Burdines

History of the Burdines Department Store Chain

W.M. Burdine, the Founder of Burdines

William Murrah Burdine Sr. was born on September 30, 1843, in Monroe County, Mississippi. His father, Rev. John Fletcher Burdine, was a Methodist minister who relocated from Georgia to Mississippi as a young man. His mother, Adeline McKinney, was also a native of Monroe County. On his father’s side, William descended from Huguenots of South Carolina. His great-grandfather, John F. Burdine Sr., and two of his uncles served in the Revolutionary War.

Raised on a farm in Mississippi, young William attended local country schools until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He began as a private and rose through the ranks to corporal, color guard, sergeant, and eventually second lieutenant. He served in Company B of Hardcastle’s Battalion, which later became the 49th Mississippi Regiment, and saw extensive combat throughout the war.

He fought in many of the Civil War’s major engagements, including the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. During the Atlanta Campaign, he was involved in the fighting from Dalton to Jonesboro, including actions at Kennesaw Mountain, Resaca, New Hope Church, and Jonesboro. He later joined General Hood’s campaign in Tennessee and was captured at the Battle of Franklin. As a prisoner of war, he was sent to Johnson’s Island, Ohio, where he remained until the end of the war. He was wounded twice, once at Shiloh and again at Murfreesboro.

After the war, Burdine returned to Mississippi, attended school for a term, and spent eight months teaching. He then became a clerk in a dry goods store in Verona, a position he held for ten years before transitioning into the drug business. After nine years in that field, he moved to Polk County, Florida, where he began growing oranges. However, the devastating freeze of 1895 wiped out citrus crops throughout the region, leaving the community financially crippled and forcing Burdine to close his store.

The Early Years of Burdines

Seeking a fresh start, Burdine moved to Bartow, Florida, where he entered into a partnership with Henry W. Payne in early 1897, forming Payne & Burdine. Their dry goods store carried an inventory valued at about $2,500. Later that year, Burdine bought out Payne’s interest and brought in his son, John, as a partner, changing the name of the company to W.M. Burdine and Son.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Miami was announced as a military staging area, prompting Burdine to send his son to the fledgling city with a wagon full of men’s goods to sell to the 7,500 soldiers at Camp Miami. Burdine was extremely pleased with the business he did and packed up his entire store, household belongings, and furnishings into a single freight car and moved to Miami.

He opened a store on 12th Street (East Flagler Street), a small frame shack resembling a frontier trading post stocked with work clothing, bolts of calico cloth, notions, and piece goods. When Glen C. Frissel constructed a new building, which later became home to Woolworth’s, Burdine leased space there.

In 1903, William Burdine’s son John left the firm with Eva Quarterman, a designer and seamstress at Burdine & Son, to go into business on their own. With a capital of $3,700, the firm Burdine & Quarterman opened in the Fort Dallas Building that same year. Weeks later, an ad was purchased in The Miami Metropolis, “inviting every Quarterman and Burdine customer to avail herself of the shopping and merchandising facilities of Burdine’s, from now on.” Unlike Burdines, though, this firm folded in 1927 after building a massive department store on the corner of Northeast 9th Street and Northeast 2nd Avenue.

After completing school, Burdine’s other son, Roddey Bell, joined the business. He worked as a clerk alongside his father until William Burdine died on February 1, 1911. At the time, the store had grown to have 18 employees and contained 5,000 square feet of floor space with an average yearly gross of $250,000 in sales. The firm was reorganized as W.M. Burdine’s Sons with Roddey as president, his brother William Jr. as vice-president, and Robert Freeman Burdine as secretary and treasurer.

Miami’s First Skyscraper

Shortly before the death of William Burdine, Eugene Romfh, then operating a mercantile business, purchased the Frissell Building and informed Burdine that the lease would not be renewed, as Romfh intended to occupy the space himself. Following William Burdine’s passing, negotiations began with Joseph A. McDonald to purchase a parcel of land located directly east of the Biscayne Hotel. The Burdine brothers decided to move forward with constructing a new store on the newly acquired 75-by-150-foot lot.

The new structure, estimated to cost $22,750, was completed in 1912. Standing five stories tall and built of steel and concrete, it was often referred to as Miami’s first skyscraper. It was not only the largest store in the city, but the largest south of Jacksonville. It was also the first building in Miami to have a modern electrical installation. Burdine traveled north to study department stores such as Wanamaker’s and Marshall Field’s to make his department store the most modern in the country. W.M. Burdine’s and Sons occupied the first two floors, which featured an open court on the second floor that looked down on the first. The top three floors were leased as office space.

Expansion and Growth

By 1920, the business had expanded to such an extent that a two-story annex was added on the northeast corner of Miami Avenue and Southeast First Street. In 1924, four additional stories were added to this annex, and the office floors from the original building were taken over to be used as more space for the department store. Another story was also added to bring the whole store to a uniform six stories. That same year, a two-story parking garage was added and became the first garage linked to a retail establishment.

This new building and the additions were carried out by architect Henry LaPointe. Although not as prominent as his Miami contemporaries, LaPointe’s most recognizable work is likely Casa Casuarina, better known as the Versace Mansion at 1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach.

