Up In Smoke - Former Wendy's - Melbourne, FL

Now on this blog, I photograph a lot of vacated retail. Usually they close due to lack of profit, or parent bankruptcy. But rarely do they close because of fire.

While the exterior is fairly clean, all it takes is to walk up and peer through the smoke-fogged windows and...

it's clear something happened here. Now, I can't find info about this fire, which I guess is a good thing, because it means it didn't cause enough damage to warrant news coverage. (It was in 2020, however) And I also think this scene is more a result of cleanup crews with little regard for already-ruined furniture, than of a panicked evacuation.

The caution tape strung along the side of the building is another red flag, if you didn't want to get close enough to check out the interior.

The drive through is also in a pretty rough state. Not sure what caused some of the windows to be busted out, aside from just petty vandalism.

Looking through one of the few intact windows, we see pretty much everything has been left in place. Smoke is an unexpectedly pervasive and destructive force, and even with relatively small fires it can completely ruin an entire room's worth of stuff. If I was corporate, I wouldn't even dream of re-using any of this, so it's not too surprising it was all left behind.

The back of the store has a pretty gnarly smoke scar, as well as some scattered piles of leftover cleaning supplies. While the fire had happened relatively recently before these photos were taken, it didn't feel like it was so recent that there'd still be junk strewn about. But I guess not.

This location must have been fairly low-volume before the fire, since as you can tell from this photo and previous ones, they completely abandoned the property after doing minimal cleanup, instead of re-opening. Which wouldn't even be out of character, as several years ago the location on New Haven Ave suffered a small fire, and was closed for a few years before re-opening. But I doubt similar will happen here- they've left for good.

One of the most heartbreaking discoveries here was to find all the signage from the store, which would have been an amazing find as a memorabilia piece (this was inside the dumpsters so I would be fine taking it), but unfortunately as you can tell, everything's been completely destroyed. I believe you're looking at what would have been the panel in the road sign, with some chunks of the individual building letters at the bottom of the frame.

With that, this has been Cape Kennedy Retail

Index Level Red - Former Waffle House - Melbourne, FL

In 2020, the unthinkable happened. A Waffle House closed. For good! It shut it's doors, never to serve another waffle to weary motorists ever again!

This Waffle House closed sometime in 2020, though thankfully it wasn't a victim of the pandemic, but a relocation (though an odd one).

The new location, listed here, is at 4005 W Eau Gallie Boulevard, an odd location to me, as while it is off I-95, there's not much there except some church organizations, a flea market on the other side of I-95, and a bunch of houses. This location was located on W New Haven (192) and in a much more active area for hotels and commerce. Maybe they're betting on future expansion.

This location was built in 1986, making it decently but not insanely old for a Waffle House. While it looks very drab here, that's only because they painted all the Waffle House Yellow panels brown when they moved out (yet didn't remove the big sign that says "WAFFLE HOUSE"?)

While the blinds are pulled down, they don't go all the way down, so we can still get a look at the stripped out interior. The tiles remind me a lot of the ones you used to see in mansard McDonalds.

I'm honestly surprised they were able to rip off this much of it. Most of these stickers are probably pretty much fused to the glass by now.

We'll round off our post with a photo of the entrance, which the Waffle House shares with a hotel that's behind it. I don't think they were ever affiliated in the past, though it's possible.

Also, to anyone wondering what the title of this is referencing- it's a level on FEMA's Waffle House Index, an actual danger level index that's based on whether or not Waffle House is open, on a limited menu, or closed! Luckily, the closure of this Waffle House was a simple relocation, and not the result of a terrible disaster that wiped Melbourne off the map.

Until next time, this was Cape Kennedy Retail.

Stein Mart Liquidation - Viera (Melbourne), FL

 

Stein Mart always seemed like a chain out of time. Not in the sense of *running out of* time, though that did happen in the end, but in the sense they seemed outside of time. A department store, largely regional, in an age extremely unkind to both.

Of course, this also means the writing was on the wall for Stein Mart for many years. They suffered some of the same issues that New York & Company (aka Lerner) suffered: they had a stereotype as an old lady brand. Young people didn't go to Stein Mart, and unfortunately the younger demographic is the one that tends to keep retailers afloat.

