Harveys #1671 - Lake City, FL

 

Harveys #1671 / #2413 / Former Food Lion #2137

Heritage Oaks

4506 SW Heritage Oaks Circle

Live Oak, FL 32055

Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)

Instead of my regular Sing Oil Saturday post, this week I decided to pull a MFR post out of my archives to showcase a special Harveys store I visited this summer.  I feel like I needed to highlight more of the regional grocery chain's crazy history after my last post covering a former Harveys store, and this location seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  AFB may have introduced the My Florida Retail Blog to the chain a few years back, but I intend to provide a bit more context into what the brand was like before its acquisition by (and identity crisis resulting from) Southeastern Grocers.

Growing up in Georgia, I always took Harveys Supermarkets (affectionately pronounced Ha-vees by many locals) for granted as a fact of life; they were never the cleanest or fanciest places, but they were usually nearby whenever you needed to grab a few quick groceries.  That is, until Southeastern Grocers got ahold of them.  Before I get to that, I want to rewind and give some insight into this often overlooked chain.

Harveys dates back to 1924, when the Harvey family started a grocery outlet which he would later transform into a regional chain.  The Nashville, GA based company became South Georgia's grocery store and expanded into numerous small towns across the region.  It is stated that "Joseph Hillman Harvey Jr. started working in his father's grocery stores when he was five years old, and later helped found the J.H. Harvey Company, Inc., in 1950. Emphasizing friendly customer service and a wide selection of fresh meats and local products, the Harveys chain grew from a handful of stores in the early 1950s to 45 locations in Georgia and north Florida in 2003, when Harvey sold the company to Delhaize Group." - Progressive Grocer

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys Supermarkets) - Ms. Iris Harvey Smith, daughter of J.H. Harvey, Sr. at the grand opening of a store in Ridgeland, SC on March 6, 2006.

Harveys would remain a family operation throughout the twentieth-century, with Joe Harvey, Jr's sister, Iris, also being involved in the company in addition to their father, J.H. Harvey, Sr.  According to her obituary, Iris was notorious for "authoring Iris’s Recipe Corner in the weekly Harvey’s Supermarket ads," which featured recipes she would try with her family before publishing.  The recipes were such a hit (and many sound pretty good to me right now) that she eventually published her own cookbook for the chain.

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys Supermarkets) - Harveys Best Cookbook

Fast forward into the twenty-first century, and you could count on a Harveys being in many counties providing groceries to the rural populations other chains (like Winn-Dixie or Publix) had forgotten.  Accordingly, Delhaize (parent company of Food Lion) liked this idea and decided to purchase the company in 2003.  Initially, most aspects of the chain seemed to stay largely the same. 

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys Supermarkets) - Food Lion-era Harveys private label products - 2011

Most stores kept their old décor and signage, and even a number of Harveys-branded private label items.  Eventually, some Home 360 or Food Lion branded product made its way to the shelves, but staples of the company, such as their delicious frozen buttermilk biscuits, kept the Harveys branding and adopted Food Lion styling.  

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys Supermarkets) - Food Lion private label products - 2011

The company must've realized at some point that it wasn't worth the effort to keep only a few Harveys-branded products, so the private label was eventually killed off in favor of Food Lion's (and the frozen biscuits were subsequently discontinued).  Harveys has a long history of providing a no-frills shopping experience, but the emphasis was more often placed on being a store for the people in the rural areas of the state.  It was common to find many Georgia Grown produce items, hear country music over the PA system, and even be the spot to purchase Luke Bryan concert tickets (as a South GA native, I'm sure Luke has been to a Harveys on numerous occasions, as Leesburg had a Winn-Dixie-turned-Harveys which was converted after the 2005 bankruptcy).

