Harveys #1667
Gray Station
Gray, GA 31032
Former Harveys #2409 / Food Lion #1215
Rather than looking at another Evergray Publix today, we are instead going further down the Southeastern Grocers rabbit hole to visit the small town of Gray, GA. Located smack dab in the middle of the state, the Jones County seat may not be the first destination that comes to mind for tourists, but the town offers attractions such as an 1850's cotton plantation, several scenic nature trails, and plenty of Civil War memorials. Just across the Ocmulgee River to the west, one can also take in the sights of Macon, GA, in Bibb County or Juliette, GA, in Monroe County where the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed.
While attempting to preserve as much information on pre-Aldi Southeastern Grocers as I can, I recently captured a snapshot of information on the present state of Winn-Dixie & Harveys. There are currently a total of 394 stores, including 369 under The Beef People banner and 25 bearing the Harveys name. Out of those locations, Southeastern Grocers still operated 227 pharmacies in August before it was announced that SEG would offload all pharmacy assets to CVS and Walgreens by the end of the year. I know this metric shocked both me and AFB, as we expected there to be fewer than 58% of stores still running a pharmacy following the 2016 purge. What is also surprising is how SEG claims that the current pharmacy eradication has nothing to do with the pending Aldi sale—if you say so! On another front, I'm also curious as to what Aldi will do with the 170 "Wiquor" stores, but I suppose that's a topic for another day.
Thankfully for Gray, this Harveys operates neither a pharmacy nor a liquor store, so the town has nothing to lose in that regard! We may not know what the future holds for this Harveys, but that can't stop us from taking a look at its past.
 |
| Google Earth - Future Food Lion #1215 - February 22, 1993 |
My guess is that the Food Lion which originally occupied this space, #1215, opened in 1993 based on the satellite imagery above and on the store number itself. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything mentioning this location in The Macon Telegraph before 1999, which also lists this store's address as being 613 New Clinton Street rather than 208 West Clinton.
This Food Lion disappeared from the Macon newspapers by 2003, and the 32,000 sq ft building seemed to have closed sometime around then and sat vacant for a number of years.
 |
| The Macon Telegraph (Newspapers.com) - October 24, 2009 - Construction progress at Harveys #2405 in Macon, GA |
Around 2007, Food Lion began to show a renewed interest in Harveys by rolling out a brand new interior package and constructing some of the first ground-up Harveys stores seen in years (if not decades). This progress may not have come at a blazing speed, but Delhaize managed to open or convert at least seven stores by late-2009, all of which sported the décor package we will examine today. Pictured above are some rare conversion pictures from former store #2405 in East Macon which opened roughly two years before the store in Gray.
 |
| Courtesy Charles Burgess Jr (Flickr) - Harveys #2409 - June 22, 2013 |
Based on Quitman's #2408 opening in 2011 and Camilla's #2411 opening either in 2011 or 2012, I'm inclined to say Delhaize finally gave up on trying to sublet the old supermarket space in Gray and decided to give it a shot as a Harveys around that time; this just seems a bit odd considering Food Lion announced it would close 29 stores in Georgia in early 2012. Regardless, Delhaize's last new Harveys store opened on February 29, 2012, before the brand and its 72 outlets were sold to BI-LO Holdings (now Southeastern Grocers) in 2013.
I'd also like to take a moment and thank Flickr user Charles Burgess Jr for the work he did over 10 years ago to preserve a record of so many Harveys stores. You've probably seen me reference his photos before, but I believe he documented every operational store in the chain at the time the BI-LO acquisition was announced. In addition to having clear photographs of some of these long-closed stores, he also lists the Delhaize store numbers in his descriptions, which provides a key piece of information for determining original opening dates, etc. Without work like his, it would be much more difficult for me to perform the research that I do.
While this store has been on my list to visit for quite some time, it was one sunny Sunday when I finally took the time to detour over to Gray after visiting a friend. This trip also came on the heels of Harveys' pending acquisition by Aldi which likely provided that much more motivation to go out of my way considering how this location's future is now up in the air.
