Sunday, March 6, 2022

Former Albertsons #4372 - Sarasota, FL (The Landings)


Albertsons #4372 / Publix #1346 / Future Publix #1781
4840 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL - The Landings

     We've seen it happen numerous times in the past with these Publixsons stores - Publix grows tired of the large size and numerous oddities that come from operating in a building designed for the taste of someone else. While the old Albertsons buildings worked for a while to establish the store, once the time rolls around for the next remodel, sometimes Publix gets the desire for something new and takes things to the extreme. Unfortunately, Publix decided to take that extreme option here with former Albertsons #4372, and everything we see in the photo above is now sitting in a pile of crumbled concrete at the Sarasota County dump. However, unlike most times in the past when Publix has decided to tear down and rebuild one of these former Albertsons stores, I was lucky enough to visit this one before its date with the wrecking balls came to be. Thanks to a tip that came into my inbox, I was able to make the drive to Sarasota in time to see the Publix while still operating in the old Albertsons building, so former Albertsons #4372 will be able to live on with more in-depth documentation than some of its other demolished comrades have. But before we jump into the details of today's tour, let's get things going with a little background on this place, as well as the background on Albertsons' delayed entrance into Sarasota:


     Albertsons #4372 was the first Albertsons store to open in Sarasota, and one of three that would eventually be built in town. While store #4372 didn't open until July 20, 1988 (its grand opening advertised in the ad above, sent to me by YonWooRetail2), Albertsons had hoped to get a much earlier start in Sarasota. Albertsons originally tried to enter Sarasota in the early 1980's, when the company made a bid for a piece of property at the intersection of Bahia Vista Street and Beneva Road, a site about 5 miles northeast of where store #4372 would be built, and in a more residential part of town. The property at the intersection of Bahia Vista and Beneva was previously used by the Sarasota County School Board as a home for some offices, offices the school board no longer needed and was looking to sell. Albertsons came in as the highest bidder for the property, with the intents of putting one of their modern 24 hour "super stores" on it. However, Albertsons' bid was contingent on the property getting rezoned from government use to commercial use, an issue that would have to go up for vote in front of the county zoning board. Residents in the condominium complex next to the subject property weren't happy with the thought of a new 24 hour supermarket opening up in their mostly residential neighborhood, citing the usual noise and traffic concerns. Residents from the complex swarmed the zoning board meeting where the Albertsons vote was to happen, and the residents managed to sway the board to vote "no" on changing the property's zoning, effectively canceling Albertsons' bid and any chances of the store getting built. While Albertsons hit that first hurdle in coming to town, they successfully came back to Sarasota a few years later with their more prominent location on Tamiami Trail. Ironically, the developer that finally brought Albertsons to Sarasota in 1988 was the same developer that later bought the property at Bahia Vista and Beneva from the school board - that developer building a small shopping center anchored by Eckerd (now CVS) where Sarasota's first Albertsons store could have been.

Photo courtesy of Where It Used To Be in Sarasota, FL

     Albertsons had a solid (nearly) 20-year run at The Landings, a shopping center built along Sarasota's busiest north-south thoroughfare, US 41 (aka Tamiami Trail). The Landings was built a few miles south of downtown Sarasota, close to many well-off neighborhoods along the waterfront and nearby Siesta Key (a popular tourist destination, and pretty well-off area too). Publix bought this store from Albertsons in 2008, as part of the 49 Floridian locations Publix bought from Albertsons that year. The time between Albertsons' closing and Publix's grand opening was pretty quick, with Publix opening at The Landings on December 4, 2008. Come 2012, Publix did a more thorough remodel to the building in order to bring it more in-line with the company's standards, spending $1.5 million on that venture. The results of the 2012 remodel are what we'll see when we step inside for our tour.


     After spending 13 years as a Publix, this building served its last shoppers on November 13, 2021, ending the building's 33 year run as a supermarket. When this post goes live for the first time in March 2022, the shell of the new Publix store will have just begun to emerge from the rubble where an Albertsons once stood, the beginnings of this store's next phase of life. While modern Publix stores are nice and all, the store to replace the one we'll be touring today certainly won't be as unique!


     The design of the facade we see here was one of the most common designs Albertsons used for these "superstore" era locations in the mid-late 1980's. Publix didn't do much to the exterior through the years besides switching out the signage and repainting the building from white to gray, opting for more interior upgrades in the 2012 remodel.


