Largest Sears store in the World?

[Karl_Pilkington]

So there's this story in the Daily Record from 1959 announcing the opening of "the largest Sears, Roebuck & Company retail store in the world" described as a "multi-million dollar salute to the future of Jacksonville".  It goes on to say that Sears specifically rejected putting the store in a suburban location and chose instead to invest its faith and dollars in the heart of the city.  Local leaders hailed the store as "a monument to Jacksonville's progress, a victory for urban renewal and a symbol of a company's faith in the future of the area".

glad to see that in 2009 we're stilll talking 'urban renewal'.

[stjr]

So there's this story in the Daily Record from 1959 announcing the opening of "the largest Sears, Roebuck & Company retail store in the world" described as a "multi-million dollar salute to the future of Jacksonville".  It goes on to say that Sears specifically rejected putting the store in a suburban location and chose instead to invest its faith and dollars in the heart of the city.  Local leaders hailed the store as "a monument to Jacksonville's progress, a victory for urban renewal and a symbol of a company's faith in the future of the area".

glad to see that in 2009 we're stilll talking 'urban renewal'.

It was a beautiful store on the 4 square block parcel occupied by the Omni, its garage, surface lots, and Wachovia.  It even featured a white tablecloth restaurant, the Ribault Room, with an original Lee Adams mural on the wall as I recall.  I loved to visit that store during the holidays.  The Charter Company bought the property after the store closed thinking it would build up to a 70 story headquarters there but, alas, they went bankrupt, and the rest is history.

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, until we have a coordinated overall master plan and vision, we'll continue to talk "urban renewal."

[Wacca Pilatka]

Wasn't the convention center originally proposed for the Sears site as part of a coordinated plan with the construction of the Southern Bell and Florida National (Wachovia) buildings and the Omni?

[thelakelander]

A dose of Jacksonville journalism?  I must say, I'm skeptical that this store was the largest in the chain, when it opened in 1959.  Perhaps, it was the largest in Florida?

I'll still have to do a little more research, but here are two potential examples of stores that appear to be much larger.

Englewood Sears - Chicago (1934-1976)

In 1933, Sears announced plans to replace the aging department store with a new building. Shortly after the end of the 1933 Christmas shopping season, the store was closed and wreckers went to work demolishing the landmark building. In its place, Sears built a striking new structure desinged in the art-deco style. Sleek, crome letters spelled out "SEARS" above the store's 63rd and Halsted Street entrances. A part of the new building was occupied by a Hillman's Pure Foods store.

The seven-story Englewood Sears store remained in business until January of 1976.

http://chicago.urban-history.org/sites/d_stores/becker.htm

1934: The Becker-Ryan Building, now owned by Sears, Roebuck and Co., is closed to make way for a new, $1.5 million, block-long Sears store.

http://www.chicagoreporter.com/index.php/c/Sidebars/d/A_Brief_History_of_Englewood

Mexico City's Hidalgo Avenue Sears.  The first Sears Mexico store opened in 1947.  I can't verify the date of this store's opening (they could have taken over an older department store), but this building's architecture suggests that it may have been constructed before 1959.

[Ocklawaha]

That store WAS huge, I remember it had like 4 floors plus a basement. The peanut shop was bigger then most modern fast foods places and always smelled like heaven. It may be just Jacksonville Journalism, but then no matter where you live today, the local car dealer is the nations largest! That top photo is great lake, look above the buildings and watch the pall of smoke from the paper mills soak the whole city in a sewer water stinch.
"What's That Smell"

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

The Armpit of Florida.  That's was how we described Jacksonville, while growing up in Central Florida.

[thelakelander]

An interesting change of events.  When Sears was there, the NE corner of the property was Sears and the rest was surface parking.



Today, the old Sears is a large surface lot, while a parking garage, skyway station, Omni Hotel and an office tower has replaced the old Sears lots.

When was the Sears building demolished?

[Wacca Pilatka]

An interesting change of events.  When Sears was there, the NE corner of the property was Sears and the rest was surface parking.



Today, the old Sears is a large surface lot, while a parking garage, skyway station, Omni Hotel and an office tower has replaced the old Sears lots.

When was the Sears building demolished?

I am almost certain it was demolished in 1982.  I believe this was in preparation for the construction of a convention center on the site, before it was decided to use the train station.  The photo upthread shows the Southern Bell building (completed in '83) under construction with the Sears store still intact, but I think there's a picture in the book Old Hickory's Town from later in the construction process (steel skin going on the building) where the Sears is gone.

In the late 90s, the T-U ran a story on the mural mentioned upthread, which was somehow recovered and restored.  I believe this mentioned the 1982 demolition date.

[jeh1980]

Unfortunately, until we have a coordinated overall master plan and vision, we'll continue to talk "urban renewal."


"Unfortunately" must be MetroJacksonville's favorite word.  ::)Shameful. I'm sure we will one day get Sears back in downtown. May not be at the same place where it was, but somewhere.

[Overstreet]

....I am almost certain it was demolished in 1982.  .........In the late 90s, the T-U ran a story on the mural mentioned upthread, which was somehow recovered and restored.  I believe this mentioned the 1982 demolition date.............

That would be about right. When I got here in '85 the construction guys were still talking about the demo on that corner. Most of the store is still there. They pushed it over in the basement and buried it.

Since those pictures the Omni, the Enterprise Center, the Omni parking garage have all been built where most of the surface lots show in the picture. Some of the original surface lot left of the Sears store may have survived.

Not a store but they did have a million square foot of warehouse at Immeson for a little while.

[thelakelander]

Most of the store is still there. They pushed it over in the basement and buried it.

Wow.  I wonder how that will impact the redevelopment of that site.  All of that rubble would have to be dug up and removed.

[Overstreet]

Depends upon what they intend to place on there. Some piles can be driven through loose rubble. Some need a rock bit predrill. Some need remediation.

[stjr]

That would be about right. When I got here in '85 the construction guys were still talking about the demo on that corner. Most of the store is still there. They pushed it over in the basement and buried it.

Not a store but they did have a million square foot of warehouse at Immeson for a little while.

Overstreet, I don't recall a basement in this store.  Are you sure about that?  Also, the buildings (and the $ky-high-way station) already constructed on the site appear to overlap some portion of the footprint of the original store.  Wouldn't any issues caused by something like this have to have been already dealt with?

The Imeson Sears warehouse was the largest warehouse in Florida when it was built.  I think it's two stories at 1,000,000 sf per floor.  I recall this serving as Sears catalog export warehouse to the Caribbean and South America.  Eventually, AOL located in half the building when they came to Jax before moving out to the center they built at UNF.

[ChriswUfGator]

What building actually was Charter's headquarters, by the way? That was before my time here, but I'm curious...