This summer, one of Gainesville’s oldest fan shops will transform into a modern, music-thumping bar.
For 28 years, Gator Shop’s walls were lined with UF paraphernalia: T-shirts, toddler cheerleading uniforms and national championship posters from the Urban Meyer era — even tins of coffee grounds with Albert and Alberta printed on the label.
Now, it’s a bare, broken-down space that will be home to a new Midtown bar by summertime.
On March 4, the family-owned store, located on the corner of the UF Plaza at Midtown closed its doors.
The business won’t close forever, though, said Amy Ritch, a partial owner of Gator Shop. She said the family would like to reopen the shop on Archer Road or Newberry Road, but it has not found a location. The online store, gatorshop.com, will continue to do business.
J.D. Chester, owner of Munchies 420 Cafe, is subleasing the 2,100-square-foot space from the store owners. Construction on the new bar, which Chester said will be named Four Twenty, has already begun. He hopes to open it in June or July.
He said he is turning it into a “classy bar” for students.
“I always see all these girls in nice dresses and high heels walking through Midtown, and they wind up standing on tables,” Chester said. “This bar will be different.”
Managing Gator Shop became difficult after the rent increased in 2009, Ritch said.
The store is in the heart of an area that is known for its college nightlife.
“It just wasn’t feasible to sell T-shirts there anymore,” she said. “The space demands more business. A bar or a restaurant will bring that business in.”
Chester said he has been planning on opening a bar in the area for the past few months.
He has already purchased 10 frozen drink machines, so frozen alcoholic beverages like strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas will be on the drink menu.
There will also be a martini bar and an adjacent counter where beer and liquor will be served. The new establishment will also have a dance floor and a small outdoor area in front, Chester said. Patrons will be able to walk upstairs to Munchies 420 Cafe to buy food.
Since Gator Shop has been a home away from home for Ritch and her family for the past three decades, she said she wished a bar didn’t have to take its spot.
Sport success also plays into how much money the store makes.
She said business has been tough since 2008 — the last time the Gators won a national football championship.
Joe Fincher, Ritch’s father and another part owner of the store, bought Gator Shop in 1984. It was the only Gators fan shop located in Midtown. Neither Gators Plus nor the Florida Book Store existed at the time.
The store was originally located two stores north in the UF Plaza, where Pita Pit is now, but Fincher moved Gator Shop to its current location in 1986. The family has run it ever since.
Fincher’s three daughters graduated from UF. Two married football players from the 1996 national championship football team.
Loyal customers said they will miss Gator Shop and its fandom.
Gator alumni Lester and Vicky Rachel were driving through Gainesville on March 4 when they stopped in to buy some merchandise and heard the news.
“The faithful ones always get left behind,” said Lester Rachel, 40. “It’s not like Gainesville really needs another bar around here.”
Gator Shop owners said they look forward to their next chapter but will miss spending time in the store.
Every Friday and Saturday night, Ritch said, the family would take shifts sitting in the store while intoxicated students heading to and from the bars stumbled in to use the ATM.
“We called it ‘the show’,” she said. “We’ll miss watching the show.”
Contact Adrianna Paidas at apaidas@alligator.org.
Anthony Biasella holds his son, Jacob, on his shoulders as they look at discounted Gator products in Gator Shop on University Avenue.