Just as I was pulling into the parking lot, I felt a buzz on my leg from a familiar friend looking to catch up.
It was none other than Retail Retell, asking if I was awake by 2 PM (he should know better by now)! I asked if he could give me a few minutes since I was sitting in my car about to head into this very supermarket. As expected, he seemed to crack up at the remark and wish me luck. Part of me wonders what my life has come to, but the other part just thinks it's hilarious!
Even though the decade-plus old sign on the front of this store is a bit faded, I still love how classy the 3D lettering of the logo looks when set off by the grid pattern on the stucco.
 |
| Courtesy Laura Gillespie (Google Maps) - January 21, 2017 |
What is even cooler is the nighttime perspective of this sign; rather than using a standard backlit sign, Delhaize opted for the softer look of wash lighting to shine down on the logo. The fact that SEG decided to mostly kill off this look still perplexes me, but at least it got a second chance here!
 |
| Former Harveys logo (Delhaize era) recreation by The Sing Oil Blogger |
I couldn't resist trying my hand at recreating this logo after I identified the fonts Delhaize used for the design and the corresponding interior package. I'll also note that SEG adapted its own version of this logo by swapping the font used for "supermarket" to a subtly different one that was then carried over to the modern Foco logo.
The store itself may still use the Delhaize Jimbo logo, but the buggies out front all seem to sport the Foco font and are the same models we see in Winn-Dixie (except for the awkwardly short one off to the right which happened to be the one I grabbed).
Turning around toward the vestibule, it appears that Delhaize extended the doors outward to enlarge the space at some point. I'd guess they were originally in line with the brick columns and were moved at the same time this store's interior set of doors was removed.
Ahh, the Produce department looks just like Delhaize intended for it to! This is one of two active Harveys stores to still use the circa 2007 "Southern Farmstand" package, and I have to say I like it much better than the hideous Yellow Down Down interior from 2016 which adorns the remaining 23 outlets.
Unlike the former Camilla store we toured several months back, the Gray Harveys still has its agricultural stenciling on the walls in addition to the complimentary signage and flooring. This also happens to be the exact location this produce department would be if the store were still a Food Lion.
Something else I remember seeing in Camilla (or was it Ocilla: oh well) was this "Buy Local" sign. While it doesn't have any explicit Harveys branding, it absolutely uses the Harveys shade of yellow and the SEG Foco font which leaves me a bit surprised that nobody bothered to remove it from the aforementioned store. That also goes to show how the one we see today is five years old, at a minimum, since the other store I saw it in closed back in 2018.
This balloon, however, is likely a bit newer. Several of these were placed throughout the store in order to draw one's attention to various sales, and it seems they aptly do the job.
Just for Anonymous in Houston, I took my obligatory photo of the banana display; you happy now?
Jokes aside, 69¢/lb. seems to roughly fall in line with what I see at most stores around Georgia. It's also refreshing to see that none of these bananas are overripe!
I can't figure out why seemingly every Harveys I've been to, both current and former, has an articulate display of artificial flowers over the produce coolers; this store was no exception. Do people actually buy these, or are they more used as part of the décor?
The bouquets give a brief pause for the salad toppings before resuming just to my left.
But wait, there's more! Just to the right in my terribly blurry photo above, Harveys had a small display case of . . . wait for it . . . real flowers before closing out the produce department with yet another fixture of the fake stuff.
We then find ourselves graced by the "Wall of Values" before entering the frozen foods department. Other than in a 1990's Food Lion, I can't think of another supermarket layout which places frozen items adjacent to produce like this, especially when dairy is on the opposite side of the store. It just seems so iceolated.
The layout may be 30-years old, but it looks like Delhaize at least installed new freezers when it retrofitted this store into a Harveys.
