Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
The business
Iconic Swap Shop is likely to survive its founder’s death.
For Preston Henn, the Swap Shop flea markets and his drive-in movie theaters were his tickets to wealth: He reaped millions from his three operations in Lauderhill, Lake Worth and Tampa.
But in the wake of his death, what will happen to the destinations for bargain hunters, families looking for affordable entertainment and tourists seeking the unique and unusual?
Henn, 86, died Sunday following a colorful life as a race car driver, entertainment promoter and retail entrepreneur.
The iconic Swap Shop near Fort Lauderdale, which the TripAdvisor site names as the 14th largest shopping tourist attraction in Broward County, and related operations, isn’t likely to disappear any time soon.
Henn’s wife, Betty, who operated the Swap Shop alongside her husband, is in good health, said Fort Lauderdale attorney Bruce Rogow, a family friend.
“She is central to the operation of the Swap Shop,” Rogow said Monday.
The Swap Shop is bequeathed to the family with one condition, Preston Henn told the Sun Sentinel in 2013: “They have to keep it for 20 years — it’s in the will.”
The couple have four living children who could continue the business. A 49-year-old daughter, Bonnie Henn Ryan of Lighthouse Point, died in 2006.
A woman who identified herself as the bookkeeper for the Swap Shop said the Henn children “are now involved” with the business. She said none was available Monday to talk about the future of the business.
In 2014, the Swap Shop’s state corporate filings listed eight corporations and four limited liability corporations under the Swap Shop umbrella. Besides the Swap Shop, they included two investment companies, a dealership, two theater management companies, motel, leasing company, private Gulfstream jet charter business and Swap Shop management company.
Betty Henn is the only officer listed in the 2017 corporate records.
Melissa Dunn, president of the Lauderhill Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the Swap Shop is an “important destination” for the city. She said Caribbean families who live in and around Lauderhill frequent the complex.
“I know friends who would go one Sunday a month,” said Dunn, who said she buys fresh fruit there.
On one occasion she said she went to a vendor to get her broken cell phone screen fixed. “It was fixed for $70 — you can’t beat it,” she said.
Elijah Wooten, economic development director for the city of Lauderhill, said the Swap Shop is a “great resource for the city, bringing in visitors and guests. It pulls in people looking for good deals and budding entrepreneurs who want to sell their own items.”
The Swap Shop in Lauderhill began operations in 1963 as the Thunderbird Drive-In Theater, with just one movie screen. As sales increased, the Henns added more movie screens and more vendors. There are now 11 movie screens, providing a popular destination for high-school dates through the years.
The main building was opened in 1979 and in 1988 was enclosed and air-conditioned. The Swap Shop began staging regular concerts and added a carnival and video-game arcade. Some movie screens in Lauderhill were damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
The business is now a 180,000-square-foot complex with some 2,000 vendors, a drive-in movie theater and other entertainment, and restaurants. Inside the main building and in adjacent stalls, retail vendors sell shoes, clothing, electronics and graphic arts and photo services.
In the middle of it all is a stage for live entertainment and a car display featuring some of Preston Henn’s prized automobiles.
Outside, a thriving farmers market offers customers an array of fruits and vegetables.
In outlying buildings, car owners can buy tires and fancy wheel hubs
“People are looking for authentic experiences in the area.” Elijah Wooten, economic development director for the city of Lauderhill
and get their windows tinted.
Swap Shop claims more than 12 million visitors a year on its website. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau couldn’t be reached Monday to confirm that figure.
Wooten said he hoped the property won’t be converted into a more traditional retail environment. “People are looking for authentic experiences in the area. You don’t find that elsewhere in South Florida,” he said.
But given the severe shortage of available land in Broward, the Henns would not have any trouble selling the property, commercial real estate executives say.
The property has an appraised value of $36.2 million, according to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s office.
Jonathan Kingsley, senior vice president of the Colliers International real estate firm, said the land along West Sunrise Boulevard east of Florida’s Turnpike would be perfect for an industrial use.
In recent years, demand has intensified for warehouse and distribution space among e-commerce suppliers as more consumers prefer online shopping to brick-and-mortar retail stores.
“If there has been a high demand for one product type in South Florida, it is for industrial,” Kingsley said. “That would make a lot of sense on that site.”
Peter Reed, a principal at Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton, said the location is ideal for homes, town homes, apartments or some combination of those uses. Retail and restaurants also would be a good fit there.
“It would be coveted by most every developer,” said Reed. “It would be highly sought-after, a treasure, even.”