Historic Charlotte

D. L. PHILLIPS
COMPANY
✧
Above: D. L. Phillips Company built the
Coliseum Inn to house visitors attending
events at the Charlotte Coliseum and
Ovens Auditorium, which were just across
the street.
Below: After extensive remodeling and
upfitting, the old Coliseum Inn now operates
as the Ramada Inn.
HISTORIC CHARLOTTE
146
Each year, crowds numbered in the
hundreds of thousands find their way to the
Charlotte Merchandise Mart, an Independence
Boulevard landmark. The crowds are attracted
by such blockbuster events as the Southern
Ideal Home Show and the Southern Women’s
Show. They collect holiday hints at the annual
Christmas Show and indulge their hobbies at
baseball card and model railroad shows. In
addition, the Merchandise Mart is home to
dozens of private trade shows.
The Merchandise Mart was the brainchild
of D. L. Phillips, an enterprising businessman
who was a leader in Charlotte’s rapid
development following World War II. But the
Merchandise Mart was only one of his many
accomplishments. Phillips built houses,
apartments, shopping centers, skyscrapers,
and hotels.
The company is now operated by the
family’s third generation, but its roots go back
to 1938 when Phillips, who had been the
county’s auctioneer, started building modest
homes around Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County. His specialty was affordable homes
in neighborhoods such as Chantilly and
Revolution Park.
When World War II came along, Phillips
was called on to build homes for the military
in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Later he
would build housing units at the Cherry Point
Marine Air Station, Hunter Air Force Base in
Savannah, Georgia, Myrtle Beach Air Force
Base and Charleston Air Force Base.
Phillips returned to Charlotte after the war
and directed his company through a period of
explosive growth.
In 1954 Phillips sold twenty-three acres
along Independence Boulevard to the City of
Charlotte for construction of the new coliseum
and auditorium. The location at the edge of the
city limits was considered remote at the time,
but construction of the Charlotte Coliseum
(now Independence Arena) and Ovens
Auditorium stimulated tremendous commercial
development along the busy boulevard.
Recognizing the need for a hotel near the
new coliseum, Phillips built the Coliseum Inn,
a 176-room hotel that is still owned by the
company and operated as a Ramada Inn. As
growth continued to spread out along
Independence from the coliseum, the company
built the Chantilly Shopping Center, which
spanned both sides of the boulevard, along
with two service stations and other businesses.
Success of the Chantilly Shopping Center
encouraged the company to build the
Hutchinson Shopping Center on North
Graham Street and Freedom Village on
Freedom Drive.