Tuesday, June 2, 2020

From Boot Ranch in Pinellas to Food Ranch in little ole Inglis, FL

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZyaTvWMyBdBVK3oy6

While I was driving back from St. Pete 2weekends ago, my GPS took me through the sleepy little community of Inglis, FL on US 19/98 in Levy County.

This town is easily missed as all they have here is a flashing light.

What photos you see in my link above show a little independent grocery store called Food Ranch.

This store donnes a decor from what I'd say is either late 70's or maybe even mid-late 80's.

But Yon Woo, why would you say 80's? Well, with my semi-obsession with researching old Albertsons store photos I've come across a decor package the Idaho-based chain used back in the mid-late 80's which I named Colorful Transition Market. I called it that because several panels on the walls were placed above the various departments, and within those panels were various shades of a particular color that transitioned from lighter to darker or visa versa.
In additional to that transition, a new color shade was used above a different department. In Albertsons' case, dark brown to light brown shading was placed above the Bakery, while dark red to lighter red was above meat and Seafood. Dark Green to lighter green was placed above "Garden Fresh Produce".

While I didn't take a ton of photos in this old store, hopefully my photos give an idea of what a small town Florida grocery store feels on the inside. The decor seen in here is certainly older than in the Carabelle IGA store in the Panhandle that I just shared photos of on flickr.

For such a tiny little town, this was a fairly decent sized grocery store, probably about 15000 sq feet.

The aisles contained a decent variety of dry grocery goods, a good sized Produce department on the right side. Also, the back wall was entirely used for fresh packaged meats in cooler cases. Plenty of meat to choose from here!

One really funny and interesting detail we see at this store was a display of post cards (which I really should have photographed).

The post cards were showing things special about the town of Inglis. One might expect visiting Panama City Beach to see a post card of white sandy beaches and a pier or maybe a flock of seagulls flying off in the sunset. Here in Inglis, their special offering to visitors was a photo of a nearby nuclear power plant! Sounds like a lovely vacation destination, doesn't it :)?

I am also including a collage photo comparing the decor seen in this store to Albertsons' 80's Colorful Transition Market decor.

Pretty amazing similarity isn't it!?

Thanks for viewing!

Enjoy the photos.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that similarity is uncanny! Great find...

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    1. I was surprised by how similar it is! Whomever built and opened this store, must have gotten their decor ideas from an Albertsons store they may have visited.

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  2. Oh boy, Inglis has a nuclear power plant! Now I know where to make my next vacation plans - all the relatives are going to want a postcard showing that! :)

    That's neat that you finally made it to the Food Ranch! It's certainly a fun little flashback of a store, and I never realized the similarity to Albertsons' Colorful Transition Market decor either. Interesting.

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    1. I know, right? Im surprised they look at that as a badge of honor. I heard they have a nuclear power plant on N. Hutchinson Island between Ft. Pierce and Vero. I certainly wouldn't want to live close to one.

      Yep, I finally made it up here. It was definitely a time warp of a grocery store. I does look like a store that may have opened back in the 80s sometime, because the ceiling tiles in there looked very old and original. Inglis is lucky to have this little supermarket, because there's not much else around.

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    2. I did a property record search on the Levy County Property Appraiser site, and it indicates that this store was built in 1985. I had a feeling this place was from the 80's. It's certainly very old looking for 35 years old, but then again, it's not a Pulbix.

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  3. Thanks for the information about this store. I stopped in a few years ago and thought that the decor looked like one a major chain would have used back in the 80s, but wasn't sure which one.

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    1. You're welcome! It's an oldie and has no competition too close by.

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  4. It looks like the interior of the Mega Supermarket (a former USave) on Nebraska Ave in Tampa.

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