In 1925, Burdines acquired the entire stock of merchandise from the E. B. Douglas Company, one of the oldest mercantile establishments in the city. The E. B. Douglas Company continued to operate as a holding company, owning shares in Burdines and Douglas Properties Inc. Edward Baugh Douglas, the owner of the E. B. Douglas Company, retired from business later that same year, but he remained dedicated to improving the Miami communities.

In the evening of July 2, 1925, a fire erupted inside the neighboring S. H. Kress & Company department store, although it wasn’t reported until smoke filled the streets. Even then, the fire wasn’t located until the roof was engulfed in flames. The fire caused around $100,000 in damage to the Burdines building, mostly due to the building’s fire sprinkler system. The Kress building, though, was a total loss as the entire second and third floors were destroyed, as well as all the stock in the basement, as it had completely flooded. Kress would later rebuild the building, taller than Burdines’ “skyscraper,” which had since been dwarfed by the downtown’s towers.

On September 3, 1930, Burdines purchased all of the buildings on what was referred to as the Watson block, just south of their department store annex. This included the Watson Building and an adjoining three-story warehouse. The purchase was made in anticipation of economic recovery and future growth.

The plan was to raze some of the buildings to build a parking garage designed by LaPointe to complement the Burdines Department Store. It would have also been connected to the store via a Venetian bridge that crossed over Southeast First Street. Economic conditions, though, did not improve, forcing the company to abandon this plan and instead, lease the retail and office space of the Watson Building.

In 1926, the store’s first branch opened in the Roney Plaza Hotel on Miami Beach. This location was on 23rd Street and Collins Avenue and mainly catered to tourists. The Roney Plaza Hotel was a luxury oceanfront resort known for its elegant rooms, shops, fine dining, and gardens. This store was later replaced with a larger store on Lincoln Road. In 1929, Burdines introduced “Sunshine Fashions”, a brand of clothing tailored for warm weather. Including distinctive fabrics and colors, the brand soon became the company’s trademark.

After the death of Roddey Burdine, his brother William took over as president of the company. Under his leadership, the store on Flager Street was expanded and renovated in 1938. The Biscayne Hotel was demolished to make way for the expansion.

The Burdines Flagler Street Department Store

The building was designed by architects E. L. Robertson and John R. Weber. Robertson, a local architect, had previously worked with August Geiger. His notable works include Temple Israel, the Alcazar Hotel, and the Dallas Park Apartments. Weber was a prominent department store architect from New York. The Burdines building exemplifies the Streamline Moderne style, which emerged from the Art Deco movement of the 1930s. The street-front exterior is faced with a local stone obtained from the Florida Keys. This material is of coral rock and porous, filled with white cement, colored to the desired shade, and then polished. The new building was also Miami’s first store with air-conditioning and steel escalators.

A five-story annex would later be built in 1948 across the street on the southwest corner of Miami Avenue and Flagler Street, connecting the two buildings via underground and overhead passageways. It was around this time that Burdines opened an international mail-order program that served Latin America. This resulted in a rise of popularity for the company, and military personnel stationed in Cuba would send a supply ship to Miami every 6 months with orders for Burdines.

Major Growth and Expansion Throughout Florida

In 1956, Jordan Marsh opened its first store in Miami, prompting Burdines to seek financial backing in order to stay competitive. To support its expansion, Burdines’ shareholders approved a takeover by Federated Department Stores. With the financial strength of Federated behind it, Burdines rapidly expanded throughout Florida, eventually operating 27 stores across the state.

In 1986, Canadian real estate developer Robert Campeau launched a hostile takeover of Allied Stores Corporation, the parent company of Jordan Marsh, Maas Brothers, and numerous other department store brands. Two years later, Campeau acquired Federated Department Stores as well, merging the two retail giants under his control.

However, Campeau’s aggressive expansion came at a cost. Unable to refinance the massive debt incurred from both acquisitions, Campeau filed for bankruptcy in 1991. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Jordan Marsh Florida, Maas Brothers, and Burdines were consolidated under the Burdines brand. Federated eventually emerged from bankruptcy and later merged with R.H. Macy & Co., which had also filed for bankruptcy.

During the 1990s, Burdines opened new stores at Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines, Brandon Town Center in Brandon, and Seminole Towne Center in Sanford, expanding its presence across the Miami, Tampa Bay, and Orlando metropolitan areas.

Between 1999 and 2001, the company underwent a period of major growth, adding seven new locations and extensively renovating existing stores. These renovations introduced a lighter color scheme and updated décor, including the signature palm trees they became known for. Among the most highly anticipated openings were stores at the expanded Florida Mall in Orlando and Aventura Mall in Aventura. Additional stores debuted alongside the openings of new shopping centers, including Citrus Park Town Center in Citrus Park and The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington.

The End of Burdines

On January 30, 2004, Burdines was rebranded as Burdines-Macy’s, and just a year later, the Burdines name was retired entirely.

The former flagship store in downtown Miami continued to operate under the Macy’s name until it was closed in 2018 as part of a nationwide restructuring. In August 2019, it was announced that a construction permit had been finalized for a new Ross Dress for Less store within the building, occupying a portion of the former Burdines space. Much of the remaining structure remains vacant.

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