There was once a time when downtown Jacksonville was considered a premier shopping destination. Small shops and massive department stores lined its streets, often flanked by theatres or restaurants. Shoppers routinely walked from store to store and through Hemming Park, which served as somewhat of a center court for all of the activity.
Those days are long gone at this point, unfortunately, with many of the buildings that housed those stores having been demolished years ago. But many of the city’s longtime residents have fond memories of shopping downtown as children, before the days of shopping malls and suburban sprawl.
We’ve highlighted several of the grand department stores from downtown Jacksonville’s shopping era below, as a way of reminding present-day Jax residents how active downtown once was – and why we should fight to make it a hub of activity once again.
Founded in 1900 in Charlotte by Joseph B. Ivey, the Ivey’s department store chain made its way to downtown Jacksonville in 1962. It opened that year in a new, six-story building at Laura and Church streets; it was built in conjunction with a high-rise office building next door.
Ivey’s featured five floors of departments with a top floor dedicated to warehouse space. It also had a restaurant and a prayer room inside its unique building, which featured surprisingly few windows.
Ivey’s met its fate around the same time as the other downtown department stores, closing in 1985. The chain was later purchased by, and merged into, Dillard’s.
Its former building now serves as JEA’s customer center.
Comments 4