Former Publix #308 - St. Lucie Square - Port St. Lucie, FL

Publix #308

6666 S. US Highway 1, Port St. Lucie, FL - St. Lucie Square

     After way too long, I'm finally back to write another MFR post! While Cape Kennedy Retail has been keeping you folks entertained with some new posts recently, I was focusing my efforts over on AFB, so I haven't had much of a chance to work on anything over here. However, I finally had the opportunity to throw something together for you guys, so we're going to spend today looking at a funky former Publix store that's fascinated me for years...

 

     Publix #308 opened on November 13, 1986, as part of a classic late 1980's/early 1990's Publix-anchored community center. I've always enjoyed the design of these centers, which would include Publix as an anchor (obviously, as Publix was the one who usually spearheaded the construction and design of these centers) and Walgreens as the drugstore junior anchor, with a sprawling expanse of smaller storefronts connecting the two. In some cases, additional junior anchors like Bealls Department Store or a sit-down restaurant chain would be included in these centers, but that didn't happen here. St. Lucie Square was of the more generic prototype, built on the quieter northern edge of Port St. Lucie along US 1. These shopping centers have rather distinctive architecture, including the use of ribbed concrete blocks, airy walkway canopy designs, and nice detailing along the front of the building. It's a classic 1980's Floridian shopping center design, and it uses a little more character compared to the blah plain stucco designs popular today.

     Since this center was built in a quiet little pocket of Port St. Lucie near the edge of town, a bit separated from any other nearby retail, Publix decided it was time for a move come the new millennium. Port St. Lucie's population was booming in the early 2000's, and this store was not built in the best location to take advantage of that boom. Publix eventually found a site to their liking two miles to the south of here, situated at the much busier intersection of US 1 and Prima Vista Boulevard. Prima Vista Boulevard is one of Port St. Lucie's major east-west thoroughfares, and a vital link into the neighborhoods where the population growth was happening, whereas the area around St. Lucie Square was older, quieter, and stagnating. October 4, 2002 would be Publix #308's last day in business, as the new store down the road, Publix #855, would open the next morning on October 5, 2002.

     After Publix left St. Lucie Square, the plaza began its downfall into attracting some of the lower-tier tenants of retail, which is where the place remains to this day. Following Publix's departure, their old store was subdivided into multiple spaces for smaller tenants, which originally included a dry cleaning facility, a tile store, offices for the local Realtor's association, and an "arcade" in the years immediately following Publix's departure. However, considering the type of tenants this plaza now attracts, the old Publix space has seen a lot of its new tenants come and go through the years. Currently, the space is divided between a church, two "arcades", and a large empty space that was last home to a Planet Fitness, which recently relocated to a new spot in the Winn-Dixie plaza a few miles up the road in Fort Pierce.

     Even though it's been gone for almost 20 years now, I was actually in this Publix store a handful of times when it was open. From what I vaguely remember, it was just a usual 1980's layout store (similar to this inside), closing with the Wavy Pastel decor of the 1990's. Besides that, I can't speak for much more detail about the place when it was open. After Publix left, the space was subdivided pretty quick for the new tenants, however through all of those, the exterior of the building has never been altered since the Publix days. I don't even think the building's been painted since Publix left, actually. The fact the exterior was never touched through the years always intrigued my younger self, especially with how the building was chopped up. The landlord just made the Publix exterior design work for whoever wanted to open up shop in the place!

     Stepping onto the front walkway near the left side of the old Publix space, we find yet another obvious Publix relic - the old entry door! I don't think anyone has passed through this door in almost 20 years, ever since Publix left. This door led into the left side of Publix entry vestibule, with an identical door on the opposite end of the vestibule. The blacked out door now leads into part of one of the two "arcades" that occupies the old Publix building. And does anyone else feel that hanging neon signs in an otherwise blacked-out window is a bit of a weird sight? I thought it was, although it just helps add to the otherwise weird ambience this plaza now has.

     Turning the corner, here's a look across the front of the old vestibule. A door was carved out of the middle of the vestibule for the tile store that took over this space following Publix's departure, and that same door was reused by Planet Fitness during their time here.