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys Supermarkets) - Harveys Logo - March 25, 2002

Delhaize did remodel a few stores or build a couple of new locations, but many stores remained the same until the brand was sold to Southeastern Grocers in 2013.  At that time, I would guess that a majority of stores retained some form of the logo we see above (which had been around for a number of years at that point).  Winn-Dixie began to bring about change after 2016, as they begun remodeling any remaining "Harveys Grid" stores (which I believe predates Delhaize's 2003 acquisition) to the horrendous Yellow Down Down package at a rapid pace, as they also decided to expand the Harveys banner to former Winn-Dixie and BI-LO stores in Florida and South Carolina.  Soon after, SEG announced a large closure round for a number of Harveys locations in smaller towns or duplicate locations in larger cities.  Many of these "underperforming" stores had been in towns for years and were often the only full-service grocer left (besides Walmart) since Winn-Dixie left much of Georgia between 2005-2018.  Misfortune would strike again as SEG announced in 2020 that they would sell all BI-LO locations and a majority of the Harveys stores to Food Lion, with all stores subsequently being converted to the Food Lion banner. As Food Lion's third attempt to reenter the South Georgia market (the first in the 1990's under their own name, and the second being the first Harveys acquisition), maybe this one will prove more successful than before; however, I believe the Harveys banner holds much more significance for Georgians than Food Lion's.

Courtesy Instagram (@harveyssupermarket) - September 26, 2022

Regardless, the remnants of Harveys today are only a crippled version of the former company, and it really makes me wonder why it still exists.  It looks as if there are only a handful of stores remaining which predate the original Delhaize acquisition, none of which are near Harveys original hometown of Nashville, GA.  The majority of stores also have been atrociously remodeled to Yellow Down Down, and I was only able to find three examples even left from the Delhaize days: Gray, GA, Havana, FL, & Lake City, FL.  I'd like to visit the Gray and Havana stores since they both have the Harveys specific "Southern Farmstand" package from Delhaize (even though they are SEG owned), but the Lake City store was really fascinating to me: it was built as a Food Lion but converted to a Harveys soon after by Delhaize.  This means that the store still exhibits Food Lion's nearly-extinct Rutherfordton interior!  Normally, touring a store with an otherwise extinct interior involves seeing the place modified from how the original designer intended, but this location is unique in that it looks almost exactly the same as Delhaize left it back in 2013, complete with the Delhaize-era Harveys logo!  I assume Delhaize didn't bother remodeling the location when they switched it to the Harveys name since the package was similar, but still nicer, than what was being used in other Harveys locations at the time.  I'm glad that SEG hasn't touched it either!  As you have seen, I'm not a huge fan of Food Lion's current EFA 3.0 package, but something about Rutherfordton makes it feel more premium, like a rural-themed Fresh Market package.  Maybe it is all of the wooden trellis structures, or the dim incandescent downlighting over the Grand Aisle, but these stores feel fancy.  This was certainly the most premium Harveys I have ever seen!  I was glad I was able to make it to this store because I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the formerly Georgia-based company, and also used to enjoy seeing a Rutherfordton-built Food Lion while on trips (many of which in Georgia closed around 2012). 

 

Courtesy Facebook (Florida Gateway College / Brandon M. Beil) - December 23, 1989

This 34,000 sq. ft. store began its first life as a Food Lion on November 19, 2008, as a replacement for store #574 after a sinkhole opened up under the plaza.  While I wasn't able to find a picture of the former Food Lion before it was swallowed whole, I managed to come across the picture above showing the sign for Food Lion #574, as well as the adjacent Kmart and Eckerd.  We can also see former Publix #234 in the background and quite the dusting of snow.  Who knew Florida could see such a thing!

Courtesy activerain (Bruce Dicks) - November 19, 2008

It is claimed that this was the first Rutherfordton-style Food Lion to be built in Florida, which I haven't bothered to verify, but the location would've only seen competition for this title from stores in the Jacksonville area off to the East.  It does appear that this store opened only six months after the brand new Publix #1192, which opened on 5/1/2008 as a replacement for an old 42E store on US Highway 90.