     Even though this building was 33 years old when it came down, it looked like it was still maintained pretty well. I didn't notice any major issues with the place like stains on the ceiling from roof leaks, cracks in the tile, or other signs of structural damage or neglect, unless Publix is really good at hiding those things from the public eye. I also wouldn't put it past Publix to tear down a perfectly good building just because they have the money to do that, and can build a store more to their likings here.



     The liquor store is located just beyond the right side entrance, and blends in with the rest of the shopping center.


     Here's a better look at the attached liquor store, as seen straight-on from the parking lot.


     Like pretty much every other Albertsons store from this era, the building has two sets of entrances - one on the right side of the building that enters into the grocery service departments, and another on the left that takes you to the pharmacy. We'll enter the store through the right side doors, accessible under the archway where the "FOOD" sign is. Albertsons would have had a similar "FOOD" sign there too, just in their own font.


     As usual, Publix replaced Albertsons' swinging doors with sliding ones, a modification that was most likely done when Publix first moved in.


     We'll start off our interior tour with one of the most distinctive traits from one of these "superstore" era Albertsons buildings - the large row of angled windows over the front end. Behind those windows are upstairs manager's offices and the employee break room, from which you can look out over the store. The ceiling raises higher over the front end to accommodate the windows and the second level, making for a very distinct trait in these buildings.

     The service desk is also pictured here too, located in an island in typical 2010's Publix fashion. When Albertsons was here (and possibly in Publix's early days too), the service desk would have been located along the front wall in front of the check lanes. Publix has since walled off the old service desk space for more offices of some kind.


     Turning away from the front end, we find the floral department. Floral was located in a small island between the service departments and the grocery aisles. Floral is the one department I can't remember the original placement of in one of these "superstore" Albertsons buildings, but Albertsons always seemed to like putting floral near the front entrance in some manner.


     After floral, the next service department we'll encounter is the deli. The deli is located in the front right corner of the building, in the same location Albertsons would have had it. All of the remaining service departments in this building follow the same arrangement that Albertsons had, although Publix did modify some departments more extensively in the 2012 remodel.


     Here's a more pulled back view of the deli, with the grab and go coolers visible in front of the main counter.


     Following the deli is the bakery on the right wall. While the bakery was always located in this spot, Publix rebuilt this entire department during the 2012 remodel. The curved lower ceiling and the arrangement of the prep area behind the cases is 100% a modern Publix design, and not a leftover from Albertsons.


     It's a bit interesting that Publix put a decent amount of effort into remodeling this store in 2012, just to tear the place down 10 years later. Some Publixsons stores that are still operational have seen less work than this store to bring the service departments more in-line with Publix's standards, yet they still stand. I would love to know what makes Publix decide if one of these older stores gets a regular remodel or a total rebuild, as I'm still perplexed by some of Publix's decisions on that. The area this store is located in is considered pretty high-income, so I don't know if that played a factor into the rebuild decision too, with Publix wanting to bring something new here with a more "upscale" vibe than an old 1980's Albertsons building could provide.


     The produce department starts to creep in on us for this last shot looking back toward the deli and bakery. The "grand aisle" here is quite spacious, as you can see above, but certainly not an overwhelming amount of space to the point where Publix is totally lost on what more to stuff over here.


     Turning around, here's our first look into the produce department, located in the building's back right corner.


     The photo above does a good job showing the entirety of the produce department. The spaciousness of the grand aisle certainly helped me pull that off, with the low sightlines and lack of people lingering around in the bakery department blocking my way! (It appears everyone wanted to crowd around in the back of the produce department, which worked in my favor!)


     The produce department at this store had an interesting variant of the Classy Market 2.5 produce sign, a variant that was typically used in new-build stores with this decor. The more common Classy Market 2.5 produce signage looked like this, matching the design of all the other signs in the store.


    A few leaves are hanging out in the back of the produce department, over the orange juice cooler.


     Leaving produce, here's a look across the store's back wall. Meat coolers follow the orange juice case, with the meat/seafood service counter following about half way down.


     The first grocery aisle was this very spacious one following the grand aisle, home to international foods. This was the only grocery aisle I remember feeling overly wide, as all the others seemed more normal in width. Still, super wide aisles seems like a better way to hide unused space than the big empty patches seen at the front of this Publixsons.


     Returning to the back wall, here's a look toward the meat and seafood service counter. The beginning of dairy follows the counter, which we'll see in a little bit.


     Returning to the grocery aisles, we find the remainder of the aisles are of a fairly standard with for Publix. The placement of the poles worked out nicely too, being all the way to the side like we see here. Generally the poles like to get in the way of the aisle more!