Reflective of it's location, Viera's Stein Mart is a relatively new build; opening shortly after the rest of the Post Commons Shopping Center in early 2001.

I visited fairly early in the liquidation, so stock was high and discounts low. Though with some stores, discounts don't end up straying much farther from this...

Some general shots of the merchandise, still very well stocked at this time. It's easy to see how this store got it's reputation- I'm no fashion guru, but not much of this looks like current fashions. And the mugs and other stuff next to it screams Bath & Body Works and Pier 1 rejects.

This "HOME" sign caught my eye, since it's weirdly out of the way, tucked in an alcove over a non-customer use door.

With paltry 10% discounts on most merchandise, it's unsurprising that not much has moved. I'm not sure how deep the discounts got towards the end though, as I was never able to make it back for a second photo set.

10% off typical prices is a steal... for the seller, anyways. I'd imagine most of this was more than 10% off when the store was fully open, knowing the sales that they're known for.

I'll end this post with a photo I took of this store's odd "cart" setup. Much like similar shopping center department stores like Kohl's, this Stein Mart didn't really have traditional shopping carts, opting instead for these sort of "frames" you can drop baskets into. It's a bit of an odd set up for a clothing store, and I think it's more fitting for low-volume space-cramped places like a convenience store, small grocery store, etc. Not a big box like this.

Anyways, with that, until next time, this has been Cape Kennedy Retail.

The Tiniest Publix You Ever Did See - Melbourne Shopping Center - Melbourne, FL

This Publix would open in 1959, along with the Melbourne Shopping Center- at the time, the biggest and brightest shopping center south Brevard could boast! The store opened with the then-standard "wing" style facade, but would remodel many times over the years. The current facade was installed earlier this year, and while it fits Publix's newest Evergreen decor very well, this store still sports Classy Market 3.0

(EDIT May 2021 to correct information, thanks to AFB)
While this store is quite small, it's actually a relatively modern 28M format Publix. This plaza's original Publix was closed in 1999, when Publix demolished the former Woolworth to build this store. The original Publix space has long been subdivided, and is roughly where Cato Fashions and Bealls Outlet are now.

The entryway of this store was hard to get a photograph of, due to the loitering, cart-disinfecting employee you can see behind the glass. It's very small, and turns towards the right to enter the store.

One of the more modern amenities this store has gained is a Grab-n-Go cooler, wedged next to the bakery and deli.

You heard that right, despite it's tiny size, this store does feature a deli and bakery, though they're smaller than normal. When this store was built, I don't believe Publix was installing bakeries in their stores, so this must have been bodged in at a later date.

Even with only a handful of checkout lanes, you get the option of Express or normal.

Another assuredly bodged-in addition is this pharmacy counter, located in the front of the store near the entrance, and is more of a boxed-in island, as compared to Publix's more common, more traditional pharmacy counters. This one actually reminds me Albertsons' pharmacy islands, a bit.

Looking towards the back of the store, showing the produce section to the left with chips on my right.

While this is just a standard CM3.0 aisle sign, there is one thing to note- This is the last aisle. Yep.  The entire store only has 9 aisles. It's a small one!

Looking down from Aisle 7 to the other end of the store. The cooler to my right, it seems to be a standard install in every Publix I've seen. I have to wonder how old they are.

I can't remember if this was the only frozen aisle, or maybe one of two. Still impressed they got a decently sized frozen section in here at all.

 The store also managed to cram in both a seasonal display of pumpkins and fall decor, and a table of BOGO sales. This store really, despite it's size, does it's absolute best to be a fully featured Publix. And it's doing an admirable job! especially for it's age, with it's opening date making it the oldest operating Publix in Brevard County.

Until next time, this was Cape Kennedy Retail.

Exxon's Exit - Exxon Demolition - Melbourne, FL

 Once, there were three gas stations.

The first to fall was the New Haven Chevron, located at 15 E New Haven Avenue.

Disappearing quietly from at least the news press in the late 1990s, a rare non-Eckerd conversion CVS was built on it's site in 2003.

The second, was Gene's Shell.

