Historical Spotlight: Burdines Department Store

Starting a business is one sure-fire way of securing economic stability. During Jim Crow, Black Americans were forced to get creative with how they sustained themselves especially since most lucrative jobs were reserved for white workers. They also had to work twice as hard to get half as far since, culturally, they didn’t have the luxury of passing along generational wealth. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on the Burdines Store, a successful Black American owned department store in Miami.

In 1897, Henry Payne and William M. Burdine opened a dry goods store in Bartow, Florida. A year later, Henry decided to move on from the venture, so William brought his son, John, in as a partner and renamed the business to W.M. Burdine and Son. He also bought property on South Miami Avenue and opened a second store in the burgeoning community of Miami. 

It was just two years after the first people arrived in the area from the newly completed Florida East Coast Railway to officially incorporate the city. At first, his second store was small and had only a few shelves of clothing primarily intended for construction workers, soldiers, and the local Native Americans. Business boomed and William decided to close his first store in Bartow and move his operations to Miami. It was at this time that he officially rebranded to Burdines and Sons. 

By 1912, Burdines had grown from a tiny dry goods store to a full-fledged department store and was managed by Roddy Burdine after William died in 1911. The land-boom of the 1920’s helped the store expand and open its first branch in Miami Beach. As Florida’s population expanded, Burdines grew too. Over the next thirty years, four other branches opened across the state.

D.A. Dorsey, Miami’s first Black millionaire who developed Miami’s Overtown and originally owned Fisher Island, also helped invest in Burdines during the Great Depression by lending $30,000 to keep it open. 

In the late 1940’s, Burdines opened an international mail order program that served Latin America, increasing its popularity even more. Military personnel stationed in Cuba would send a supply ship to Miami every six months with orders for the store.

Burdines was infamously nicknamed “The Florida Store”, was decorated with palm trees in the center of the store, and was painted in pink and blue. It was eventually bought out by Federated Department Stores in 1956 and with the increased financial support, was able to expand north and westward through the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was also the first department store to include auto centers beginning in 1960. 

At its height, the store had 58 locations. From 1999 to 2001, it experienced a major burst of growth after expanding into seven new locations and significantly renovating existing stores with upgraded decor. It was rebranded to the well-known Macy’s Department Store in 2005 before eventually closing in March 2018 after not being able to compete with internet sales. 

Burdines was a testament to the ingenuity, hard work, and dedication that many Black Americans had to have while being discriminated against simply because of their skin tone. The jobs created and resources provided helped the local community when there weren’t many other options available. 

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Signed, 

Jessica Marie