Winn-Dixie #446
Westport Shopping Center
Montgomery, AL 36108
I also discovered that this store replaced an older Winn-Dixie just down and across the road at 5333 Mobile Highway (Southlawn Plaza). Unfortunately, that building was torn down in the mid-1990's to build an elementary school.
Although the remaining Marketplace stores often look pretty rough around the edges (remember this one I wrote about a few weeks ago?), they at least feature signage that doesn't look like it was pulled out of the 1970's! I was certainly surprised to find out a non-Marketplace store was profitable enough to survive all of Winn-Dixie's bankruptcies, but it seems like this store serves a large portion of Montgomery's southern suburbs along I-65, including the community of Hope Hull.
Another piece that could have contributed to this store's longevity was the fact that Winn-Dixie had a large presence in Montgomery, and even used to operate a distribution center there. Unfortunately, Winn-Dixie decided to close this DC several years ago and consolidate its operations with those of the Hammond, LA, plant, which is where this store would now be serviced from.
While the primary Winn-Dixie signage may look old, all of the secondary signs seem to use the same font as a Marketplace store from the same era. If you didn't know it already, "The Beef People" call this building home!
Stepping inside, you immediately find yourself in the cart storage area, with shelves of promotional products off in the distance. Although this store has some of the same cubical Valentine's Day balloons that we found in Publix, the Valentine's forest doesn't seem quite as invasive. These buggies also seem to be a bit worn out, adding to the feeling that Winn-Dixie has nearly forgotten about this store.
Turning back toward the doors, we can see the customer service desk which is located directly behind the pharmacy.
Here we see a wider overview of the front end of this store, and one of the Valentine's balloons who tried to make a mad getaway. {Thank}fully, he was pinned down by a ceiling tile and a florescent light. Whew, that was a close one!
I find it interesting how this store and the Chiefland store both received a dropped ceiling throughout, without any architectural effects over the produce department or the registers. These stores also seemed to get the large Kmart-style air vents which don't help with the dated aesthetic. As with many Winn-Dixie stores, produce is located in the front right corner, buffered from the registers by an additional section of promotional items.
I'm not sure what this store would've looked like when it opened, but I believe the non-Marketplace stores originally featured Winn-Dixie's 1980's interior package before it was remodeled to Purple / Maroon around the early 2000's. That being said, I'm not sure if this green section of flooring is original to this store's construction or not.
Contrary to the Chiefland Winn-Dixie looking run-down in pictures but feeling well-kept in person, this store felt pretty tired. Regardless, I was glad that I had the opportunity to document a store with this package before it went extinct! I'm sure the residents of South Montgomery will be pleased to have a remodeled store as well.
I don't like how WD lists "Harvest Fresh Fresh Produce" on the sign; it seems a bit redundant!
Another thing that bothers me about this package is how none of the fonts quite match. Obviously, the script is different than the serif font which isn't too bad; however, if you compare "Produce" in the two pictures above, the font is actually slightly different. The serifs look to be thicker and blockier on the wall-mounted letters as compared to the pre-fab sign. It also bothers me that these two walls have the same phrase, but one used the sign while the other used lettering.
Anyway, at least the produce in this store actually looked well-stocked and seemed to be fresh. The same can't be said about every older Winn-Dixie I have seen!
We'll take one last look at the produce department before we move on to the rest of the store.
Next up is floral. I didn't see anything too notable about this section, other than the fact that this store actually had a floral counter, and that one of the glass panels has the old WD logo. Those peace lilies also look to be well cared for since most have blooms and none seem to have brown or yellow leaves.
Fortunately, I don't believe Montgomery shoppers will have to suffer the agony of having their beloved champagne moved away from orange juice – because it already has been! Moving wine and beer to this side of the store seems to be a common practice of Winn-Dixie during its remodels, so it looks like this store is already good-to-go! Wine also managed to get a sign on the wall in this package, but beer did not.
Here we see a close-up of the aisle marker for aisle 1. I applaud WD's creativity for adding a faint logo behind the number and on the maroon section at the top of the sign.
This store's seafood counter is located in the back right corner. It also seems to be one of the few departments to have received some sort of architectural accent with the small black awning.
I didn't notice much of interest along the back aisle of this store, just a number of pallet drops of sale products. Maybe it has been a while since I bought a 12-pack of soft drinks, but doesn't 2/$12 seem like a bad price? I thought I remembered that being how much CVS would charge when they were not on sale! Inflation is at work!
Oddly enough, WD decided to go back to the Fisherman's Warf phrasing for the seafood department with this package, while they discontinued its use during some of the Marketplace years.
To the left of the seafood counter were the pre-packaged meats. These refrigerators look like they are original to this store's opening.
Oddly enough, it seems like many (if not all) of these older stores I have been to seem to feature these same Transformational category signs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner meats. Such a random thing for Winn-Dixie to decide to upgrade.
Taking a look down aisle 5, we see a large assortment of items followed by snacks in the distance. I believe the green tags on the shelf indicate that this aisle was the "Dollar Shop", even if this store didn't have a sign stating such.
Fresh meats come next along the back wall of the store, sandwiched between "Luncheon Meats" and "Frozen Meats".
While I don't think this was an intentional capture on my part, aisle 14 seems to be unsigned in this store. Maybe Winn-Dixie decided to shuffle some aisles around and forgot to add some signage?
Well, looking back over the rest of the store, it looks like aisle 11 may be unsigned as well. Additionally, it looks like there is a really large gap between aisles 8 & 9 where the freezer section was (sorry I didn't get any pictures of that aisle, but it must have been really crowded).
Similar to the Marketplace stores from this era, the restrooms are in the back left corner of the store, adjacent to the dairy aisle.
Speaking of dairy, we can see that it occupies most of aisle 15 and the section along the back wall between the restrooms and the corner. It also looks like a few light bulbs need to be replaced in the egg refrigerators!
Up on the front left corner of the store is the deli and bakery. While I wasn't sure about the flooring in the rest of the store, it seems like the tiles in this corner were replaced during the last remodel because early-2000's Marketplace stores also feature this checkered design in this department. We can also see the edge of the pharmacy counter next to the deli. I'm not sure if it fell off or if it never received one, but the "Delicatessen" sign seems to be missing its WD logo as well.
Otherwise, this corner looks familiar to anybody who has been to a Winn-Dixie from this era.
Looking back at the checkout lines, we see the rare occasion of an old Winn-Dixie where the checkout cubes match the rest of the store's interior!
THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING your somebody's neighborhood WINN-DIXIE. This won't be my last Alabamian Adventure, so stay tuned as we will venture north to see another unique grocery store. But first, I have a number of Publix posts in the queue. If I can finish it in time, I'm planning to release a fun post on a former Sing, a former Publix, and a modern store on my blog this Saturday. Stay tuned!
- The Sing Oil Blogger
Aerial Views
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| Historic Aerials - 1981 Southlawn Plaza Winn-Dixie (now demolished) |
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| Historic Aerials - 1998 Winn-Dixie #446 - Westport Shopping Center |
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| Google Earth - 2015 Locations of the current and former Winn-Dixie stores |