Courtesy activerain (Bruce Dicks) - November 19, 2008

I'll just say that I wasn't surprised to discover that this store opened with Food Lion's Rutherfordton interior package, as evidenced by the photo above from the store's first day in operation.  What I am surprised to see is how bananas were priced at 69¢ a pound in this photo, and just last week I was in a Publix where they were being sold for 60¢ a pound!  Was there some sort of banana shortage in 2008 that I don't remember?  I thought 60¢ was expensive for bananas in 2022, but I suppose the high gas prices from the summer of 2008 either caused inflation of food prices or Delhaize wanted to pay off this new store fast!

Courtesy Lake City Florida Blog - Food Lion #2137 - 2011

By 2012, Food Lion decided to close many of their stores throughout the Southeast, including every store in Florida, and once again scale back their footprint.  This particular store must have been profitable for the chain because it was spared, well, sort of.   

Courtesy Archive.org (Harveys-supermarkets.com) - February 29, 2012

Instead of the location remaining as-is, Delhaize decided to swap the store to the Harveys moniker which was much more plentiful in South Georgia and parts of North Florida.  The store officially reopened on February 29, 2012, after a very light interior remodel; I suppose Delhaize didn't see a reason to remodel a three-year-old store, and I can't say I disagree. 

Update: want to check out how this store would look with either EFA 3.0 or Winn-Win, check out this Food Lion in Piedmont, SC or this Winn-Dixie in St. Augustine to take a look at these alternate realities.

Modern supermarket architecture is usually in the "meh" category for me, especially since many stores have steered away from any traditional brick colonial styles I would like to see.  Food Lion seemed to be the exception with these stores, as they have much more character than a typical "box". I love how the designers used the different roof heights to add some visual interest, while also making the building not look too stark and imposing.  The red brick is also a nice compliment (and not a typical choice for a Floridian building material). 

Unfortunately, this store only sold a few Boston ferns out front, as it looks like it has plenty of space for a larger selection of plants.

Anyway, that's enough rambling, let's take a look at this store!

Welcome (to Food Lion?)  I don't know for sure, but the alignment of this Welcome lettering leads me to believe it originally had more to say.  I guess Delhaize was too lazy to make custom lettering for Harveys, so they instead opted to remove the other text.  Here we see our first look at the vestibule.  If I recall correctly, the Food Lion MVP coupon center would've been located where the "Save More!" sign is now.

Maybe the Welcome sign was just not centered in my last shot, but never had additional text.  Regardless, the vestibule looks mostly the same as Food Lion left it.

I really enjoyed looking at the local flare photos added to this store, especially the old KYSO station in the top right corner.  I'd imagine these are original to the store, but don't remember if other Rutherfordton Food Lion locations had this.

Yes! One of my favorite departments in this store: produce!  The Delhaize designers did a good job of creating a warm ambiance in this department, and it looks like most of that has continued under SEG's care.  Vinyl wood flooring seems to be a dying trend, but I feel like it adds much more character to a space than the concrete floors underneath. 

Turning a bit to the left, we see a blurry shot of the floral section, deli, and the beginning of the grocery aisles.  If you are in need of raw peanuts, Harveys has your back!

Turning around, we see the doors back to the vestibule

Followed by the checkout lines and grocery aisles.

Although Delhaize didn't do much to change this store from a Food Lion, at least they didn't leave behind any blatant remnants, such as old signs.  If I didn't know better, I would've assumed this store opened as a Harveys!

Moving on down to the Grand Aisle, we see the deli, bakery, and meat department off in the distance.  I was initially inspired to take on this tour after seeing photos that Flickr user Ian Woods posted a few months back.  He did a good job capturing the essence of the store, but I couldn't resist seeing Rutherfordton one more time for myself.

This setup did remind me of some of the deluxe Winn-Dixie Marketplace stores which featured the "Food Pavilion" in this section of the store.  Although there are only service departments along the right wall here, the jagged displays to my left are reminiscent of those aforementioned stores.

I'm not sure what Food Lion originally stocked this cooler with opposite the deli, but I'd imagine they had a few more options besides several cheeses, pastas, and soups.  I'm actually surprised to see any specialty cheeses in a Harveys due to the discount nature of the store.

