Publix #38 - Pasadena Shopping Center - South Pasadena, FL

Publix #38 / Walmart Neighborhood Market #3161

6850 Gulfport Boulevard South, South Pasadena, FL - Pasadena Shopping Center

Today's post is a presentation of Pinellas County retail

     Another AFB and MFR double shot for everyone today! If you haven't seen it yet on AFB, we toured the Publixsons of South Pasadena, which opened in 2009 as a replacement for an older Publix store located across the street. Here on MFR, we'll take a look at what has become of the original South Pasadena Publix store, which dates back to the Wing Store era and remained in business for 50 years before upgrading to the larger Albertsons building. So get ready to learn more about Publix's time here in South Pasadena, our story beginning way back in 1959:

     Publix #38 opened for business on February 16, 1959, a few months before the entire shopping center celebrated its grand opening on October 1st of that year. Pasadena Shopping Center was one of the first shopping centers in this part of Pinellas County, and was notable for featuring Florida's second S.S. Kresge variety store, as well as Pinellas County's first Publix Danish Bakery (the Danish Bakery had only made its debut two years prior).

     I managed to come across this really neat aerial photo of the shopping center from its early days, and even though the newsprint image quality isn't the greatest, it's pretty easy to tell where the Publix was - those wings don't lie! S.S. Kresge a few doors to the right of the Publix, with Eckerd at the far left of the complex. Elsewhere in the complex was Morrison's Cafeteria, Fremac's Clothing Store, and an S&H Green Stamps Redemption Center (a super convenient location for one too, as Publix was a big Green Stamps distributor back in the day - you could collect your stamps at Publix and walk next door to redeem them for a fabulous gift from the catalog).

Note - the opening date for the Publix listed in this article was wrong, as another one I found from 1959 mentioned the store opened in February of that year, which matches the timeframe from when the rest of the shopping center opened too.

     During Publix's tenure at Pasadena Shopping Center, the store was remodeled a number of times, including an expansion out the left side of the building in 1989 to increase the sales floor space of the original Wing Store building. The 1989 expansion project coincided with a remodel and expansion of the shopping center itself, followed by another refresh to the plaza's facade in 2002 (which the article above was in reference to). To coincide with the 2002 refresh, Publix gave this store its final interior remodel at that time, changing out the interior to Wavy Pastel (one of the later remodels to that decor - the linked photo showing #38's bakery in 2007). Wavy Pastel was the decor this store kept until it closed in 2009.

Photo courtesy of waymarking.com

     The Publix only received minor exterior updates during the 2002 remodel, with the majority of the facade you see here a remainder of the 1989 expansion project. Being an expanded store, the reconfigured entryway was a bit strange, and almost looks like the entryway of an old Art Deco store with all the glass block that was used here.

Photo courtesy of waymarking.com

     Here's a slightly more pulled-back view showing the extent of the Publix space, along with its neighbor, the former Eckerd (now CVS, and CVS still operates in that same space today). According to the website I pulled these photos from, these photos appear to date to May 2008, only a month before the news broke that Publix was to buy 49 stores from Albertsons, including the Albertsons store across the street from here. Being almost 50 years old at the time, it made sense that Publix was looking to upgrade this store to something larger and more modern, and that old Albertsons was it. After some remodeling, Publix made the move across the street on September 17, 2009, with old #38 closing the night before on September 16th.

     From 2009 to 2013, the old Publix space sat vacant. During that time, businesses began to leave the Pasadena Shopping Center as the loss of the plaza's anchor was leading to a decrease in business, which in turn was making the city concerned that the shopping center would turn into an eyesore if nothing was done to bring a new anchor store to the complex. A local advocate (and later mayor of South Pasadena) named Dan Calabria personally reached out to Walmart to see if the company would be interested in the space for a new Neighborhood Market in 2010, and those conversations eventually grew into a commitment by Walmart to open a new store at Pasadena Shopping Center come 2013. On September 23, 2013, Walmart began a 17-week remodeling project to transform the old Publix into a new Walmart Neighborhood Market store, with the Neighborhood Market opening for business in January 2014. Walmart's new store managed to spring life back into the plaza, with multiple inquiries by businesses interested in the Pasadena Avenue corridor coming into the city after the announcement of Walmart's arrival.

