Publix #398 - North Pointe Plaza - Tampa, FL

Publix #398

15151 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, FL - North Pointe Plaza

     Hopefully I'm not spoiling you guys too much, but here we are again with another AFB and MFR double header. This format won't be an all the time thing, but I find it comes in handy when profiling a former Albertsons store alongside some other noteworthy retail nearby (and motivates me to write more often for MFR). As we saw over on AFB, across the street from this Publix store is the former Carrollwood Jewel-Osco, and later Albertsons, which you can read about in more detail here. Both of those brands came and went over a span of less than two years in the early 1990's, Publix seemingly unfazed by all the supermarket comings and goings happening elsewhere at this intersection.

     Publix #398 opened on December 13, 1990, roughly a year prior to the Jewel-Osco across the street, and joining a long-standing Kash n' Karry to the south (which would end up closing by the mid-1990's - Publix lucked out with this store, with all the competitors fleeing this corner so soon after their opening). Publix #398 is a fairly typical 49N store (as categorized by The Sing Oil Blogger in his Publix store model list). The 49N was the larger and more "grandiose" of Publix's two most common early 1990's store models. While size is one of the major factors that differentiates the 49N from its smaller sibling the 42N, 49N stores are easily identifiable by their grand, arched-ceiling dairy departments. There are some other differences between the two early 1990's models Publix used, but that arched-ceiling dairy department is the easiest one to spot.

     Publix #398 exists to this day in much of the same form as it did when it opened in 1990. We'll find many of the usual upgrades inside as well, and as of November 2022, this store has no known plans for replacement (as 42N and 49N stores are common targets for Publix's replacement plans, much like their even older counterparts).

     Stepping inside the store, we are greeted in the vestibule by our old friends the Classy Market 3.0/Sienna green bean welcome sign, mounted to the wall above the shopping carts. Both the 42N and 49N stores used Publix's split vestibule design, with the left and right sides of the building each having their own entrance, and the customer service desk and store offices located in-between.

     While my photo of the welcome sign was taken in the left side vestibule, we'll actually be starting our tour from the right side of the building. The front right corner of the store is the current home of the pharmacy, which was relocated over here from its former home next to the bakery in one of the store's more recent remodels. This corner was originally home to Publix's "multi-purpose nook", which is a small alcove that I've seen used in a lot of different ways (as a home for drinks, wine, snack foods, etc. - some 49N stores even had in-store bank branches in these corners as well back in the 1990's). That alcove has become a common place for Publix to relocate the pharmacy counter to in these 42N/49N stores, with very few of these still retaining the pharmacy in its original home next to the bakery. 

     Following the pharmacy counter we see the sign for the dairy department. Dairy occupies aisle 1, and is located under the signature 49N arched ceiling dairy department:

     The dairy department certainly makes a statement (and it's not often you find statement worthy dairy departments in a grocery store, or this department singled out on its own for such a grandiose treatment). Dairy coolers line the right side and back of the grand arched aisle, with beer coolers lining the left side (which I believe is an original trait - I remember beer on the left side of the grand arched aisle going way back). A row of coffin coolers would have run down the center of this aisle originally, but those colors have since been removed in favor of using the center of this aisle for various pallet drops of promotional merchandise, like beer, foam coolers...

     …firewood, and large ceramic planting pots. Yeah, those last two items Publix placed over here are pretty random, and this was the first Publix store I ever recall selling large ceramic planting pots (which I'm sure are right under milk, bread, and eggs on most people's grocery lists).

     Leaving the grand arched aisle behind us, we'll swing around the corner now into aisle 2, where the building begins to look more like something from a standard older Publix store.

     Moving along to aisle 3, we find ourselves under the salesfloor's raised ceiling. Unlike the 42N stores, these 49N stores had two sections of raised ceiling over the salesfloor, compared to one in the smaller stores.

     The deli was located in its usual spot in the back of the store, in this distinctive alcove area.