     Peeking inside the abandoned Planet Fitness, it was dark inside and hard to see anything, although I don't see anything obvious from Publix jumping out at me (which I figured, after all the crazy subdividing that had been done through the years here). This real estate listing has some better pictures of the interior of Planet Fitness, which shows there was a decent amount of remodeling done before they moved in.

     At the other end of the building, here's a look toward Publix's old right side entrance, which was closed in with a window (unlike what we saw on the other side). The "arcade" to my right is also in part of the old Publix space, specifically the area where the dairy department, customer service desk, and first few grocery aisles were.

     In case you were wondering why I keep putting quotes around the word "arcade", that's because these places aren't your traditional arcades where you go to play pinball and Pac-Man with your friends after school. "Arcade" is just a pseudonym used by business around here for what's essentially a mini-casino in disguise, these places operating slot machines and other forms of gambling in a gray area of the law. Most of these places were shut down in 2013 when a scandal was discovered that stemmed from a chain of these "arcades", which were being used as a front for a money laundering scheme. The exposure of that scheme caused the state to change its gambling laws to get rid of these places entirely, however in recent years, some new gambling law loopholes have been discovered that made these places pop back up again. These "arcades" love to open in some of the older, cheaper-rent, not-so-high-class shopping centers in these parts, which St. Lucie Square now fits the bill for (and is home to at least three of these places, including the two in the old Publix).

     Making our way toward the plaza's former Walgreens store, here's a look back at the old Publix space.

     These exterior photos you see as we move toward the old Walgreens were actually taken as I was leaving. When I was here, I actually walked along the front walkway from the old Publix to the old Walgreens, and it was one of the more depressing (and strange) walks I've had in any shopping center. All of the tenants between the old Publix and old Walgreens have blacked-out windows, high-tech security systems and surveillance, and systems in place where you had to be buzzed-in to enter. All that was juxtaposed by some nice shrubbery and some decorative wooden benches placed at even intervals where you could sit and relax, an odd compilation of what this plaza was like 20 years ago with what it's turned into today.

     Turning our attention away from Publix for a moment, here's a look at the plaza's former Walgreens space. Opening around the same time as Publix in 1986, Walgreens left this location for a new freestanding store at the intersection of US 1 and Prima Vista Boulevard in 2001 - the same intersection upon which Publix would join them a year later. Following Walgreens departure, this space was home to a few no-name dollar stores and then a night club called The Mojo Room before Dollar Tree moved in during the early 2010's. With Planet Fitness moving up the road in 2020, Dollar Tree is the last chain tenant in St. Lucie Square.

     The front of the space still feels much like a Walgreens, although The Mojo Room and Dollar Tree did make some modifications to the space following Walgreens' departure. The Mojo Room combined the main Walgreens space with the attached liquor store next door, and reconfigured the entryway because of that. When Dollar Tree came into the picture, they redid the interior make the space feel more like a store again, wiping away any noticeable traces that could have been left behind from Walgreens inside.

     While we're here, we'll do a quick spin around Dollar Tree. Here we're looking toward the main entrance, where two sets of manual doors were installed by The Mojo Room to replace the old automatic doors left behind by Walgreens.

     Here I'm standing in the old liquor store space. Those windows in front of me are original to the liquor store, and one of the only original Walgreens artifacts left in here.

     Everything to the right of me would have originally been part of the liquor store, with the main drugstore space spanning out to my left.

     Here's a look across the back of the store, where the pharmacy counter would have been located. When Dollar Tree takes over these old Walgreens spaces, they're usually pretty good about removing any obvious traces of the old pharmacy counters, and most other original features.

     Frozen food coolers take up the approximate location of the old pharmacy counter.

     Walgreens' small grocery section would have been located along this wall, on the far side of the drugstore space.

     There's not much more to say in here, so let's head back outside...

     Stepping outside, this photo looks across the front of the old Walgreens toward the southern end of St. Lucie Square, where an Italian restaurant called DaVinci's is located. DaVinci's has been in that spot for a really long time, going back to the days when Publix was here. I'm not sure if the restaurant has been here since the beginning, but it's certainly one of the plaza's longest lasting tenants.