     Walmart has coexisted with Publix and Winn-Dixie now since 2014, the three stores all managing to co-exist with each other on the same corner for the last decade. It's pretty rare to see 3 supermarkets on any street corner in Florida anymore, so having Florida's modern "Big 3" grocers all at this same intersection is quite the interesting sight in the 2020's!

     As you can see, Walmart did very little to the exterior of this building upon moving in. The building was repainted and new doors were installed, but otherwise Walmart left Publix's 1989 exterior mostly in-tact, as the majority of the changes happened inside the building. Leaving Publix's facade in-tact also gave us another bonus too:

     Yes, Publix's tile mural managed to survive the conversion! (Well, 80% of it did, at least).

     The tile mural is a slight variant of the typical Pati Mills "Horn of Plenty" design, with some baskets of fruit and bottles of wine depicted. I'd imagine this mural dates back to Pasadena Shopping Center's first facade remodel in the 1970's, as if a mural was installed during the 1989 remodel, it probably would have used one of Pati Mills' later local flare designs (as the horn of plenty murals were more of a 1970's/early 1980's theme). Sadly, the installation of that electrical device cost us the left-most portion of the mural, which appears to have been ripped out to install that device (however, I'm not sure if the installation of that thing was Walmart's or Publix's doing, as I've seen Publix themselves rip out portions of a mural during remodels to install relocated emergency exit doors).

     While the entry doors are Walmart's standard issue, the configuration of the doors, the glass blocks, and fancy overhead lights are left over from Publix.

     Stepping inside we find a cart storage vestibule, which is original to Publix (albeit heavily remodeled by Walmart). However, the original Publix interior remnants stop here, as when we head inside to the salesfloor...

     …we'll see that Walmart gutted the entire interior of the building to conform it to the typical early 2010's Project Impact-era plainness you'd expect from Walmart. While Walmart got better better with Neighborhood Market decor come the late 2010's with signage that at least tried to be a little more fun and inviting, the era of "Cheap Impact" was a low for Walmart in terms of design. It was also a low point for the Neighborhood Market stores as well, as Neighborhood Markets from that era were built without any service departments at all (except for a pharmacy), just like this one. Walmart designed this store to not only look cheap, but to be operated cheaply too, without all the extra operating costs that service departments bring. Much like the decor, Walmart did reverse course on the removal of service departments at Neighborhood Markets in the late 2010's as well, but brace yourselves, the store we're about to see today isn't very exciting (however, I think most of the people reading this post didn't have the highest of expectations upon seeing we'd be touring a Walmart!).

     Anyway, upon entering this store, the first department we come across is produce, located in the front right corner of the building. Since this was an expanded Publix store, the layout of it is a bit up in the air due to the unorthodox nature of those stores (and the fact I've never seen an interior photo of it besides that close-up of the bakery I linked to earlier). That photo showed the bakery had the original striped terrazzo, so that would seem to imply Publix's bakery was located on the right side of the building (which is the original Wing Store portion), and the orientation of the terrazzo stripes would also imply the bakery was on the right side wall. My guess is the right side wall was Publix's "grand aisle", with deli located in the front right corner, possibly where Walmart's produce department is now.

     Currently, the right side wall of this store is home to Walmart's lunch meats department, which occupies the first grocery aisle you see after leaving produce. The back right corner of the store is home to the "deli" department, which was nothing more than a warmer of rotisserie chickens (which must be made in the backroom somewhere, as this store lacks a full-service deli counter).

     From the "deli" department, here's a look across the store's back wall, where dairy is the next department we come across.

     When Publix was here, the back wall was most likely home to a combination of the dairy and meat departments, similar to what Walmart has here.

     Random grocery aisle shot, with this aisle looking quite neat for a Walmart. I should also note that Walmart replaced all the lighting in this store with those fluorescent strips, and covered all the old terrazzo with white tiles.

     Frozen foods are located in the center of the store, with these large support columns being the dividing line between Publix's original Wing Store space (to my left) and the 1989 expansion space (to my right).

     A local flare poster was located on the back of the freezers, which I thought was a nice touch.

     About three-quarters of the way through the store, the aisles switch from running perpendicular to the front wall to parallel. These aisles along the left side of the store comprise the small general merchandise selection these stores carry, with the photo above looking into the building's back left corner.

