This Burgert photo shows Poller’s Apparel for Women and Wolfson’s Haberdashery taken in 1931. The brand was incorporated in 1926. In the late 1940s, Oscar Poller and his wife Fanny were charged with tax evasion from their stores, and in 1949, they settled the case. In 1950, the stores closed, and the company filed for bankruptcy. Photographically, this image does not fit the mold of typical Burgert work. Unlike similar photos taken around the same time with similar subject matter, the composition is askew.  It is also missing the trademark signature ascribed to most of their work at the time.

From 1992 to 1996, Blue Chair Music opened here, giving a home to counterculture music as a record store and small concert space. Buffalo Wild Wings moved in 2012 after the building sat vacant for years. There has long been a tussle between stakeholders in Ybor City about bringing in national brands and pushing the more traditional muti-generational mom-and-pop merchants out. Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s sandwich shop started the trend, with 7-Eleven opening in 2014 in the former La Ultrimar Jewelers spot on 7th Ave.

After ten years, Buffalo Wild Wings closed in 2022, and the former Wolfson Building is now home to Southern Belle Country Bar.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved