as a child and even as a young adult to shop.  It was always upscale and such a nice place to shop.  A few years ago I worked on the downtown loft tour.  I'd love to see that again so people can get reaquainted with our downtown historical buildings and their possibilities.

[MajorCordite]

I remember this store when I lived in Jacksonville in the 1960's.   I also went to the grand opening of Furchgotts in the mid-1960's at Regency Square Mall.   Gant shirts were the rage, penny loafers and funky color Gold Cup socks.   

However, there was a dark side to this department store which never made the local news.  Covered up rather quickly.  A dear friend of mine's father was accidentally killed in the downtown store.  My friend's father was a long time employee and left a family to care for.  The Furchgott family never came forward nor offered any assistance.  Not right.  A shameful act committed on this poor family. 

[thelakelander]

Do you remember how your father's friend was accidentally killed?  We've been asked by History Press, a Charleston, SC-based publisher, to develop a book on a Jacksonville department store.  While Cohen Brothers will be the central store covered, I'd like for the book to give a comprehensive overview of retail in Jacksonville from the Civil War up to 2012, so Furchgott's will be included.

[Ernest Street]

Is the spiral merchandise chute still in the building?

[WmNussbaum]

During the Christmas shopping season, the corner window of Furchgott's had an animated display in it that changed each year. You know, toy trains, elves wrapping presents, flying reindeer and so on. The one in Cohen Bros. was much bigger, but both were customer draws during the season. The Cohen Bros. window was on the Duval/Hogan corner.

Levy-Wolf was the men's store successor to one of the departments in Levy's which occupied the entire building - now offices - across Adams Street from Furchgott's. It was as nice a men's store as the city had - quite comparable to the Rosenblum's store across Hogan Streeet from Furchgott's. (Neither store carried the very pricy kind of men's clothing that the present Rosenblum's does.) Even in the early 60's one could have a store account at Rosenblum's. That ended when a strange thing called BankAmericard came along. Rosenblum's was owned by three brothers, Herman, John and Sheldon, and sons of Sheldon are the owners of the two stores still around.

In Levy's, the ladies could purchase fur coats - mink, sable, etc. I'll bet you can't find such a coat for sale within 100 miles of here today. But then such fur coats are not nearly as unobjectionable today as they once were. PETA wasn't around back then.

I also can't remember the name of the OJ bar, but I'm pretty sure it was in the FT&G Building on the corner of Laura and Forsyth. FT&G = Florida Title & Guaranty. When it was torn down, the entry columns were left standing, presiding over the parking lot it became until Barnett Bank built what is now the B of A Building.

Stein Mart entered the local scene billing itself as a discounter, and that's why it was unwelcome at Regency Square. It changed for the better with the times. Not so Regency Square.

Gus & Co. still has a location downtown - on Monroe Street across from the library. The library, of course, occupies former retail spaces that once housed the Luggage Shop, LaRose Shoes, and others.

I disagree about the old post office. Today it simply would look just too out of place. The non-functional steeple (or whatever it is called) with the clock makes as much sense as the FBC lighthouse.

What I find odd is how almost all of the locally owned or controlled very large businesses have either totally disappeared or have been taken over by even larger businesses from other parts. Among them: Atlantic National Bank (the Lane family); Florida National Bank (Ed Ball, DuPonts, and Florida East Coast RR); Barnett Bank; Independent Life; Gulf Life; Peninsular Insurance Co. (And I wonder why we still have streets named after some of them - seems an outdated and no longer deserved tribute.)

And speaking of disappearing acts, does anyone understand how downtown was able to support The George Washington, Mayflower, Seminole and Robert Meyer hotels?

Back to Furchgott's: Wasn't the health club in the basement owned by Kim Alexis, former super model? Does anyone remember the distinctive bell that would sound when an elevator reached each floor?

All of that activity existed in another age I don't think we will ever see again there. It was the only place - certainly the main place in town where business was conducted and shopping took place. Restaurants thrived - Leb's, Berney's (the man in green), Morrisons - home of the sizzling' steak, Nicola's Italian (on Main Street, believe it or not).

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

[MajorCordite]

@WM Nussbaum.  You say:  "And speaking of disappearing acts, does anyone understand how downtown was able to support The George Washington, Mayflower, Seminole and Robert Meyer hotels?"

What exactly do you mean by your question?   Are you familiar with the time frame of Jacksonville during the late 1960's and 1970's? 

Let me know and I may be able to shed some light on it for you.

MajorC

[Jaxson]

@WM Nussbaum.  You say:  "And speaking of disappearing acts, does anyone understand how downtown was able to support The George Washington, Mayflower, Seminole and Robert Meyer hotels?"

What exactly do you mean by your question?   Are you familiar with the time frame of Jacksonville during the late 1960's and 1970's? 

Let me know and I may be able to shed some light on it for you.

MajorC

I agree with MajorC that understanding the success of the downtown hotels requires an understanding of the context in which they thrived and later declined.  As a major railroad hub, Jacksonville had a great number of travelers who chose to stay downtown.  Furthermore, business at these hotels was helped by the fact that downtown density afforded it with an abundance of events, conventions and nightlife.  Of course, as the railroads declined and highways expanded, lodging shifted to what was more convenient for motorists.  All of this, of course, is strictly my conjecture and could be either validated or debunked...

[WmNussbaum]

Major C and Jaxon, you are right, of course. The flight to the suburbs explains so much. Downtown was the business hub until that happened, and what it would take to make downtown vibrant again is a real riddle - though doing something to attract folks to live there is certainly a big part of the equation.

Back in the day - say the late '60s and earlier - downtown was not a long distance destination, and most everyone knew how to get there. That is not true today. A lot of folks don't really know where it is and when they get there profess to being frustrated by one-way streets that I find quite easy to navigate. But parking was a problem; not only patrons, but many employees of the stores had to park somewhere, and there wasn't much available other that on the street. And that is why the suburban mall met with such success.

Once upon a time there were movie theaters - and some quite decent ones downtown,  and the only ones in the 'burbs were mostly rink-dink or drive-ins. (Does anyone here remember drive-ins? and what you could do during a show?) Oh, those good old days really were good old days.

[Timkin]

Major C and Jaxon, you are right, of course. The flight to the suburbs explains so much. Downtown was the business hub until that happened, and what it would take to make downtown vibrant again is a real riddle - though doing something to attract folks to live there is certainly a big part of the equation.

Back in the day - say the late '60s and earlier - downtown was not a long distance destination, and most everyone knew how to get there. That is not true today. A lot of folks don't really know where it is and when they get there profess to being frustrated by one-way streets that I find quite easy to navigate. But parking was a problem; not only patrons, but many employees of the stores had to park somewhere, and there wasn't much available other that on the street. And that is why the suburban mall met with such success.

Once upon a time there were movie theaters - and some quite decent ones downtown,  and the only ones in the 'burbs were mostly rink-dink or drive-ins. (Does anyone here remember drive-ins? and what you could do during a show?) Oh, those good old days really were good old days.

Drive -Ins ..... Lets see... the Fox ,, The Midway, Playtime,  Airbase ( closed about the time I came along)  ..