     Most of the "general merchandise" on this side of the store was stuff you'd find in most grocery stores, like paper products, cleaning supplies, pet products, health and beauty, etc. A small amount of hardware, automotive, and seasonal was located over here too, as well as some greeting cards and party supplies. What we see above is a look across the store's left side wall, looking from the back of the building toward the front.

     Here's the main actionway where the orientation of the aisles change, with this aisle home to most of the store's seasonal merchandise.

     I didn't get a picture of it, but the pharmacy was located in the front left corner of the building. If this photo was taken looking the other way, you would have been able to see the pharmacy counter.

     In terms of decor, there wasn't much to see here, being this store had Cheap Impact (which was very limited in signage, outside of a few flimsy plastic signs hanging here and there). Thankfully, this store was recently remodeled to Walmart's current decor package, Airport, which looks basically the same between the Neighborhood Markets and Supercenters. As part of the remodel, Walmart ripped out all the white floor tiles in here too, re-exposing Publix old striped terrazzo (which you can see at that linked photo). The expansion part of the store just had plain exposed concrete, meaning Publix probably had vinyl tile of their own in that part of the store when they were here too.

     If I had waited a few more years to visit this store, it could have made this post a little more interesting seeing the old terrazzo exposed and a slightly more visually interesting decor on the walls, but that's just how things work out sometimes. Even in its prior condition, we still got the gist of what this store is all about, and still saw some interesting Publix remnants, like the old mural, which makes an encore appearance in the photo above.

     Before we finish, here's a few additional photos of the Pasadena Shopping Center, this one looking at the center's CVS store, occupying the longtime Eckerd space to the left of the old Publix. CVS doesn't have many options for relocating to a freestanding store in this area with how limited space is around here now, so this in-line pharmacy persists to this day, even with a Walmart pharmacy operating just a few doors down from it.

     To the right of the old Publix is Bealls Outlet (or should I say now, Bealls), occupying the former S.S. Kresge space. Kmart opened a new store across the street from here next door to The Family Mart (later Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay, now Winn-Dixie) in 1981, so I don't know if the Kresge's store closed around then (with the Kmart replacing it) or if the two may have coexisted for a while (as Kresge's lasted until 1994, well after Kmart had become long established as the company's primary venture). Regardless, the South Pasadena Kmart lasted until the second bankruptcy closing wave the company released in 2003, with that building now housing Extra Space Storage.

     Anyway, that completes our quick look at the original South Pasadena Publix store, and if you've read both this post and the one about the South Pasadena Publixsons across the street on AFB, you're now all caught up on Publix's long history in this small town! While my MFR posting isn't as frequent as my posting on AFB, I'll try to find some more time to share another post on here soon enough, but otherwise, more AFB in two weeks!

So until the next post,

AFB

Marketplace for the Winn - Winn-Dixie #168 - Chiefland, FL

Winn-Dixie #168

Chiefland Regional Shopping Center

2202 North Young Boulevard

Chiefland, FL 32626

Marketplace Madness 2024:  Something New

For additional news regarding the ALDI acquisition of Southeastern Grocers, click here.

Remodel coverage added on March 9, 2024 - scroll down for the original post from March 23, 2022

Welcome back to My Florida Retail Blog for the second post in this year's Marketplace Madness series!  Last time, we explored a futuristic Winn-Thriftie that was replaced by a Marketplace store in Pinson, AL, which, if you are keeping track of things, means that we will be looking at "something new" today.  On the one hand, this store may not be as new as Winn-Dixie #2234 in Apopka, but on the other, it still showcases a great example of The Beef People's newest remodel package:  Winn-Win.

Okay, okay, Winn-Win has been around for several years now and this particular store held its grand reopening nearly two years ago in April 2022; however, with the Aldi acquisition being finalized two days ago, all bets are off as to whether or not we'll ever see a newer look out of the Jacksonville grocer.

That being said, some of you should recognize this façade from one of my most MFR popular posts (and the first piece I published on the site).  A mere month before the Chiefland WD completed its remodel, I published my initial coverage of this site documenting the store's final hours with Rose & Blanche Teal Marketplace.  I'd encourage you to reread that section for a refresher because today we are going to see how this store looked several months following the transformation.  Let me say that I was shocked by the outcome. 

Having been the first major remodel since this store's expansion to the Marketplace concept in April 1993, (thanks to Henry H. for digging that tidbit up) I knew this store underwent quite the shakeup.