The next décor pieces I'd like to point out are the round "Highest Quality" signs which frame either side of the major department signs. While these were absent from the Camilla store (obviously, since they have the Harveys logo on them), at least I still managed to photograph some of them in action here in Gray. I do, however, wonder how a TV dinner tray can be described as the "highest quality frozen foods"!
Turning down the rear of the store, the flooring transition is our cue that we are now in a new department.
We can also see how "Lunch Meats" is the only department in the store to have received the barn door accent which was also used with "Quality Meats" in Camilla.
Aisle 2 offers more frozen vegetables, along with plenty of "salad sauce". Does anybody else think that display of ranch dressing looks to be stacked a bit precariously?
This week's salad dressing feature is Kraft Catalina. I'm not exactly sure why I took this picture, but I may have been intending to show the three different types of "sale" tags in this store. The part that really trips me up is how the Kraft dressing is on sale for $1 off, but the sale doesn't end until December 31st. Meanwhile, the "Low Low" and "BOGO" prices both expired at the end of the week of my visit. Part of me is really convinced that SEG's pricing structure is just a big sham, but feel free to provide evidence to the contrary!
Let's pause for a minute and relish at how nice this advertisement for Harveys' online shopping service is. Probably the best part is how this ad doesn't feature an inch of the hideous Harveys yellow!
Meanwhile, canned goods can be found on what was presumably aisle 3. For just being the house brand of chains like Winn-Dixie and Harveys, I think the packaging designers did a good job with the look for the cans we see here. It's a shame that these will likely be phased out over the coming months.
One thing I wouldn't be sad to see quietly disappear is this BOGO bin design. If you don't think these displays are insecure about the amount of attention you grant them (or either the designers are insecure about their popularity in high school), then I don't know what you are smoking.
Aisle four features an assortment of pasta and other exotic international foods.
While this display back up front only wishes it was so lucky. It was only blessed with a few meager jumbo cookies, a lonely slice of cake, and a rejected pack of gum. At least the blueberry pies have some companions.
Isn't it a shame that baby formula has to be locked up in a case next to the customer service counter?
Save money more, live better Feel healthy. That's the power of Harveys.
It's particularly interesting how this store still has the original category markers in select places, which we can see on full display on aisle seven.
Back in the meat department, a giant graphic of a butcher knife and red cooler bearing the word "sale" welcomes us into this part of the store: how comforting.
I also just realized this, but Harveys will potentially celebrate its centennial before Winn-Dixie will—that is, if the company isn't killed off before then. I wonder if anybody at corporate has a celebration in mind for a few months from now. The company has been "Trading since 1924", after all.
L-ate-r on, I took some photos of the hot and dry cereal aisle, while continuing to zig-zag my way through this former Food Lion.
Tell me why somebody would be so lazy as to leave a case of water just sitting on the floor here! This also makes me wonder: are there any Down Down Harveys stores out there which still feature the Southern Farmstand flooring? I know some stores (like the Old Dawson Rd location in Albany) had both packages, but then again, SEG never bothered to take out the original Rose & Teal Marketplace tiles there!
Back up front, we see the deli and bakery come into view. Remind you of Food Lion much?
Regardless, the biggest complaint I have about this department is how the ceiling overhang totally blocks your view of the signage if you are within 15 feet; then, if you are any further, a dadgum shelf gets in the way! I can't win for losing!
At least I was able to get a (mostly) unobstructed shot of the "Quality Meats" sign from the peanut gallery.
I also got a nice angle of this package's "Restrooms" sign. Why do I have a feeling that the paneling lining that hallway may date back to 1993?
I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I do know this is exactly where Food Lion originally placed its bathrooms. I also know this is where Delhaize decided to transition its flooring pattern to that of the dairy department.
Over on aisle 12, we find all of the supplies needed for a backyard barbecue including cold beer, chardonnay mixers, charcoal, and . . .
. . . the wood chunks that we all Know & Love. AFB first spotted these guys in his local Winn-Dixie several weeks ago, but since then, the retail community has been totally confused as to why SEG would launch its new house brand with wood chips and why we have yet to see any other products with the new packaging. Needless to say, every SEG store I've been to since then has proudly displayed an assortment of combustible lovable trees just above the charcoal briquettes. "Know that they burn, love that they're natural."
