The long, low building at 1102 E. Busch Blvd. was not built for gowns. It opened in 1956 as the Roller Bowl, a skating rink whose last known advertisement ran in May 1977. After that it held a church congregation, then the Antique Mall of Tampa, and by the late 1990s a bridal warehouse that described itself in its own marketing as operating out of a renovated skating rink. That history is still the most useful thing to know before driving over, because it explains the layout: one wide open floor, not a warren of small rooms.
The shop that fills it today is Truly Forever Bridal, previously Jon’s Bridal, acquired in June 2016 by Lela and Bo Haas and remodeled inside. The store bills itself as the largest bridal salon in Florida and puts its floor at roughly 10,000 square feet. Its own vendor listings describe more than 2,000 wedding gowns in stock in sizes 2 to 36, most priced between about $1,800 and $4,900. A sister boutique in Sarasota opened in August 2018.
Where prom fits in a wedding store
Prom is a department here, not the headline. Every description the store publishes leads with bridal and lists prom, homecoming, mother-of-the-bride and special occasion after it. Three prom labels are confirmed through the designers’ own retailer locators: Ashley Lauren, Jovani and La Femme. Those are all mid-to-upper-tier prom houses — beaded fitted gowns, structured ballgowns, two-piece styles — and the store does not publish prom price ranges anywhere, so ask on the phone before building a budget around it.
The practical upside of shopping prom inside a bridal salon is scale and staffing: fitting rooms and stylists are built for parties of people and for the alterations conversation. The tradeoff is that Saturdays belong to brides, and the store says its bridal customers travel in from across Florida and Georgia. A weekday visit gets more of the floor and more of a stylist’s attention. Hours also disagree across listings — Yelp shows the store closed Tuesdays, while a designer locator shows it open seven days — so call (813) 931-8991 before you make the drive.
Getting there, and who is nearby
Busch Boulevard is State Road 580. The store sits on the two-mile stretch between the I-275 interchange at Exit 50, by Sulphur Springs, and the Busch Gardens entrance off McKinley Drive. Coming from I-75, the standard approach is Fowler Avenue at Exit 265 — the University of South Florida exit — then south to Busch.
The high schools within a short drive:
- Chamberlain High School, 9401 N. Boulevard — about two miles west on the same road, on the far side of the interstate.
- Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate, 10948 N. Central Ave. — a charter high school a mile and a half north.
- King High School, 6815 N. 56th St. — roughly four miles east.
This is also a straightforward stop for families coming down from New Tampa or Temple Terrace on Fowler, and for anyone already headed to the Busch Gardens corridor. It is a commercial strip, not a mall: parking is on-site, and there is no window-shopping circuit around it.