     While it might not look like it at first glance, I visited this store right at the beginning of the afternoon lunch rush. The Pub Sub line was beginning to build, although the cooler in front of the deli counter blocks our view of the sub counter line.

     Back to the grocery aisles, we find ourselves at the edge of the first raised ceiling section in aisle 6.

     Here's a quick look across the store's front end as we continue our stroll across the salesfloor. One of my favorite traits from these 42N/49N stores is that large angled light over the check lanes. That light does a good job of mimicking the effect of a skylight, while still giving the front end a very distinctive feel.

     Candy and greeting cards are conveniently placed together in aisle 7, as Publix knows those panicked husbands who forgot their anniversary want a convenient one stop shopping experience!

     Beyond the deli, we find a small service meat counter, followed by the pre-packaged meat coolers. The seafood counter is visible in the distance too, and we'll take a closer look at that in just a moment.

     Getting further toward the left side of the store, we find more of the non-foods products, such as the paper goods and Ziploc bags seen in this aisle.

     Health and beauty, which Publix typically tries to place as close to the pharmacy as possible in most stores, is all in its lonesome over here in aisle 14, on the opposite side of the store from the current pharmacy counter. While health and beauty is lonely over here today, that wasn't always the case. If we continue further toward the end of this aisle...

     We'll stumble across the wine alcove, which was also the former home of the store's pharmacy counter. If I had to take a guess, this store used to keep wine in the multi-purpose nook where the pharmacy is now, those departments swapping places during one of this store's Classy Market era remodels. Many times when the pharmacy is relocated, Publix opens up this area to expand the bakery department, as well as relocate floral, creating an environment that looks more like this. It really does change the overall feeling of the store when the old Pharmacy alcove is removed and the bakery is allowed to open up to the rest of the salesfloor, rather than being confined to the alcove in the front left corner. Seeing the old pharmacy department space preserved like this is actually a much rarer occurrence, as most of the intent for moving the pharmacy is to open up this side of the store to the airier floorplan.

     That last few aisles of this store are home to frozen foods, the first of which is this half aisle where the freezers share space with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich supplies.

     Stepping out from aisle 15, here's a look at the seafood service counter.

     Aisle 16 is home to another one of the 49N's distinctive oddities, this weird drop ceiling over frozen foods. Originally the drop ceiling would have contained lights under a ribbed plastic grid, however, this store had the original fixtures stripped out during a remodel, with the ceiling and lighting modernized to match the fixtures used throughout the rest of the building. The somewhat random placement of this drop ceiling has always perplexed me to its original use, however, all signs seem to point to this being something purely decorative to be used over frozen foods (even with this store's original Wavy Pastel decor).

     The first half of the store's last aisle, aisle 17, is home to the remaining frozen foods. Toward the end of this aisle, we spill out into the produce department:

     Produce occupies the back left corner of the building. An interesting observation when comparing these 49N stores to their smaller 42N counterparts: the 42N stores have a window in the back of the produce department where you can see into the produce prep counter, whereas the larger 49N stores don't have that. You'd think the window (which takes up a decent chunk of wall space) would be reserved for the larger store model, and not the smaller one!

     Since Publix moved wine into the pharmacy's former home, floral remains in its original home at the end of aisle 17 in this somewhat oversized endcap. Most older Publix stores had floral arranged like this, although it does look a lot nicer when floral gets moved up front after the pharmacy is relocated.

     From the edge of produce, here's one final look across the back of the store, recapping everything we've covered so far.

     Going back up aisle 17 to return to the front of the store, the last department we've yet to explore, the bakery, comes into view.

     The bakery still retains its home in an alcove in the front left corner of the store, the same way it's been since this store opened in 1990.

     Along with the bakery counter to my right, coolers of ice cream occupy the remainder of the perimeter walls of the alcove. This store's bakery also has a ceramic tile floor instead of the usual terrazzo too, a rarer sight in one of these older Publix stores. I wonder if the lack of terrazzo in the bakery lead Publix to not open up this part of the store like they did in so many other remodels. If Publix opened up this corner, the ceramic tile would have been a glaring mismatch to the terrazzo all around it, and I'm sure it wouldn't be easy to rip up all those tiles and try to match the terrazzo surrounding it.