Hey look, they're even on sale!
What's fresher than some dead trees? Some prepackaged bakery products, of course! Harveys has never in my memory boasted an extensive selection of bakery goods, but I do always remember them doing a decent amount of hot food business. Unfortunately, neither niche seemed to be thriving here in Gray.
Finally, aisle 13 hosts an assortment of ice cream and other dairy items. As to why somebody thought it was best to place the ice cream department signage over lemonade, tea, and eggs beats me.
I'm also stumped as to why frozen desserts are on this side of the store rather than with the balance of frozen foods on aisles one & two. Have any of you ever seen a setup like this? I guess Food Lion wanted all of the "indulgences" to be on one side of the store?
I suppose other than the fact that milk and ice cream have to be stored at two different temperatures, it makes sense for both to be in the "dairy" department.
What in the world are "custom desserts"?
Why is the cheese shelf crooked?
I guess even though this is one of the nicest looking Harveys I've seen, it still has to be a bit rachet.
Looking back over the front end of this store, I have to applaud Delhaize for the amount of work it put into these later Harveys stores. The fact that it looks like the company completely replaced the dropped ceiling, and installed new flooring, wall finishes, & fixtures, it is a shame to see what BI-LO Holdings / SEG ended up doing with the chain.
 |
| Thnk you for shopping Harveys |
We can see here the checkout lights that I typically associate with this package, but it seems like BI-LO Holdings may have cooked up its own design for the rare occasion when the company installed Southern Farmstand. Since the same cubes I linked to above were also present in Americus, I'm inclined to say that store in fact remodeled from Winn-Dixie's Post Bankruptcy package to Southern Farmstand before finally settling on Yellow Down Down. Part of the fun of me writing this blog is how I can even make connections I've never realized before (while also reminiscing on how bizarre it is for Americus to have received the first ever Transformational Winn-Dixie prototype—solely because a tornado devastated the town).
If you couldn't tell before, this is hands down my favorite Harveys package. I'm especially glad that I've had the chance to experience and photograph it before it was entirely extinct under its original banner. Regardless, I'd imagine that Southern Farmstand still has plenty of life left in it with the various South Georgia independents . . .
That's all I have for the Harveys, but I managed to also stop by the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park while I was in the Macon area. Standing atop the Great Temple Mound Complex, we have this nice view of the expansive Macon skyline.
You may remember me mentioning earlier how Retail Retell wanted to catch up, well, I had plenty of time to do just that as I meandered through the park and took in the sights. Despite giving me a hard time as if I were still asleep, he was the one who was just then eating breakfast!
I was especially impressed by the Earth Lodge once I stepped inside, as I wasn't expecting such a vast interior space based on what I saw outside.
It's amazing what can be housed inside of a hill, and how much relief one can find from the Middle Georgia heat once underground! If you want to learn more about this 1,000+ year old Native American site, make sure to check out the Wikipedia page, or better yet, visit it for yourself! It's right off I-16 (across the Ocmulgee River from downtown Macon) and admission is free!
Another interesting tidbit is how there is now an effort underway to transition the area surrounding the Ocmulgee Mounds into Georgia's first National Park.
Our parting shot from the Macon Metro is one of the new electric vehicle charging station Circle K installed at the former Flash Foods on Bass Road / I-75. This caught my attention because I've never seen a convenience store branded EV charger like this, and especially didn't expect to find one in Macon (even seeing one in Macon, I would have expected it to be built along the much busier I-475 to the West). The Sing Oil Sidekick mentioned that he heard Circle K has plans to install these in California but was also surprised that I managed to come across one in The Peach State. Who knows, The Sing Oil Blog may have to transition to The Sing Electric Blog before long!
That's it for today's coverage, but make sure to check back in a couple of weeks to see what new adventures I've gotten myself into.
Until then,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