     Peeking out from the end of that aisle, we see the service desk again, behind the row of short aisles that spans the front of the store.


     The bakery and deli again, as seen from the front near the check lanes.


     Like a lot of Publixsons stores, especially the ones in older Albertsons buildings, most of the general merchandise items/health and beauty/greeting cards/etc. is kept in these short aisles that separate the front lanes from the main grocery aisles behind them.


     Skipping behind the short aisles, here's a look across the front of the main grocery aisles.


     And in turn skipping to the very back of the store, that was a quick overview of the three main "actionways" that run side to side in this (now former) Publix store. The photo above, in particular, gives us a more detailed look at the seafood service counter, with the dairy coolers following after that.


     Back to the grocery aisles we go for some more center store scenes:



     In addition to the back wall, the remainder of dairy could be found randomly in aisle 6. A random aisle of dairy in the middle of the store is a pretty common Albertsons carryover that Publix never changed, but the situation here was a bit different. Usually these dairy aisles bump up against frozen foods when frozen is located in the middle of the store, bringing a little more sense to the placement. However, frozen in this store is all the way on the building's far left side, making this a randomly isolated half-aisle of coolers in the middle of the store!


     Following the dairy coolers in aisle 6, we find the wine located next door in aisle 7. While a random row of dairy coolers down a grocery aisle is a bit of an oddity to me (especially with frozen foods being on the other side of the store), I guess keeping the cheese in the aisle next to the wine is convenient for some folks.


     Leaving the wine aisle, we find ourselves looking at the "Sun Gear" department. This aisle has sun block, water toys, beach towels, and such in it, catering to the folks stopping here on their way to the beaches on Siesta Key. While this store isn't on the main road to the beach, it is located between the two main causeways used to access Siesta Key, so it still must draw enough beach traffic to get a dedicated "Sun Gear" section like this.


     However, our beach gear and that fun in the sun will have to wait until later, as I still need to finish this tour first! Back to the grocery aisles we'll go for a little bit as we work our way to the other side of the store:


     Zig-zagging through the grocery aisles, I spotted these relics by the bleach. Those "Tighten Caps" labels are from the Wavy Pastel era, as that's one of the fonts used a lot in that decor package! Publix would have opened this store with Classy Market 2.0, long after the retirement of Wavy Pastel, so I don't know where these labels would have come from.


     Publix's historic photo collage along the front wall is visible here, one of the best decor elements Publix ever implemented. Sadly, these collages were only used in Classy Market 2.0 and 2.5, and as stores have remodeled away from those packages, these collages were discarded.



     Getting closer to the left side of the store and the pharmacy, we find an aisle of health and beauty products.


     While this is a rather intriguing display of beer and chips for the upcoming (at the time) Super Bowl 55, I'm pretty sure I took this picture because the display incorporated a model of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (visible behind the "L Trophy V" logo in the middle window of the display). The Sunshine Skyway is arguably the most famous bridge in Florida, and a symbol for the Tampa Bay area (where Super Bowl 55 was held, and later won by our very own Tampa Bay Buccaneers). The Sunshine Skyway is a favorite bridge of mine, and of course only myself could be intrigued by this display for the road geek reference, and not the sports one!


     Bridging the gap from that last photo, we now find ourselves at the pharmacy counter. The pharmacy is located in the front left corner of the building, next to the left side entryway. The pharmacy is another department Publix rebuilt in the 2012 remodel, as the pharmacy's current design is Publix's standard and not a remnant from Albertsons.


     Looking at the pharmacy from a side profile, we can see the left side entryway come into view.


     Aisle 13 is another rather wide aisle, home to the cold beer and half of the frozen foods department (with frozen spilling over into aisle 14, the last aisle in the store).


     And speaking of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that chip display in the middle of the aisle was made to resemble their mascot, Captain Fear.


     Leaving aisle 13, here's one last look toward the meat and seafood departments.


     Turning the other way, we find aisle 14 and a sign for the dairy department. The dairy department ends in this corner, with the entirety of aisle 14 home to the remaining frozen foods.


     Here's aisle 14, and the row of frozen food coolers.


     With frozen foods covered, we're just about done with our tour. Here's one last look across the store's front end as we prepare to head out:


     Thank you for shopping at Publixsons for the last 13 years, and a big thanks for the heads up on this store's demise, Publixaurus Knight, so I could make it out here in time for some photos!


     While the support poles in aisle 2 were being cooperative with the layout, that light pole certainly wasn't being cooperative with my photo taking! (And you're not helping either, stop sign!) With all the trees (and poles), it was really hard to get a decent overview of the entire facade of this store without something obstructing my view, which is why most of my exterior photos were taken from pretty close up.


