Goodbye, Kevin - Sweetbay Supermarkets to become Winn-Dixie in Early 2014

A Sweetbay Supermarket that closed in early 2013 in the Green Tree Center in North Naples. Photo from naplesnews.com

I touched on this topic rather quickly in the Albertsons Florida Blog introductory post, which you can read below this one, but by early next year, Sweetbay Supermarkets will be no more. In May 2013, Winn-Dixie purchased Sweetbay from their former parent company, Delhaize. Delhaize has slowly begun to pull out of Florida in the last few years, first by closing all remaining Florida Food Lions in early 2012, and now the sale of Sweetbay to Winn-Dixie. While this purchase will be a great boost to Winn-Dixie, who's been trying to make a comeback since their bankruptcy in 2005, it means one less supermarket chain in Florida (that is, unless Albertsons decides to surprise us all and announce a grand comeback all across Florida in 2014...right after this year's white Christmas in Miami). 

I decided to make this post because I've been thinking over the last few days. Once Sweetbay is gone, Publix and Winn-Dixie will be the last two traditional supermarkets chains with a major presence left in Florida. I want to give Sweetbay, another chain that was stuck hopelessly in the middle between Publix and Wal-Mart (just like Albertsons), a proper funeral here on the Albertsons Florida Blog. I don't live near any currently open Sweetbay stores, so if any readers of this live close enough to a Sweetbay that's still open, please send in some pictures for the Sweetbay funeral post that will go up sometime around March. Also feel free to send in any pictures of any Sweetbay (or Kash n' Karry, Sweetbay's original name) memorabilia, along with any Albertsons pictures you may have too. I have some Sweetbay/Kash n' Karry memorabilia in the Albertsons Florida Blog archives that I'm going to throw in also. 

In the mean time, enjoy the site and all of its great Albertsons Florida info, and hopefully I'll see you all in the new year! 

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

P.S. - Let's just hope that Kevin likes his new home with The Beef People. 

P.S.S. - For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sweetbay, Kevin is Sweetbay's crazy spokes-butcher, whose full name is Kevin the Meatbay Butcher.