Burdines
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Burdines was a leading department store chain in the state of Florida that was part of Federated Department Stores, Inc. It mainly attracted middle and lower-middle class people though sometimes even some of the upper-middle class. The stores were usually decorated with pink walls, blue ceilings with streaks of clouds, and large plastic palm trees circling the center of the store. These icons still remain in the stores which are now Macy's for nostalgia purposes and symbolize the new Macy's Florida division.
History
Beginning
William M. Burdine opened his first W.M. Burdine & Son store in 1898 in the fledgling community of Miami, just two years after the first passengers had stepped off the newly completed Florida East Coast Railroad to incorporate the city. His tiny store held only a few shelves of clothing, which he sold to construction workers, soldiers from the Spanish-American War and the local Miccosukee and Seminole Native Americans.By 1912, Burdines had grown into a full-fledged department store and continued expanding. The large land-boom of the 1920s helped the store launch its first branch in Miami Beach. As Florida's soared, growth of Burdines did, too. Over the next 30 years, four other branches opened across the state of Florida.
Burdines prospered late 1940s by opening an international mail order program that serviced the countries of Latin American. These actions made it become so popular that military personal stationed in Cuba would send a supply ship to Miami every 6 months with orders for Burdines.
Merge With Federated
In 1956, Burdines merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc. The support given by them allowed Burdines to push northward and westward in the 70s and 80s. They entered the markets of Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and many more. The Dadeland store in Miami became the largest volume suburban department store south of New York in 1971.In 1991, following Federated's merger with the Allied Stores Corporation, Burdines absorbed Allied's Tampa-based Maas Brothers and the in-state operations of Jordan Marsh converting all stores to the Burdines nameplate. After this, there were 58 stores in Florida.
Celebrating its 100th year of operation in 1998, Burdines sold pitchers made customely by The Homer Laughlin China Company. The pitcher holds 67.5 ounces of liquid and stands 7 inches tall.
2000s
In 1999 and 2000, Burdines experienced major growth with seven new locations and major renovations of their current stores. These new stores were unique with more lighter colors and upgraded decor. The most anticipated stores that opened were in The Florida Mall in Orlando, Aventura Mall in Aventura (a suburb of Miami), Citrus Park Mall in Tampa, Oviedo Marketplace in Oviedo (a suburb of Orlando), and The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington (a suburb of West Palm Beach).Burdines then tried another new layout to test convenience at St. Petersburg's Tyrone Square Mall. The store used a central checkout system that was expected to be more popular among shoppers since they would only need a cashier once before leaving. The design however failed since an employee had to manually apply a coded sticker (identifying who made the sale) to the price tag of each item before customers left the store. Burdines then quickly abandoned this plan and resumed with traditional cashier layouts.
The company donated $75,000 to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund on August 9, 2002. The Fund provided education assistance to the families of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack victims. Tim Adams, Burdines chairman and CEO presented the check to J. Stephen Putnam, board member and former chairman of the Fund’s parent organization, Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of AmericaSM (CSFA).
Macy's
In 2004 under the direction of Federated Department Stores, Inc, Burdines stores became Burdines-Macy's. On March 6, 2005, all store nameplates were converted to Macy's. Though many Floridians wanted more Macy's, they didn't expect the popular Burdines chain to disappear. This angered many of them who later boycotted.
External links
- [History of Federated Department Stores including Burdines.]
- [Article on Burdines and other department stores that are defunct and why.]
- [Article on the newer style of Burdines stores.]
- [Old news on Burdines layoffs during the stock market crash of 1987.]
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