The three generations at the helm of this country’s number-one retail sensation.

In the annals of retail success stories, perhaps no tale boasts as many twists and turns than the outdoor mall that started as little more than a gleam in one man’s eye. Then again, Bal Harbour Shops is no ordinary shopping center: Offering an unparalleled selection of world-renowned designers, set amid the lush tranquility of a breezy, tree-lined locale, Bal Harbour sets the standard for innovative retail destinations-indeed, according to Women’s Wear Daily, no other venue does more business per square foot than the ultra-luxe environs of Bal Harbour Shops.

You needed only to have met the three men who oversaw the center’s day-to-day operations to realize why, after 40 years, Bal Harbour Shops continues to foster a reputation as the country’s number-one retail sensation. There’s managing partner Randy Whitman, a jovial, no-nonsense type who has witnessed many changes since joining Bal Harbour Shops in 1974, and his nephew, Matthew Whitman Lazenby, the leasing partner who represents both the third generation and the company’s future. But the heart and soul of Bal Harbour Shops is easily Stanley Whitman, the visionary who founded the innovative shopping center that opened its doors 40 years ago. Though unofficially retired from running the company, Stanley, born November 15, 1918, still reported to his office each day, as his passion for the property had anything but waned.

“I come in every day because I love it,” Stanley admitted. “In real estate, you’re not supposed to have a love for a piece of property-you do that, and you get in trouble. But I do, I love this place.”

Such passion is one of the reasons Stanley Whitman has often been compared to another 20th-century visionary, Walt Disney; yet while fantasy and retail management are only tangentially related, it’s true that both men very much had one thing in common: to look at a desolate plot of land and envision magic.