5 Downtown Department Stores that Don't Exist Anymore

[Metro Jacksonville]

5 Downtown Department Stores that Don't Exist Anymore



Five flagship downtown department stores that don't exist anymore.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-apr-5-downtown-department-stores-that-dont-exist-anymore

[urbanlibertarian]

I visited all of these stores as a kid.  As a current DT resident, the lack of retail DT seems to match the lack of residents nearby.  DT seems to be a place for church, special events and nightlife these days.

[ErikSetzer]

I feel like I sensed a core theme running through some of these:  Hemming Park was redone as Hemming Plaza at the same time downtown was starting to go down... and it just sealed the fate by killing off major businesses in the area.

Now Hemming Plaza seems to be a meeting place for people who have nothing better to do, including people shouting about our need to save ourselves from lakes of fire (saw one of those last week while going to Chamblin's), and downtown is trying desperately to find a way to get back to old form.

There's some irony in there...

[I-10east]

I can't solely blame Hemming Plaza's transformation for the lost of downtown stores. There were other factors that were much larger than that; Mainly being the decline of downtown cores around the country during that time. All I'm saying is DT Jax with 'Hemming Park' or not, the overall result would've still been the same.   

[finehoe]

The City had already destroyed the travel industry related business a decade earlier when it moved the connection point for Amtrak (and the other passenger trains) out of downtown in 1974. 

Was this the city's decision or Amtrak's?

[thelakelander]

I believe it was Amtrak's. The old terminal was deemed too expensive to maintain for the small amount of trains Amtrak had going into it. With that said, downtown's days as a rail center had been in a free fall since the 1950s. Thousands of people working in downtown were removed with the elimination of the surrounding freight rail terminals, associated industries/warehouses, and wharves.

[Tacachale]

I believe it was Amtrak's. The old terminal was deemed too expensive to maintain for the small amount of trains Amtrak had going into it. With that said, downtown's days as a rail center had been in a free fall since the 1950s. Thousands of people working in downtown were removed with the elimination of the surrounding freight rail terminals, associated industries/warehouses, and wharves.

Yes, it was Amtrak's decision to leave the Jacksonville Terminal. As I recall, in addition to the decline in passengers, some issue with FEC developed that forced passenger trains had to take an awkward secondary route to get to the Terminal. So when Amtrak took over, they built the current "Amshack" where they wouldn't have to deal with the problem anymore.

[thelakelander]

When did the city take over the terminal? I thought it was operated by the Jax Terminal Company?

[Tacachale]

^Yes, I didn't think the city owned the terminal until they acquired it for the convention center in 1982.