The aroma was heavenly.
Anyone driving on U.S. 1 in South Miami could roll down the car window and take in the scent of freshly baking bread.
For decades, the Holsum bakery was a landmark on South Dixie Highway, between Miami and Coral Gables. Not only by sight, but by smell.
Then the bakery moved to industrial Medley. The buildings were razed. A mall complex called the Bakery Center rose on the site. Then came another version of the Bakery Center. Then that was demolished and another mall took its place, the Shops at Sunset Place.
Now that mall is foundering.
The current version of the mall, struggling even before the pandemic, was just sold, putting in jeopardy plans to redevelop the site with a tower and a more street-friendly shopping complex.
Malls aside, let’s look back at when the site was a simple bakery that turned into a Florida institution. The Miami Herald archives will now take us back in time.
If you lived, worked or visited South Miami between the 1930s and the early 1980s, you probably remember the smell.
Everyone remembers the smell.
It drifted aimlessly through the streets, greeting everyone in its path. It was sweet, warm and inviting and everyone knew where it came from - the Holsum Bakery company.
Charles Fuchs Jr. founded Holsum Bakers in 1912 in Homestead.
The bread business grew quickly and within a few years, Fuchs needed a larger space to keep up with the demand for fresh baked goods.
Holsum Bakery came to South Miami in the mid 1930s, expanding from its headquarters in Homestead into the building of the original Riviera Theater on South Dixie Highway and Southwest 58th Avenue.
The movie theater had a short life. It was built during the real estate boom of the 1920s and closed a few years later when the boom bottomed out.
After several months of renovation, the business of baking got underway and Holsum opened its doors and ovens.
The bakery and its building became a South Miami landmark, eventually expanding down U.S. 1 to Sunset Drive and covering 10 acres of land.
It was an impressive structure with high beams, arched doorways and ornate painting.
Gigi Turkel of Miami Shores grew up in Coral Gables and remembers the building took on a special glow during the holidays.
“As a kid, I remember driving down U.S. 1 and seeing the building; it almost looked like a stage, completely decorated with characters and lights - it almost looked like Disney World.”
Over the years, business continued to grow for Holsum and by the early 1980s the company was making plans to move to a larger, more modern plant in Medley.
By 1983, after 50 years in South Miami, Holsum’s ovens went cold and the bulldozers moved in to make way for a multimillion dollar office and commercial development called the Bakery Centre.
There was no bakery at the Bakery Centre when it opened in 1986.
In fact, there was little business going on at all and within a few years the owner defaulted on loans and a new set of developers stepped in to unveil a new project with shops, restaurants and a movie theater.
In 1999, The Shops at Sunset Place debuted.
Even though the bakery has been gone from South Miami for nearly 20 years, some people say the smell still lingers.
DeLisser sums it up this way:
“You knew the building wasn’t there, but you were so in tune to expect the smell of bread, it’s like you just reverted back. I remember thinking: ‘So what is South Miami going to smell like now?’”