South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
‘Please don’t cry’: Jezebel nears end of 33 years of funky shopping, banter
After 33 years as a beloved hub of funky style and community-building klatches in the Gateway Shopping Center in east Fort Lauderdale, kitschy shop Jezebel is set to close by the end of February.
Shopkeeper Mary Ptak says a new owner has taken over her section of the center on East Sunrise Boulevard and she believes renovations are coming that will lead to an inevitable rent increase she can’t afford.
So the 72-year-old Ptak has put everything on sale in the packed store — from cards and candles to snarky posters and furniture, even the sections of a nearly 100-year-old carousel that have hung on the wall for years.
Soon to follow will be her Coral Ridge home. Without Jezebel, she can’t afford it, Ptak said.
“Everybody is freaking out. There’s crying in here. This morning this girl started to cry and I said, ‘Please don’t cry because I’m trying not to.’ I’m really trying not to cry every minute of the day,” she said this week.
Over the years Jezebel developed a legion of fans, mostly women, who were drawn to the unique discoveries lining the shelves as well as its indefatigably upbeat proprietor.
The demise of the shop will leave a social and emotional hole in this community.
“I’m sad,” said Heather De Paolis, 51, of Fort Lauderdale. “She has the best cards, the funniest cards. But it’s Mary, too. She’s fantastic. She’s fun to come in and talk to. We’d talk about politics and religion and all that fun stuff. She’s just a good person. Every time I leave here, I’m smiling and happy.”
Plantation resident Erin Mastery, 60, acknowledged that the shopping center, which borders the 70-year-old Gateway Theater, could use some fixing up — but she hopes it retains its authenticity.
“Quirky places like Jezebel are … genuine. The place is full of surprises, things you aren’t going to find on Amazon or anyplace else, really. We can’t lose that,” she said.
Ptak agrees that her shop could use renovations. (She stopped selling expensive gowns and costumes in 2005 after rain from Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma found its way inside the store.)
She also acknowledges that selling Jezebel was a move she was probably going to make in the next couple of years. (Family back in New York have been pushing her to retire for a decade.)
And she understands that Fort Lauderdale is changing, retail is changing and people are changing. (The name-calling and door-slamming she has endured due to her mask policy has been “horrific.”)
But Ptak believes a lack of transparency by the new owners is a signal that her history in the center isn’t respected.
She said she first learned of the new ownership in December when representatives of Native Realty Co. started measuring her front windows.
“I didn’t want to go out like this. I wanted to go out on my own terms. I would have gone out over a six-month period,” Ptak said.
Native Realty, whose signs are sprinkled throughout hot corners in Flagler Village and downtown Fort Lauderdale, recently moved its offices into the southwest corner of Gateway Shopping Center.
“I know so many people that have been under the gun with them in other parts of town,” Ptak said. “It’s not like they are going to kick you out right away, but they are gonna raise the rents.”
Native Realty founder and CEO Jaime Sturgis said he will be an owner of the Jezebel space; he declined to say what other storefronts might be involved in the deal. The sale is not yet final, which has limited his ability to speak about it, he said.
Sturgis said he was contractually unable to speak with Ptak in a formal way until Tuesday, when he tried to convince her that she was making unfounded assumptions about the future.
They agreed basic improvements were needed on the property, Sturgis said, including hurricane-impact windows and doors, and roof repairs.
“We haven’t even had a conversation about rent,” Sturgis said. “The premise of the call was, like, ‘Let’s see what you need and want.’ And the response was, ‘I’ve already made a decision.’ “