     Before finishing off this post, here's a look at the old Publix one last time. It's crazy to think Publix has been gone for so long, yet the building still looks the same as it did when Publix was last here 20 years ago. I'm not going to complain about that though, as St. Lucie Square, even with how hard it's fallen, is a very well-preserved example of a 1980's Publix shopping center.

     Before leaving St. Lucie Square, here's a look at the plaza's northern end, where a few small (mostly office-type) business were located, as well as a restaurant called Chubbie's at the very northern tip.

     However, speaking of restaurants, this funky sight caught my attention as I was pulling into the plaza. Pictured here is a Tropical Smoothie Cafe and T-Mobile store, setting up shop in a very obvious former KFC/LJS combo building. It appears the KFC/LJS closed in the mid-2010's, with this odd subdivision happening shortly thereafter. I feel this place compliments all the strangeness in the plaza behind it very well, in terms of odd subdividing without changing a thing on the outside!

     Around the side of the building, we see more of how nothing has been changed. The T-Mobile and Tropical Smoothie signs were placed in the same frames where the KFC and LJS ones were, the building repainted entirely brown. After doing that, that the remodeling crew called it a day.

     Before leaving St. Lucie Square, here's a look at the plaza's road sign, which is also original to its opening in 1986. I like the design of this sign, with the plaza name wrapping around the sign board the way it does - it just seems very 1980's, fitting in perfectly with everything else in the plaza.

     For fun, here's a satellite image showing the entirety of St. Lucie Square, with Publix being the large building in the middle, and Walgreens being the larger space to the right of Publix.

     Jumping down the road, here's the plaza Publix moved to in 2002, called Prima Vista Crossings. As you can tell, the area is much busier around here than it is up the road by St. Lucie Square. I feel that Publix wasn't happy with the location of St. Lucie Square, as the plaza always seemed oddly situated and quiet. Having only lasted 14 years as a Publix, I feel that shows how unhappy Publix was with the location, as that's a rather short run for a Publix (as most Publix stores will go 25-30 years or more before a relocation or rebuild is considered, unless the store outgrows the building too quick or the original location had some quirk to it that Publix wasn't happy about).

     Even though Publix eventually made the jump down here to Prima Vista Crossings, the reason I bring that plaza up is because of an accidental discovery I made about Prima Vista Crossings while doing some research on the site. Even though Publix would relocate here in the end, the original plan for the plaza (seen above) that I dug up from the St. Lucie County Official Records database shows Winn-Dixie as the plaza's original grocery anchor! (It might be hard to see, but if you zoom into the large building in the middle of the plaza, it says Winn-Dixie). When the plans for Prima Vista Crossing were first drawn in the late 1990's, Winn-Dixie was supposed to be the anchor, building a new Marketplace store here from the looks of the drawing. If you compare the drawing above to what was actually built in the satellite image, you see the two buildings are completely different. Once Publix came into the picture, the plaza was completely redesigned. I don't know why Winn-Dixie backed out on anchoring Prima Vista Crossings, as the plans came out long before Winn-Dixie began to show serious signs of faltering, but we can theorize about that all night. No matter what happened, Publix was plotting to leave St. Lucie Square at some point, and they ended up getting their chance because Winn-Dixie changed their mind.

Photo from Google Maps

     We'll end this post with a picture of the Publix that carries on the legacy of old #308 up the road, the very busy Publix #855 at Prima Vista Crossings. The Prima Vista Crossings Publix has a stately brick exterior, a rather unusual building material for Publix. The inside is the typical early 2000's Publix design, just with the fancy facade to go along with it.

     So that's all I have to say about Publix's presence in Northeastern Port St. Lucie. Hopefully it won't be another 3 month lag time before my next MFR post, as hopefully I'll find some time this summer to work a little more on MFR!

Anyway, until the next post,

AFB

The Pastel-less Wonderland - Winn-Dixie #2355 - Fort Pierce, FL

Winn-Dixie #2355

4967 South US Highway 1, Fort Pierce (White City), FL - Towne South Plaza

     Oh yes, this store again, the Winn-Dixie I gave the name "The Pastel Wonderland" when we saw it last time on my flickr photostream, where that album of photos still resides. This store contained many interesting and funky examples of the classic rose and teal Marketplace decor package, which gave it a classic charm. While I quite enjoyed the funky interior this store had, that's not the reason we're revisiting this store today. If you haven't already been able to figure it out from the title, we're revisiting this store because...

