by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Harold Fine enjoys doing business at the Landing so much he owns three stores there.
“I do like it here,” said Fine, who has lived in Jacksonville for nearly 30 years. “It’s a nice, relaxing atmosphere, not stuffy like some of the other malls in town.”
Fine first opened Discount Pro Wear in the Landing seven years ago, a second store, Destination Jacksonville, followed three years later. In 2002, Miami Connection opened its doors.
“I don’t know how to explain it, I’ve seen a lot of businesses come and go, but we’re still here,” he said. “It’s nice to know that we’ve managed to be successful here, even though others have failed.”
So successful in fact that Fine is considering opening a fourth store.
“We’ve been thinking about it,” he said of the possible venture. “In fact we were just talking about it the other day. I’d like to open a specialty hat store, one that would carry a lot of the styles you can’t find in our other stores. I’m not sure though. We have a lot to consider.”
Fine said he isn’t concerned about finding repeat retail success. Instead, he isn’t sure he could find anyone to staff it.
“It’s actually pretty difficult to find help down here,” he said. “A lot of people still have the impression that downtown is unsafe, which isn’t true.
“Some of the girls who work for me now have no problems walking to their cars after dark. They’re completely comfortable.”
Fine said he feels comfortable enough to eventually make downtown his home.
“I live in Mandarin now, but I’d love to live down here one day,” he said. “I’ve looked around and I’ve gotten pretty close to doing it, but I’m not quite ready. It won’t be long though.”
In the meantime, Fine said he’s looking forward to the future of downtown, and more importantly, the future of the Landing.
“It’s definitely a good time to be here,” he said. “This place has the potential to be really nice if everyone is willing to come together to make it happen. I know we’re ready for it.”