Those changes started outside:  in addition to the new interior, Winn-Dixie also sacrificed a portion of its old produce department to receive a full-service liquor store.  That's honestly not a bad use for the space considering how most of these old Marketplace stores have been scaled back from their original offerings.  To add to that, I'm inclined to say that this portion of the store, roughly 15,000 square feet, was tacked on during that 1993 expansion.  It appears that the leftmost column in this photo would have previously marked the end of the original building, while everything under the solid red portion of the wall is part of the addition.

As for the 2022 conversion, Winn-Dixie decided to carve this set of sliding glass doors out of a previously empty wall.  It makes sense to utilize the extra space within this store's existing footprint rather than taking over a different, vacant storefront in the plaza, especially if it means this WD didn't have to receive the new low-height shelves I've seen elsewhere.

Stepping inside, we find the carts just where we left them, only slightly rosier than their previous counterparts.

Conversely, the checkout lines and customer service areas have experienced quite the conversion.  I will say that the front wall does feel a bit bland here – I suppose we can't have it all though.

Now, for the amazing part:  look at that new Produce Patch!  I still cannot believe how much of a transformation this part of the store underwent in a matter of months, but the space changed from a tired relic of the past to fresh and modern fast!

December 2021 visit

We'll see this a bit later on, but take note of the two mirrors on either side of the "fresh" sign in the modern picture – those are actually windows into the adjacent liquor store.  I'm not sure what functional purpose they serve; however, they do a nice job of breaking up the wall and adding some visual interest.  

I'm also a big fan of the new color palette since I feel like the green walls, brown vinyl floors, and black trim work well to give the space an upscale feel.  Meanwhile, the pops of red and the textured department sign provide just enough visual interest to spice things up.  Doesn't this corner look much better than it would have with Down Down?  Doesn't it look sharper than it did with the old, pasty pastels? (Or better yet, the shiny avocado?)

Also, do you see the section of the wall that sticks out to the right of the produce cases (to the right of the door in the 2021 photo)?  I think that is the mark of where the store ended back in 1989 since it lines up with the rest of the support columns on this side of the store.  It also fits the bill of where the seem in the roof (visible in satellite imagery) would be.

With the reconfiguration of the produce department, the floral section was moved to the old promotional nook.  I'd say that's a fair trade off considering the ample floor space still available for BOGO bins next to the checkouts.

Something that I don't often encounter in supermarkets is a bin of bulk green peanuts like we see here.  That may not be the reason I took this photo (which I'm sure was instead for the "Hello Chiefland" sign), although, it's still worth pointing out. 

The biggest downside of adding the liquor store is that it left behind this odd nook in the back right corner.  The fact that the cold beer coolers are discontinuous begins the awkward navigation, which is continued by the narrow gap between the pallet drops and the shortened aisle 1.  At least it makes sense for beer and wine to be isolated in its own alcove.  Previously, there was just a straight shot back to the seafood counter full of water-stained ceiling tiles and burned-out lights.

Turning the corner (and somehow skipping the seafood department), we find the cases for luncheon meat followed by more of the same for fresh meat.  While these refrigerators appear to be new, I still wonder what are the odds that the units actually date back to the late-1980's, and just have new skins.  

December 2021 visit

The reason I say that is because the transition between the fixtures we see here has the same silhouette as it did in December 2021 and all of the coolers have the same profiles as they did before.  I feel like this theory is worth floating despite it potentially being unfounded:  I wouldn't put anything past Winn-Dixie.

Another WD staple is the bountiful aisle of soft drinks.  Now that I think about it, Publix typically doesn't have an entire aisle dedicated to the fizzy stuff, but maybe The Beef People just need that much more room for Chek Cola.

Continuing on, we find the frozen foods aisle complete with the Winn-Dixie signature bank of coffin freezers.  It appears that the remodel crews added a new electrical drop to the coffin coolers, all while the refrigerant lines seemingly remained under the floor (or the units themselves are self-contained).  Whether old or new, borrowed or blue, this case will have to live on another day.

December 2021 visit

Anyhow, this aisle has cleaned up a bit, hasn't it?  I'm also still amazed at how well I can line up before-and-after shots that are taken months – if not years – apart without even referencing the originals; I suppose I'm just that predictable!  I'm also shocked to see the phrase "Meat Alternatives" plastered inside a 1990's pastel wonderland!

