One of the reasons I added all these old photos, ads, etc., onto my website is that our own hometown Miami Herald continually screws up time and time again regarding facts about old places and old events. They must have laid off all the old-timers to save money and brought in newcomers from up north or other countries. Lord knows how many newer residents actually believe what the Herald publishes. Today, on June 30th, in an article about how lousy downtown Miami is and Macy's pressure on the city to improve things, reporter Elaine Walker wrote:
"The company's roots in downtown Miami date back to 1898, when William Burdine opened W. M. Burdine's & Son (sic) at the southwest corner of Avenue D and 12th Street (today's Flagler Street). Macy's, which moved into the current location in 1912, has about 900 employees downtown, between the Florida corporate office and the store."
Macy's in downtown Miami since 1912? Yeah, sure Elaine, you're only off by 91 years! Burdines was bought by Federated Department Stores, now Macy's Inc., in 1956. Federated renamed the Burdine's to Burdine's-Macy's in 2003 and dropped the Burdine's name in 2005 to create a nationwide brand. 2003 minus 1912 equals 91 years.