     Walking further down the plaza, here's a less obstructed view of the old Publix, although more zoomed out. To get rid of the ground obstructions, let's go up high and take a look at our usual satellite images, starting with some bird's eye aerial images courtesy of Bing Maps:


Front


Right Side


Back


Left Side

     And now for some historic aerial images, courtesy of Google Earth and historicaerials.com:


     Starting off our historic aerial views, here's a current one showing the entirety of The Landings shopping center. The old Albertsons is the large building at the right side of the above image, or the plaza's northernmost anchor. The plaza's other anchor (the large building at the left end of the plaza, most recently an Office Depot), was a short-lived Lechmere store upon the center's opening. Lechmere closed its Sarasota store in 1989 when the company pulled out of Florida. The What It Used To Be In Sarasota blog actually has a photo of that space from when Lechmere was there too, which you can see here. That blog also contains detailed descriptions of the former tenants in many of the plaza's spaces (both large and small), which you can read in the post here (and just Ctrl+F "The Landings" for the easiest way to get to that part of the post, which is pretty long).

     Anyway, our overview of the plaza out of the way, let's look at a few historic aerial images of the old Albertsons building to finish off this post:


Former Albertsons #4372 - 2020


Albertsons #4372 - 2008


Albertsons #4372 - 1995


Future Albertsons #4372 - 1984


     I'm glad I got to visit this Publixsons before the bulldozers arrived, making this post possible. This is just one of many former Albertsons buildings that has fallen to Publix's modernization efforts so far, and knowing Publix, it won't be the last. Actually, while on the topic of more Publixsons stores meeting their demise, just in the last week I got confirmation of another one coming up for a tear down and rebuild later this year: Publix #1331, which operates out of former Albertsons #4413 in the southern part of Fort Myers. Thankfully I was able to visit that location recently as well, as rumors of that store coming up for replacement have been swirling around for a while. We'll see store #4413 come to the blog later this year, as that store is going to be quite the fun tour for a variety of reasons. Back to Sarasota though, the new store planned to replace old #4372 is going to be identical to this location from what I understand, a big change for the entire shopping center. If all goes as planned, the new store should be open sometime in late 2022.

     That's everything I have to say about this former Albertsons store. We'll come back to Sarasota to explore the town's two other former Albertsons stores at some point, but for next time, it will be something different. The next post coming to the blog will be a guest post written by one of the blog's frequent contributors and commenters. Our guest author will be exploring an interesting topic relating to Publix and a long-gone supermarket chain, a combination that created an obscure little piece of Floridian retail history. We'll meet our guest author next time, so be sure to come back in two weeks for his post!

So until next time (or better phrased, the post after next),

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

16 comments:

  1. I think Albertsons might have lucked out on that Bahia Vista Street and Beneva Road location not working out. Looking at the map of that location, it appears the area is an Amish neighborhood! I'm not sure what to make of that. Have the Amish relocated to Florida?! They even have a large Amish restaurant right there. How strange. Anyway, I'm not sure if the Amish were there when Albertsons was planning their entry, but if so, I can see why the Amish would not be amused by a 24 hour Albertsons. The Amish probably don't run up the largest grocery bills either, but who knows. Maybe Albertsons would have needed horse and buggy parking instead of the usual Floridian golf cart parking!

    It seems the location Albertsons actually opened up at is a better location. Instead of being neighbors with the Amish, they were neighbors to a Porsche dealership. I'm sure those are demographics Albertsons likes better, lol.

    I would be upset if I lived in this area and Publix replaced this nice store with nice decor (it's certainly nicer than that HEBertsons in Kerrville I shared with you the other day in a similar looking Albertsons) for something which will probably feel more industrial regardless if it has nEvergreen decor or not, but it probably will have nEvergreen. That would be a major downgrade in my opinion. This Publixsons seems quite airy feeling, like a lot of Publixsons do I suppose, but not too spread out unlike some Publixsons you've shared with us. This seemed like a nice place to shop! I'm not really sure if any protesting shoppers like myself would have any other real alternatives other than shopping at one of the very nearby Publixes around this old Publixsons though.