I feel like others could have mentioned this before, but does anybody think it's strange that the produce department lacks any signage indicating the actual items being sold?  Every other department in this package features verbose text for the given products; however, we are only given "Fresh" here rather than "Produce", or "Fruits & Vegetables".  How do we know that "Fresh" isn't supposed to represent "fresh meat" or "fresh dairy".  Are those other departments not fresh?  I guess this just reinforces Retail Retell's theory that department signage isn't actually necessary.

Had I known Winn-Dixie would eliminate its pharmacies just over a year after this shot was taken, I would have done a better job of framing the counter!  Regardless, at least I managed to get some sort of photographic evidence that it existed.

On top of that, here's the best shot I got of a straight-on view of that refreshed space.  Spicy, isn't it?

Jumping to the back of the store, we find an oddly placed pizza supply station guiding us toward the restrooms. I'm not completely sure, but I believe the main reason I took this photo was to highlight the original wood paneling that was painted white and grey as part of the remodel.

Let's round the corner to take a look at the remainder of the store and the dairy department, cheese and thank you.

Reaching back in our collective memory, you should recall that the leftmost aisle of this store was previously pulled from a mimosa maker's dream.  Unfortunately, the champagne and orange juice have yielded to paper products and coffee creamer.  Off in the distance we can still see the combination deli / bakery.

Eh, and why not throw in a shot of this same corner in the old Pinson store from last time's post for comparison.  It's still crazy to think how much wider the dairy aisle originally was in the Chiefland store, assuming it matched what's left in the Pinson store.

Speaking of the deli, here's a closer look.  I was itchen' for a good shot of this corner of the store, but that dastardly column had to get in the way.  Kurse you!

WD really did stuff a lot into this part of the store, and it looks like they had to shrink the traditional sliced meat cases to make way for that large upright cooler on the left.  The bread tables also seem to be taller and more compacted than I'm accustomed to seeing.

Not the goat soap!?  We first encountered this specialty soap display at Publix #1306, but it turns out that Publix wasn't the only Floridian grocer who wanted some fancy goat milk bars.  Now I just wonder whether or not Aldi cares about using "goat milk for added moisture."

I'm also presuming that the $17.99 price tag is the cost per pound, meaning that WD surprisingly beats Publix' price of $1.49/oz. by several dollars.

So, what do you think of the remodel?  Is it an improvement over the Golden Girls look, or should The Beef People have gone back to the future for this one?  I'd say this store appears to be quite healthy and beautiful!

Now, the question just lingers as to what will happen once the Aldi deal closes (pending approval) (whelp, that's what happens when you write posts several weeks in advance).  Will all of these fresh-looking stores soon become sleepers of a bygone supermarket era?  Will only half of this store live on as an Aldi?  Will the German company expand die Rindfleischleute's footprint?  As was the case before, we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, that will do it for this week's post, but make sure to checkout my remodel coverage of Publix GreenWise Market #1573 from last week if you haven't already.  Also, make sure to check back in on my blog in two weeks to read part three of Marketplace Madness:  Something Borrowed.

Until then,

- The Sing Oil Blogger

Original March 23, 2022, post follows below:

 

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Winn-Dixie Marketplace #168

Chiefland Regional Shopping Center

2202 North Young Boulevard

Chiefland, FL 32626

Updated on June 29, 2022 to add additional historical information

Hey everybody, the Sing Oil Blogger here!  You may remember me from a guest post covering Publix #1427 over on The Albertsons Florida Blog, or I could be a complete stranger.  Regardless, I have a feeling that this won't be the last you'll hear from me here on MFR.  I'm really excited to share my broader retail journeys here, which will include some friendly Florida faces and a bit of Georgian flare.  My personal documentation project, The Sing Oil Company Blog, primarily focuses on the history of a small Southeastern convenience store chain, but also includes some feature stories on my More Than Convenience page (including a cool series on Publix's Wavy Pastels décor that will go live this Saturday).  

In the meantime, let's jump into one of Florida's major grocery chains (aka, one of two) and catch a glimpse of a rural Florida supermarket.