     ...yes, because of its recent remodel to the Down Down/Red Interior. While there are still plenty of untouched 90's Marketplace Winn-Dixies out there, SEG was able to do a surprising amount of remodels over the course of 2017 and 2018, when they really cranked up their remodeling initiative. This particular Winn-Dixie was included as part of a remodeling sweep done back in the Spring of 2018. Unlike many Winn-Dixie remodels of late, which have been nothing more than new paint on the walls and rearranged aisles, I was actually a bit surprised to see how much work Winn-Dixie put into this remodel. The remodel here actually included new floors, freezers, and the addition of a second entryway, as well as some ceiling work and relocation of some departments. While this was more work than many other Winn-Dixie stores have been able to get in the latest remodel sweep, this was by no means a super fancy remodel like we saw back in the days of the Transformational stores. However, this store cleaned up nicely, and I have to give Winn-Dixie the credit for putting in the effort where it was needed.

     A very large, updated logo graces the repainted exterior. The word "Marketplace" took center stage on the exterior prior to the remodel (as we saw in the first photo of this post). With the Marketplace era gone, Winn-Dixie gets their name up in lights now (about 20 years after the Marketplace era officially ended, but hey, Winn-Dixie is at least trying!).

     Something this store got as part of its remodel that I haven't seen in most other basic remodels are new doors. Previously there were two swinging doors here, like you'd see at most 80's built Winn-Dixies, replaced now by this single set of sliding doors. With the addition of the new second entrance (visible on the other side of the vestibule through these doors), Winn-Dixie probably felt it was in their best interest to replace the doors over here too. However, adding a new entrance is also something I've only seen in this remodel too, but more on that in a bit...

     Walking in through the original left side entrance, we find this photo collage greeting us as we enter the White City Winn-Dixie. While technically falling in the southern fringes of Fort Pierce, Winn-Dixie chose to honor this small community for its official designation. While not officially a city of its own anymore, White City is a small community located behind this Winn-Dixie, settled in the late 1800's and known locally for is large remaining cluster of old-Florida architecture. This website has some more details about the history of White City if you're interested in learning more.

     Another nice touch here is the addition of classic Winn-Dixie photos as part of the collage. None of these photos are specific to this particular location, but it's still a nice touch (especially as a certain other grocery chain in these parts is working to remove their classic photo collages as part of their recent remodeling sweep).

     Anyway, stepping through the front doors, here's our first look into the store itself. The produce department lies in the distance ahead where we see that pop of red (previously a pop of pastel). Also, at the right edge of this photo we can see the new right side entryway door. I'm a bit surprised Winn-Dixie went through the effort to add another door here, but clearly they see something in this store to give it a bit more love than some of the others! Here's a look toward the new entryway prior to the remodel.

     Here's a look across the vestibule, as seen from the special deals section. Prior to the remodel, most of the windows you see here were blacked out so the vestibule could be used to store promotional merchandise. With the promotional merchandise moved elsewhere now, the light was allowed to shine back it. All the windows make it nice and bright up here, which I like. One thing about this store prior to the remodel was that it always felt dark to me. The newly remodeled store felt much brighter, partially due to the uncovered windows, and probably from some upgraded lighting as well.

     Promotional merchandise has been moved to the small area to my left, displaying this week's deals. Previously most of this merchandise was located along the wall to my right (in addition to seasonal merchandise), as well as in the unused portion of the vestibule.

     However, the front wall between the entrance and produce had to be cleared out to make way for the relocated Floral department. Floral was previously located in an island between the deli and produce, pictured here, typical of a 90's Marketplace store. Floral was moved to the front wall to make way for an expanded Wine and Beer department in its former location.

     Moving into the produce department, everything looks much different (and much more red) than the last time we saw this part of the store.

     Gone are the pastels, the angled lighting, and the decorative beams going across the ceiling. In its place we find a whitewashed ceiling with a red perimeter, with new tube lights replacing the angled lighting that was removed. As funky as it looked prior, this part of the store had much more character with the old decor and design.

