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Longtime Coral Gables merchant recalls Miracle Mile's midcentury heyday
Summary
A resident and longtime merchant described how his family's tailoring shop, opened after emigrating from Cuba, served corporate executives and notable customers on Miracle Mile from the 1960s through the 1970s.
A resident identified only as a longtime Coral Gables merchant recounted that his family’s tailoring business—whose roots began in Havana, Cuba—opened near Miracle Mile and served corporate and notable customers in the 1960s and 1970s.
He said his grandfather, Candido Bolado, worked as a custom tailor in Havana, and that the family left Cuba in September 1962. "My father, was in the business in Havana, Cuba because his father who was a immigrant from Spain, Candido Bolado, was a custom tailor and the business prospered and it all came to an end in 1962. So we left in September," the resident said.
The resident said his father later found work with Austin Burke before opening his own store on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, about a half-block north of Miracle Mile, and that Coral Gables proved a strong market. "By the 70s, Coral Gables started to attract multinational companies and we had Texaco, Exxon, Volvo, we would get a lot of the executives, they all wore suits every day to work," he said.
He recounted a range of customers and local retail competition. "Probably 1 of the most interesting customers that we had, his name was Forrest Mars. He was the founder of the Mars candy company and and a billionaire," the resident said, and added that football player Franco Harris attended a Super Bowl-related event in the area "I think it was" in 1976. He also listed several apparel shops that were on Miracle Mile in the 1970s, saying the corridor was then "the place to buy apparel."
The speaker said the family business remained part of the neighborhood for decades. He closed his remarks by saying he had worked 50 years in Coral Gables and was "so happy to have been a part of it."