Some History

Until recently, I had always thought that Winn-Dixie was two steps away from liquidation.  I've always remembered their 2005 bankruptcy, and how many stores near my hometown closed so long ago; I wondered how the company was still around.  It seems like most of the stores I've been to since that point had been forgotten about: stuck in a time warp until they finally shriveled up and died.  I had seen Winn-Dixie get acquired, make acquisitions of its own, and file for another bankruptcy which all made me question the company's long-term ambitions.  I had written Winn-Dixie off as simply another Kmart style extended liquidation, until a few months ago.  Occasionally, I travel down US 19 on the west coast of Florida, which passes through many small towns that seem lost to time (it's called the "Forgotten Coast" for a reason).  This region of Florida has a lot of charm to it and makes me wonder how the rest of the state was before the excessive commercialization had taken hold.  Along this route, I would pass three Winn-Dixie stores in particular that always seemed to be relics of the past: store #3 in Monticello, FL, store #104 in Perry, FL, and store #168 in Chiefland, FL.  Until last year, all three of these stores exhibited some form of Marketplace décor, with packages that dated back to the 1990's.  It was when I noticed Winn-Dixie remodeling these stores to their current Winn-Win interior that I knew the company had made some sort of turnaround.  As the only full-service supermarkets in these towns (and the closest Publix being in Tallahassee or Gainesville) these stores had a captive audience, making them WD's lowest priority on the renovation list.  I missed my chance to photograph stores #3 and #104 before they were modernized, but I was able to capture some pictures of #168 before it had been touched.  Boy, am I glad I did, because I checked Google Maps and the store was undergoing renovations in the beginning of March.  I've since rushed to photograph one more Marketplace store that I will share at some point.  Update: this store had it's grand re-opening on April 2, 2022, to celebrate the remodeled store and the new liquor store.  I hope to visit this store soon to photograph an updated tour.

I find it bittersweet because on one hand, a quirky, vintage décor package will probably meet its demise in matter of months, but on the other, Winn-Dixie is making a turn around with stores that come close to rivaling Publix, in my opinion.  I was shocked the first time I walked into a remodeled Winn-Win store and think that they are a positive change for a company which has struggled for decades.  I also know that Marketplace will stick around for a number of years, due to the sheer number of stores that were sold off in 2005.  One day I'll give a tour of one of those I found . . .

Courtesy USEnds.com (Michael Summa) - 1978 - US 19/98/ALT 27 & US 129 - Chiefland, FL

Update from duckman66: "This WD replaced an older store at US 19-98 & US 129 further south (now Save-A-Lot). If I remember correctly, that store was small and unremodeled from when it opened in the early 1970s. Eckerd's also moved from that center to this one."

I was able to find a picture I had previously seen showing Chiefland's old Winn-Dixie, located at 110 Rodgers Blvd (which is the store duckman66 references above).  That store still stands, and seems to still feature a mansard roof from its WD days.

Courtesy Pleasant Family Shopping - 1975 - Location unknown

Although the photo above is not the old Chiefland store, it looks like the current Save-A-Lot did receive an exterior refresh at some point to add a mansard to the corner of the building, similar to the one we see above.  This Street View shows how the store looks today.

The Shopping Center's sign facing US 19 / US 98 / Alt-US 27
Did somebody say Winn-Dixie changed their logo?  I have a feeling this sign has been there since the mid-1990's, maybe longer.

According to Levy County's tax records, Winn-Dixie, the adjacent shopping center, and Wal-Mart were all built in 1989.  What surprises me is the website also lists Chiefland's Supercenter as being built in 1995.  I don't typically follow Walmart's business decisions, but six years seems like a really short time to inhabit a store just to move across the street.  I guess the Arkansas company was really excited about their Supercenters!  The south end of the shopping center now houses a Tractor Supply (in 1/2 of the former Wal-Mart), restaurant, and a few other businesses.

Update: thanks to a comment below from duckman66, the pylon sign above is original to this shopping center's construction.  Additionally, aside from paint and the construction associated with Tractor Supply's opening, the plaza façade has not been remodeled since it opened.  He also added this: "I believe this WD was (lightly) remodeled into a "Marketplace" around the time Walmart moved across the street, and has been mostly untouched since. Walmart opening in town in 1989 was a big deal, and yes, the original Walmart lasted only 6 years. There's still an expansion pad to the right of the old Walmart entrance (common for Florida Division 1 Walmarts built in the late 1980s)."

I had not realized it before I read his comment, but if you look between the old Walmart and the Winn-Dixie, there is a vacant piece of land where the Walmart façade was just continued to connect to the rest of the shopping center.  It is crazy how they allotted for space to expand the store, but elected to move across the street instead!  The new store is certainly larger than the expanded old one would have been.