SEG wanted to be cheeky with this sign for their new chicken combo bucket.  I don't thwink their phrasing is the best here (it seems more cheesy than clever), but still thought it was worthwhile to capture their attempt.

Looking directly toward the grocery aisles from the deli / bakery, we see a cut-through filled with several pallet drops (somebody likes popcorn around here).  Above this area was a permanently-mounted canvas awning which seemed to sport Food Lion brown and blue.

I typically don't like split aisle setups, but it seems to work with this store's limited implementation.  Here we also get another view of the bakery counter.

Let's take one last look at the bakery before we move on.  I'm not sure how extensive Harveys bakery offerings are (I seem to remember them mostly consisting of pre-packaged goods), but they still have the full counter setup left by Food Lion.

Harveys typically offers more limited service departments compared to Publix or Winn-Dixie, and we can see how their meat and seafood departments primarily offer pre-packaged products.  I'm not sure if this was always the case with Food Lion, but I believe they would've had a larger window for the butcher station with lower coolers.  The orange coffin cooler also seems like an odd color choice to me.

Next up is the dairy department in the back of the store.  I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the pendant lights above the sign aren't actually functional and are purely decorative.  You can tell that this sign is uplit based on the shadow cast above it, and how the light continues past the sconces / sign.

Taking a look down the rear actionway, we can see the laminate tile used in the grocery department.  We also see the frozen foods department off in the distance.  I'd like to point out how this store uses aisle signs which resemble the blue ones used in Food Lion stores with the Rutherfordton package.  Below those signs, we see the "Great Prices" signs provided by SEG.  I'm not certain, but I believe these signs were installed or heavily retrofitted once SEG took over the store.  If you can't tell by now, Harveys corporate branding was sort of a disaster during most of the 2010's due to all of the acquisitions!

I wish I had taken a better picture of it, but I noticed the sign between aisle 3 & 4 still advertised Harveys "Hometown Rewards" card which was discontinued around 2015 when SEG consolidated the rewards programs for their stores with the Plenti system.  The card was marketed as the "Key to savings" because the original keychain cards were shaped like a key but were eventually replaced by the design we see on the poster after SEG purchased the stores in 2013.  It surprises me that this sign has lasted until 2022, but I feel like most people wouldn't notice this discrepancy.  Harveys doesn't even offer physical rewards cards now!

Taking a look back toward the meat department, we see how most of the aisle signs lost their advertisement cards (with the "Great deals every day" being one of the only varieties to survive).  I believe these spaces were originally used for endcap specials advertising, but I'm not certain.

The first aisle we will take a closer look at will be aisle 6, home to coffee, cereal, etc.

I don't believe I have seen other stores lay down extra cereal boxes on top of the shelves, but maybe this store didn't want to fill up their stock room with cereal.

This store also continues to feature a few Food Lion category markers; although, it looks like many of them must have been removed.  If you zoom in to this picture, you can see an original "Great Prices" sign above the shredded cheese.

Aisle 7 is home to cookies, crackers, and soft drinks.  I didn't realize this until just now, but the category listings for aisle 7 list "Chek Drinks".  This perplexes me because it indicates SEG did alter these signs, which I had originally thought were original to Delhaize.  I've seen these signs in other Harveys stores, so either SEG decided to swap out all of the cards in them or decided to use aisle signs which coincidentally resembled the Rutherfordton style.

Aisle 8 is where customers will find pet supplies and paper products.  It is also where we see a faded Frito-Lay endcap.

The back left corner of the store is home to ice cream, and logically has corresponding signage

Lots of freezer space!

Interestingly, this aisle looks really dark in my picture since it lacked overhead lighting.  It didn't feel dark in person due to the uplighting for the signage and the freezer lights, which instead added more ambiance to the space.

The front of the aisle is the beer and wine section, complete with Food Lion's original department signage.