     While the Down Down decor isn't this most visually exciting decor package out there, there are some situations were it doesn't look all too bad, even in these remodeled older stores. For some reason this decor just looks odd in this part of the store, probably due to the contrast from the stark white color of the vaulted ceiling.

     Turning the other way, we find the new wine and beer department located between produce and the deli counter. The current wine and beer department is located in what was once the space that housed floral, as well as excess space for overflow promotional merchandise. What's really bad is I can't remember where the beer and wine department was located in this store prior to the remodel. I think the beer was somewhere on the opposite side of the store near dairy and the bakery, but I can't picture the wine anywhere!

     The wine and beer department is the only department to get black paint on the walls instead of the usual red for the rest of the departments, at least in these cheaper remodels. In some of the deluxe Down Down remodels, the black (or even wood grain) accenting is used in other departments (such as the bakery, deli, and meat departments). My one main complaint about this decor is that there isn't much variety in the colors used. For the most part, the walls are either bright red or stark white, with not much else to take away from how powerful those two colors are. However, the color situation could be worse...

     Aisle 1 bumps up to the produce and wine department, containing mostly packages of water.

     New spotlights were installed over the wine department to shine off the bottles, a common sight in most Winn-Dixie stores remodeled since the company's first bankruptcy in 2005.

     Here we have a look back at what we just covered. From this angle, the decor actually goes together nicely, however the previous look really went above and beyond with the details.

     In the back right corner of the store is the deli. During the remodel, the deli cases were replaced and the prepared foods selection was expanded. While the prepared foods selection at this store is nothing compared to what you'd find at a deluxe Down Down or a Transformational store, Winn-Dixie did add a sandwich counter and a new grab and go case here. It's still more than what was here prior. And speaking of deluxe offerings, a recently remodeled Winn-Dixie in Neptune Beach (which is near Jacksonville) even got itself a taproom! Publix doesn't even offer one of those yet!

     Here's a closeup of some of the new prepared foods cases this store has added. Pretty much every Winn-Dixie, be it a fancy Down Down store or a store still stuck in 1994, got the new chicken wing bar in some form. Winn-Dixie has really been pushing the selection of Lip Lickin' Chicken (as they call it), which includes the wing bar, the fried chicken selection, and the rotisserie chickens, running various promotions during the week with their chicken selection. Next to the wing bar is another case of deli prepared foods and the sandwich station, followed by the grab and go case. 

     Here we have a look across the back of the store, as seen from the edge of the deli department. The majority of the back wall comprises the meat department, with a small meat and seafood counter located in the distance.

     Another new addition from Winn-Dixie's recent remodeling spree is the Dollar Shop. Originally intended to be used for the Harvey's and Fresco y Mas stores (which place a heavier emphasis on promoting lower prices), the Dollar Shop has begun appearing at Winn-Dixie as well. This is probably my favorite part of these recent Winn-Dixie remodels, as the dollar shop includes a little bit of everything in it - food, health and beauty, office supplies, party supplies, cleaning products, etc. There are a lot of bargains to be found in this section, and I usually end up finding an impulse buy myself every time I walk through one of these Dollar Shops at Winn-Dixie (curse those bargains!). For the most part, the Winn-Dixie Dollar Shop takes up two aisles (like we see here). Some smaller stores only have one aisle dedicated to the dollar shop, focusing more on food than some of the general merchandise extras.

     Peeking out from the Dollar Shop toward floral.

     Here's a look across the front of the store, as seen from the Dollar shop.

     Here's a closer view of the Dollar Shop sign. Each end of this aisle has one of these large signs hanging over it.

     BACON. I find it funny how bacon gets its own billing in giant letters as part of the Down Down decor.

     Here's another look down the store's back wall, this time taken closer to the butcher counter.

     The grocery aisles are looking nice and neat here.

     Here's the butcher counter up close. It's quite the dramatic change back here from the last time we saw the butcher counter.

     That black backsplash is another distinctive feature of these Down Down remodels, that backsplash added to the butcher, deli, and bakery departments in all of these remodeled stores. I just don't know if that's real tiling, or some kind of paneling made to imitate tiles.

     Only three panels on the aisle signs seems like not many to me, but maybe I've just gotten used to the typical 5-6 panels typically used at other stores (and in past Winn-Dixie remodels). 