Meanwhile, the northern end of the plaza (pictured above) is now home to a Bealls Outlet, Subway, Little Caesars, Chinese restaurant, jewelry shop, and nail salon, in addition to a few other businesses.

According to AFB, Winn-Dixie would have been using their Chrome Marketplace décor when this store opened, meaning it had received one remodel in its lifetime (until now).  Fortunately, I coerced my family into letting me photograph this store back in November because I could tell that it wouldn't be long before the Marketplace interior came down-down.

The Store

Let me disclose that the chrome has tarnished a bit on my Winn-Dixie knowledge.  Since their recent renaissance, I have tried to polish it up a bit by reading blogs like this one.  That being said, feel free to correct me if some of my assumptions are incorrect!

One of Winn-Dixie's iconic features (even on long abandoned buildings) is the entrance sign pointing toward the front doors.  If the entrance wasn't obvious enough, here's your sign!

Stepping just inside, we see the customer service counter to our left, and our first glimpses of Winn-Dixie's "rose-and-teal color scheme" Marketplace décor.  I believe the Marketplace concepts (including this store) began in the late-1980's with the chrome look, followed by the more-sedate cream-and-teal version in the early-1990's.  From what I can tell, WD used the rose package during the mid-to-late 1990's (especially since the Tallahassee store that I linked to above opened in 1998).  Considering this store has looked the same for the last quarter century, it is surprising that it received a remodel within its first ten years of being open!

Turning to the right, we see the check lanes and a good overview of the store.  I didn't get a picture of the cart area, but it would be located just out of the right frame of this picture.  These early Marketplace stores look like they didn't get a fancy ceiling fixtures, but they did get the colored laminate tiles.  The checkout counters look quite vintage as well.

The first department we'll look at is produce, located in the front right of the store.  As you can tell by the poinsettias in the right side of the frame, the store was gearing up for Christmas.  This brings me to my next point, notice how the wall next to the "Produce Patch" diamond says "flowers."  I don't remember if the store had more flowers besides the poinsettias, but it seems the department has shrunk over the last few decades!

Here's a look at the front wall of the produce department.  While this version of Marketplace is simple, I think it does a good job of preventing the space from looking empty. 

We'll take one last look at the produce department before we move on to the rest of the store.  I'm surprised at how few ceiling fixtures this store has, since other Marketplace stores got vaulted ceilings or pink florescent lights.  All we have to look at are rows of tube lighting and some Kmart-style air vents.  I imagine that this produce department would have looked like this when it opened.

Next, we'll move on to the "Wall of Values" along the right side of the store.  While there are a few pallet drops of sale items, it looks like the wall has mostly been repurposed for snacks.  This section of ceiling probably looks worse than any other section of the store since it has a few lights burned out and some water damage in the ceiling tiles.  I have to say, for how old the décor is in this store was, the building was very clean, well-stocked, and well kept.  The local employees seemed to do a good job of keeping their aging supermarket presentable!

I'm also glad that I was able to photograph this interior in such presentable & original shape because that seems like a rarity with 25 year old décor packages.  Other than the aisle signs, checkout cubes, and category markers, the entire package seemed like it was in place and in good shape.  What's even better is all of the neon worked on the signs scattered throughout the store!

I, personally, think this is one of the coolest shots I got of this store.  Not only is the late-1990's "Dockside Fresh Seafood" sign fully in-tact and functional, but the tile backsplash also dates back to the original late-1980's interior!  I did not realize this when I was in the store, but AFB's post a few months ago made me realize that the first-gen Marketplace décor refers to the seafood department as "Fisherman's Warf" while later packages call it "Dockside."  The blue tiles are also original to 1989 and can be seen in this Winn-Dixie-turned-Ingles.  Even though AFB didn't get to see what the seafood department looked like in his first-gen Marketplace tour, we get to see it on full display here!

Looking along the back wall of the store, we see some original 1989 coolers housing lunch meat.  If you take a closer look at those coolers, you'll see signage from Winn-Dixie's Transformational package that reads "dinner meat" etc.  I was able to notice traces of three post-Marketplace environment packages walking around this store (four if you include the "Winning Deals" signs), but there could be more!

One thing that was certainly from Marketplace was this aisle topper in the books and magazines section.  I find it interesting that Kroger and Target have only recently begun to use the "glowing" plastic (although theirs is green) while Winn-Dixie was using an orange form of it since the 1990's!

