Ah, the bustling commerce, and traffic, in the triangle that sits neatly at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike, Front Street, and East Meadow Avenue. We love it; we hate it; we have shopped there for decades. One of my earliest childhood memories is watching an animated movie in the theater nestled in a corner of the shopping center, the current site of a gym. I can recall going to the bank with my passbook, a now-extinct piece of savings history, and depositing rolls of coins. Who can forget the one-hour photo booth in the middle of the parking lot or the neat little police booth nearby?
Prior to becoming back-to-back shopping centers, the "triangle" was an elaborate agricultural operation. In 1927, Otto Muller Florist began operating on the land. One of his workers, Kurt Weiss, subsequently married his daughter Lena in 1934. Together, Weiss and Muller worked the land, purchased additional plots nearby, and expanded the business to an impressive 23 acres. In 1960, the business became known as Kurt Weiss Florist and a home was built at the corner of Front Street and East Meadow Avenue. After Kurt's son Russell took over the business and moved it to Center Moriches, the property converted to the current shopping plazas. All the old buildings were demolished in April 1968. The Weiss family retained the northern part of the property facing Hempstead Turnpike, which was sold for $25.6 million in 2007.
In 1970, when the northern property at 1900 Hempstead Turnpike was developed, property records show 24 businesses (from east to west): AMP Savings Bank, Shir Center, Shoe Town, Paul Stewart, sport wear, men's shop, record shop, theater, professional suites, dress store, corset shop, hair dresser, barber, hosiery, bakery, pizza, VAC, fabric, stationary, Allied Radio, repair, travel agency, scalp shop, and Magnavox. Some of the same types of businesses are there today, even in the same locations! A later business, Penrod's, was the first major dance club on Long Island during the height of the disco craze. Penrod's later became Zachary's Nightclub.