     Leaving the bakery, we find ourselves at the front end again, getting ready to head back outside.

     The service desk is located along the front wall, between the store's two vestibules. Above the service desk you can see the windows for the upstairs offices, which are accessed via a staircase next to the restrooms by the left side doors.

     Probably the most interesting feature about this store I've saved for last - its tile mural! With its 1990 opening, store #398 was one of the last few Publix stores to get a Pati Mills tile mural (the last of these murals being installed in 1994). Toward the end Pati Mills began making her murals more region-specific, typically theming the mural around something of local significance to the area in which the store was built. The mural at this store has a harbor theme to it, which I believe is a tribute to nearby Tampa Bay.

     My photography of the mural was hampered a bit by that man sitting on the kiddie cart doing his scratch off lottery tickets (as well as a paint crew on a lift touching up the store's facade behind me). However, I still managed to pull off some decent photos of the mural even with all that not going in my favor.

     Not that I'm any expert on art, but I've always heard you need to look at the details in a painting, as you can sometimes find a few hidden surprises left behind by the artist. Pati Mills was known for incorporating some little surprises in her murals (such as hiding the initials of her 4 children "JADE" somewhere in her works). If you zoom in on the photo above, look closely at the names of the businesses on the two brown buildings - North Pointe Bait Shop and North Pointe Marina. Not only are those names a reference to that of the shopping center, but the "P" in "Pointe" was made to resemble the Publix logo! I thought that was a neat little detail Pati slipped in there!

     In her time painting murals for Publix, Pati Mills created well over two hundred of these works, depicting various scenes of cornucopias, villages, and other local highlights. According to Publix, less than 26 murals survive on active Publix stores, however that count is from 2019, and I haven't verified that number or counted how many more murals have been lost since. However, Pati Mills has stated numerous times that she "figures the murals have had a good run, and isn’t lamenting their loss". That's an interesting perspective given how many hours she must have put into creating all of these murals, but I guess that's a better perspective to have than to feel sad each time one of these is turned into a pile of rubble, which has happened a lot lately. Not too long ago, a reader of the blog shared with me a really good article about Pati Mills and the Publix murals published in the Palm Beach Post. You can check out that article here, and I highly recommend reading it, as it's one of the best articles about the Publix murals I've read so far.

     On the sail of the sailboat, we see a letter "P" and the number "90". The "P" must either stand for Publix or Pati, and the "90" is most likely a reference to this mural having been completed in 1990, just prior to the opening of this store.

     These local influence murals I feel are the most interesting ones Pati Mills did. While the cornucopia and wine bottles were a classic, they were fairly repetitive. These local ones were all unique, and told a different story every time.

     Now that we've seen the mural, it's back out to the parking lot for another look at the store's exterior. This store exterior isn't anything too out of the ordinary, and just a slight twist to one of the more common store designs Publix used in the early 1990's.

     Along with Publix, North Pointe Plaza is also anchored by Walmart. The North Pointe Walmart, store #1501, is still a completely original 1990's non-supercenter location. With Publix in the same shopping center (as well as the lack of space), Walmart doesn't have the option to expand this store into a Supercenter, and there aren't any large chunks of land nearby anymore to build a new Supercenter on, to this location seems stuck as it is for the time being. I can't say I mind that too much either, as I feel something nostalgic for these 1990's Walmart stores, probably because it's so rare to find one of these buildings still in its original condition like this! While the exterior was repainted to the company's latest color scheme, the interior still seems to retain the Cheap Impact decor.

     That quick look at Walmart out of the way, we'll wrap up our tour with this pulled back view of Publix #398. I hope you guys enjoyed another AFB and MFR BOGO deal, and stayed tuned to both blogs for more fun adventures through Floridian retail coming soon!

So until the next post,

AFB