I managed to get pieces of three outdated Winn-Dixie décors in one shot!  The "Smoked Meats" sign is (obviously) late-1990's Marketplace, the "Ground Beef" sign is from the purple/maroon days, and the "Breakfast Meat" sign is from the Transformational package.  And don't forget, the breakfast meat cooler is from first-gen Marketplace!

As usual, frozen foods can be found in the middle of the store, complete with some lawn chairs on top of the freezers.

It wouldn't be a Marketplace store without some fun patterns in the floor!  It is surprising that WD spent the money during the late-1990's remodel to redo the floors, but I can't imagine this tile blending with the bold colors of first-gen Marketplace.

I made sure to photograph all of the department signs since I could read the writing on the wall for this store:  it said "Fresh Meats" are located here.

I only thought to photograph the grocery aisles once I was in the second half of the store, but aisle 12 was home to pet supplies.  I will note that this store received the "post-bankruptcy" aisle markers sometime between 2008-2011; I think this store's originally would have looked like this.  You can tell the designers of the Marketplace interior did not intend for the package to last 30+ years because original aisle signs that I have seen pictures of look awfully faded. Somebody didn't use UV resistant paper and ink!

Aisle 13 features a variety of paper products.

Taking a look at the coolers on the back wall, I got a better picture of a wood-grained one that dates back to 1989.  Marketplace may be dated in its own right, but these refrigerators really seal the deal!  I'm sure this store's electricity bill will really go down once they finish the Winn-Win remodel and get new, more efficient ones.

Between the cheese and yogurt coolers is the hallway to the restrooms.  I'm not sure if the paneling stood out to me, or if it was the sign, but the store feels like the 1980's back here.  For perspective, here's how this area of the store would have looked like with first-gen Marketplace.

The back left corner of the store is where you could find eggs, butter, and cheese, along with some coolers.

Finally, we get to the "Beverage Center" along the left wall of the store.  I find it unfortunate that I couldn't get a picture of the words in the teal strip along this wall due to all of those pesky Styrofoam coolers.  Oh well.

Across from the eggs, milk, and orange juice, is wine.  Perfect for the breakfast of champions!

This store seems to be laid out similarly to how #2229 was, which AFB gave us a tour of a few months ago.  I liked his description of this aisle so much, I wanted to copy it to this post: "The coolers along the wall were home to mostly dairy products, making for a bit of a strange amalgamation of products in this aisle. (However, one plus to the old arrangement was that the champagne and orange juice were right across the aisle from each other - now those two items are located at separate ends of the store, and I'm sure the forgetful Sunday brunch folks won't be happy about that on a last minute mimosa run!)"

At the end of the beverage aisle, we find the deli and bakery (and another functional neon sign).

Above we can see the deli, which I believe is in the same configuration as it was in 1989.  While I believe all of the second-tier signs are from the 1990's version of Marketplace, they look particularly vintage.  Especially the one on the left of Winn-Dixie's butcher motif.

Over to the right is the bakery section.

And to the left of the deli is the pharmacy.  I think the font Winn-Dixie used on the teal signs has a neat 3D effect to it, even though it is obviously 2D.  This store was lucky enough to keep its pharmacy through Winn-Dixie's multiple rounds of closures.

We'll take one last look at the front end of the store and take in all of the rose-and-teal we can!  I'd guess the prescription drop off and pick up signs are a later addition from Down-Down. (Update: AFB pointed out that these signs are from the Transformational package in the comments.)

And one last look at the frozen foods department, this time from the front of the store.

Before we check out, I wanted to show how old the checkout counters looked.  Just take a look at that pre-2012 Florida Lottery logo!  Judging by all of the other fixtures in the store, I have a feeling that these date back to 1989.  The cubes, meanwhile, are another relic from Winn-Dixie's purple/maroon package.

Thank You for Photographing America's Supermarket!  Maybe one day I will make it back to Chiefland to see how the renovation turned out, but I have a feeling this store looks much more modern now.  Winn-Dixie hasn't seemed to spare any expense in other Winn-Win remodeled stores I have seen, so hopefully this store will get some new life to allow it to serve the Forgotten Coast for another 30+ years to come.

That is all for now, but make sure to check out my blog this weekend for my new mini-series "Publix Waves Goodbye."

- The Sing Oil Blogger