During my entire trip to this store, the Glass Tiger song "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" was stuck in my head, as I feel like a different predatory cat was serenading me with the classic Publix hit.

We'll take one last look down the leftmost aisle in the store and see a few empty category sign brackets whose signage must not have aligned with SEG's intents.

Back up front, we see that the lighting has returned to normal, and we are given a good look at the trellis covering the checkout lines.  The sconces are certainly some of the more unique lane lights I have seen!

Is it just me, or does that blue "Restrooms" sign feel a bit out of place here?

This store may have been the nicest Harveys I've seen, but it was starting to show its age in some spots. Here we see where the vinyl over the beer coolers was beginning to peel back and reveal the sheetrock behind.

I liked how Delhaize made a nod toward Harveys' origin by including this vintage picture in the front of the store.  I also think it is funny how it includes a number of vintage logos but wasn't updated by SEG with the new wordmark.

Here's a bit more of a zoomed out look at the front of the store, with the customer service desk just past the lottery kiosk.

Although the customer service desk for this store is in front of the checkout lanes, the tobacco service counter is between lanes 5 & 6.  I don't recall having seen this in many stores and wonder what the reasoning for it is.

SEG recently signed a deal with Grocery TV to install digital signage for ads next to checkout lines.  Similar to gas pumps showing ads, I'm not sure how chickpea seasoning tips make me want to buy more groceries.  I did see it flash some store branding for the rewards program while I was there too.  I've certainly seen worse things in grocery stores, so these signs didn't really bother me.

Our last shot inside the store looks toward the produce department along the front end of the store.

I decided to take this picture when I was leaving the store because I noticed one basket used Harveys current logo, while the other had the old logo.  I was initially confused by Delhaize and SEG seemingly using the same shopping basket vendor, but then realized both baskets were purchased by SEG.  Even better, I realized that SEG subtly redesigned the Delhaize-era logo, likely because they didn't own the original fonts to use in marketing campaigns.  If you look closely at the "supermarket" text in this logo, the font is slightly different from what is used on the exterior signage of this store.  I first noticed how the "u" has a leg in this logo yet lacks one in the logo on the building.  SEG would again redesign the Harveys logo, so the primary wordmark uses the same font as Winn-Dixie, while retaining the same secondary text as the former SEG logo.  So confusing!  Now I wonder how many times I have seen both logos without realizing they were different.  At least it gives me a way to date anything which may remain featuring the old logo.

Back outside, we'll see a few more overview shots of the store before we depart.  Family Dollar took up residence in the space next door, along with a few other shops on either side of the store.

I just love the design of this store, and it is probably one of the few Rutherfordton stores you will ever see featuring Floridian palm trees!

I love North Florida, but sometimes you never know what you'll come across in the parking lot: that includes a GMC (Y)ukon with a wooden bumper.

We'll also see some homemade window art advertising the Harveys app.  My poor drawing skills certainly couldn't do much better with the text, but I would've at least tried to use green paint instead of blue!  Maybe the lettering has just faded?  "Earn points and save money by -> check out our app!"  I also would've tried to make my phrasing cohesive (save money by downloading our app? save money by check[ing] out our app?).  Regardless, the blue "H" icon just makes me think they want me to download an app for the local hospital, not my local supermarket!

I decided to snap these two shots on my way out to showcase more of the fragmentation of the brand.  Above, we see a Publix-style cart corral which could have come second-hand from the Floridian grocer or could have been a coincidental purchase by Southeastern Grocers.  However, below we see a Food Lion corral which is likely from the store's opening and was painted from blue to green as part of the Harveys conversion.

In closing, I'm glad I had the chance to visit this unique store and also understand why SEG hasn't bothered to remodel it.  Hopefully the company will have its act together by the time this store does get an overhaul, and not waste their time installing Yellow Down Down.  Only time will tell!

I also hope you enjoyed the new graphics I made for this post.  The wise ones amongst you will likely recognize my inspiration, and just know that there is more to come!

Until next time,

- The Sing Oil Blogger