A vintage, peaked roof Shell station, it was operated for likely it's entire life by it's namesake, Gene L Johnson, an Ohio native who had moved to the area in 1969. It's likely this station was built not soon after. Gene L. Johnson would pass away in 2002, at the age of 75.

By 2007, it had suffered a common fate for old service stations; converted into a used car lot, named "Car Cabana".

By 2011, while much quieter, there appeared to still be some activity at the site. However, this vintage building was not to stand.

Car lots and mechanics determined an urban blight, the wrecking ball fell in 2015, with the lot redeveloped into an AT&T store to buy new phones, an iFixGalaxy to fix that when you broke it, and a Tijuana Flats to numb the pricetag of the latest iPhone in beer and burritos.

The final one to fall, was the New Haven Exxon.

A wonderfully preserved, and still operating, vintage Exxon, which, to the very end, offered Full Service at one of it's pumps. A fly in amber, it seemed perfectly stable in it's little lot, situated on the corner of New Haven and Babcock.

Until it very abruptly wasn't.

One unremarkable morning in September, terrifying words rolled onto a local Facebook page.

"Does anyone know what's going on at the old Exxon on New Haven & Babcock? There's an excavator parked next to it."

A quick trip to the scene revealed the worst. Demolition crews had come to pull down the intersection's final gas station. By the time I had arrived, the office half of the building had already been pulled down, with only the damaged repair bays and the canopy still standing.

The one silver lining to this situation is that by the time I'd arrived, the demolition crew had parked their equipment and left for the day, giving me essentially free rein around the property.

The road sign was already stripped out, the panel presumably shipped off to be reused at another Exxon station in Florida.

One minorly amusing thing revealed by demolition was that the building was not in fact brick, but actually cinderblock with a brick facing.

Paperwork, notices, and convenient phone numbers are still attached to this pegboard, clinging to the half-demolished wall.

I considered taking a cinderblock from this pile just as a souvenir, but ended up not doing it.

A pile of scrap metal, old cabinets and support beams, lays separated from the rest of the rubble, likely to be hauled off to a metal recycler.

I'm not sure what happened to this air and vacuum kiosk, (maybe stripped of copper or something?) but they've taken a beating since they were in use. While the styling does remind me of Amoco, this has been an Exxon station since the day it was built in 1968.

Also notable is that you can see both former gas station lots in the background here.

The canopy and the pumps were the last to fall, with it being torn down shortly after the tanks were removed, about a week after I stopped by.

Despite all the branding thrown around, a review I read indicated that this station didn't actually sell Exxon-branded fuel, despite carrying the name.

A shot of the remaining repair bays here gives us a good view of the peaked roof and the windows installed in the roof. I almost wish someone could have come in to salvage these, but I'm not sure what use they'd have in another building.

I also enjoy the random office chair, floating around. Boss has to sit somewhere, I guess.

This side of the building must have been where they stored junk and other parts, and there's enough stains to indicate a miniature superfund site worth of spilled oil, antifreeze, and gasoline over the decades.

A look through the windows shows us the debris and rubble strewn interior of the garage. 

I'll leave off with a photo of this Full Service sign that I picked off the ground and saved, despite it's damage. I'd read that there was one pump, closest to the building, that was still full service up until the day they closed, so this likely adorned that pump. Despite looking quite weathered and old, the other side has a more modern Exxon advertisement. So I'm not sure how old it really is.

The Texaco sign behind it is a cheap repro I bought at a gift shop, so don't get excited about it.

Now, I haven't mentioned it yet, but the new business taking over this site is a car wash, called Dirty Dog's Car Wash. Now the issue is that their typical car washes are all bigger than this plot alone, which means... this wasn't the only building destined for the wrecking ball.

The other building to come down for the new car wash was this zig-zag roofed strip mall, which actually pre-dates the gas station by 6 years, being built in 1962. By this time, it was totally vacant, so it being demolished wasn't surprising. Thankfully Leonard's Auto Sales, next door to the Exxon and originally a private home built in the 1920s, isn't being demolished.

The only real visible remnants came from the cutely namely Spy Source Plus, an interesting store selling hidden cameras, CCTV equipment, and other gear. It also had a small road sign, which was the only road sign the plaza ever appeared to have, but my photo of that came out blurry.

With that, until next time. This was Cape Kennedy Retail.