     Here we enter the health and beauty aisles, which are located toward the left side of the store in aisles 13 and 14. The two outer rows of shelving in the health and beauty aisles have lighted toppers, which add a little bit of brightness to this section of the store.

      A closeup of the beauty department hanging sign can be seen here.

     This new setup is certainly much more modern than the old setup!

     More from the back wall...

     We are the Beef People. While this sign was added as part of the remodel, most older Winn-Dixie stores are also getting this signage in their meat departments. Winn-Dixie has been doing a good job in recent years of putting their longtime tagline back into the spotlight, after "The Beef People" disappeared for a while during the years following the 2005 bankruptcy.

     Beach supplies take up the space that would have once been home to an in-store pharmacy, this little indented spot between the service desk and the bakery. If this store ever had a pharmacy, it's been gone for a long time. Prior to the remodel, this was used as more excess space for promotional items.

     Moving on from the beach stuff, we find the bakery department in the front left corner of the store. Again, a big difference from what was here prior.

     The department name itself was a bit difficult to photograph, given how it was crammed into a small space where the ceiling height changes, with frozen food cases sticking out behind me.

     With the angled light panels removed, yet another new bump in the ceiling has been created. Since the walls over the frozen food department were painted red, this inner wall was painted white. With the way the ceilings transition in this part of the store, the wall above the bakery counter itself just looks really...blank. I really feel there should be a sign or picture or something in that giant expanse of white above the counter!

     Turning away from the bakery counter, here's what we see looking in the opposite direction. Frozen foods take up the last three aisles in this store, just like before. However, all the old coffin coolers that comprised most of the frozen department were replaced with new freezers with doors, and the lighting and wall colored changed accordingly from before.

     These freezers are brand new, so Winn-Dixie clearly splurged here!

     Here's a very pastel look at the scene in the above photo from prior to the remodel.

     I guess I shouldn't have complained about the Bakery sign being hard to photograph, as no matter what I did, the Milk sign was always blocked by the aisle 18 sign!

     Lastly, aisle 19 is home to the remainder of the dairy department and more frozen foods. From the looks of it, the coolers against the wall (containing the dairy products) look to be the same ones here prior to the remodel, just repainted to match the modern decor in the rest of the store.

     Now that we've covered pretty much everything we needed to here, let's had back toward the front end...

     The front registers now appear to my right, with the service desk hidden behind those Christmas bread/cake/whatever they are boxes.

     The lights glared it, but on the wall above the checkouts it says "Thank you for shopping your White City Winn-Dixie".

     Here's another look at the service desk, obstructed once again by more cake!

     And at last, a cake-free view of the service desk!

     These two express lanes were added as part of the remodel, as this store had eight regular checklanes prior. Strangely enough, prior to the remodel, checklane 8 was closest to the service desk. Usually Winn-Dixie numbers the registers with 1 being closest to the service desk, like they now have the checklanes set up post-remodel. Another thing to point out is that the early Down Down remodels did not include checklane lights. Since then, these rectangular red ones have been used in the more recent remodels.

     So now that we've completed our tour of this store, we'll exit through the new right side entryway pictured above...

     While it's nice to see Winn-Dixie remodeling their stores to keep them looking fresh, it's kind of sad seeing that funky old Marketplace decor get wiped away at this store. While there are some Marketplace stores out there that look quite rough around the edges, this one was always kept neat and looking good. With the nearest Publix store being about three miles away, this Winn-Dixie has a nice little buffer for it to get a following from the people living nearby in White City and Indian River Estates, both of which are neighborhoods more conveniently located to this Winn-Dixie than any of the nearby Publix stores. And if Winn-Dixie was able to justify a remodel to this store, it must be doing well, as Winn-Dixie isn't in the best financial place to be dumping a lot of money into stores that are doing poorly.

     So even though the Pastel Wonderland has been painted over in red, we'll conclude this post with one final look at that sea of pastels that graced this store for a good 25 years. While those pastels were outdated for much of the last 20 of those 25 years, it was still a fun sight to see, and a fun glimpse at the store that was once "America's Supermarket".

So until the next post,

AFB