    Scanning the map for alternatives, I see a small mall near this old Publixsons on S Tamiami Trail, the Crossings at Siesta Key. Maybe it is or was also called Westfield since I see signs for that. Anyway, the anchors for this mall are Macy's and....Aldi?! How does a mall end up with Aldi partnering up with Macy's as the anchors?! To make matters more interesting, it seems the Aldi is a former Lucky's that itself is on ground that used to be a Dillard's. Seeing a Dillard's close up is an odd story itself. After doing some minor reading about this oddball mall, it seems it was originally a shopping center with Publix and Winn-Dixie as the anchors. Publix and Winn-Dixie! Floridians had all of their grocery options right there, lol! It seems the Publix became a Saks Fifth Avenue. That itself is about as strange as Dillard's ending up as an Aldi! I'm not sure if I'm more blown away by this mall or the existence of the Florida Amish!

    You might have seen me mention this on NW Retail's blog the other day, but I did recently learn about a mall in Santa Fe, NM where the old Montgomery Ward ended up becoming an Albertsons that the United Division of Albertsons recently converted it into a Market Street. Interestingly enough, the mall also has a Sprouts and an Office Depot with a mall entrance (though the Office Depot recently relocated within the mall so I don't know if it still has a mall entrance)! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/e2CsNeT2Xys1Z4GM8

    Speaking of Albertsons, did you read that recent article about some possible restructuring within the company? There's been some buzz about it and a lot of speculation, but it's really just people guessing what will happen without any concrete evidence. Those with Albertsons/Safeway stores near them, like us with Randall's, are hoping Albertsons won't pull the plug in their area. We'll see what happens.

    I'm looking forward to seeing the post from the guest blogger!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot to put this in my initial reply, but I'm glad to see Lechmere get a mention! Now that I think about it, I think maybe you told me about this shopping center a few months back when we discussed Lechmere's small and brief presence in Florida. Lechmere was a neat chain and the ability to shop there and at Albertsons in the same shopping center was certainly neat!

      Delete
    2. Dang it! Another perfectly good building gone down for another boring square box Publix with a few Stripes going down the sides and a few nice facade accents. I actually liked this superstore model design. It looks loads better than the crummy looking 4373 in Mount Dora.

      Actually this store opened on July 20, 1988, rather than '89. Still its fun the realize that Satasota came very close to having a trapezoid store like Bradenton. I'll bet Albertsons was wanting to get a new store in both Bradenton and Sarasota at the same time in 1982, but those residents weren't having it.

      It is amazing at how freakishly wide that one aisle was compared to the rest. Thank you for stopping by and documenting this store! It's really sad that Publix (or maybe some super snobby residents) are so inclined to turn their noses up at a grocery building that hasn't been built in the last 15 years to be worth shopping it. Glad I don't live down there.

      Delete
    3. @Anonymous From Houston - Maybe the Amish get tired of the long cold winters just like everyone else! I was never aware of any large Amish communities in Florida, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few small pockets of Amish here for one reason or another. I know up in Clearwater there is a small (but popular) Amish market and deli. Horse and buggy parking also takes up more space than golf cart parking too! Even though Albertsons made a later entrance into Sarasota than they hoped, the Tamiami Trail location was much better in the long run for a new store.

      The Publix that will replace this store is going to be a standard modern Evergreen build. Certainly not as exciting as what was here, but I'm sure all the wealthy people in the surrounding area will enjoy their fancy new store. Publix definitely put more work into this building than some other former Albertsons locations they took over, but the company's reasonings for replacing one store over another will always perplex me!

      Siesta Key Mall across the street is an interesting little mall. I didn't stop there due to time constraints, but the tenant mix is certainly eclectic! It's weird seeing Aldi and Macy's in the same shopping center, but Aldi has been building some cache recently, and a lot of people view Aldi as "trendy" now. The Dillard's at Siesta Key didn't close outright - instead, it was replaced with a new store at Sarasota's University Town Center Mall when that opened in 2014. While Siesta Key having both a Publix and Winn-Dixie back in the day sounds strange, there's still a modern shopping center where that same situation exists - La Plaza Grande in Lady Lake, FL has both still! Still, I guess there are a lot of retail oddities around Sarasota!

      I like the concept of putting grocery stores in malls once again, whether they be big stores or places like Sprouts or Aldi. Grocery stores drive traffic, and I feel malls need to diversify their tenant mix to stay viable these days, rather than relying on the traditional lineup of department store anchors and clothing/shoe store inline tenants. Those Market Street Albertsons stores are really nice, and I wish we had something like that here in Florida!

      And I was hoping you'd catch the Lechmere part of the post! I'm just glad I found that picture of such a short lived store!

      @YonWoo: Yep, Publix's wrecking balls strike again. I'll never understand the reasoning for why Publix chooses to demolish and replace some stores, yet keep others.

      Thanks for pointing out the mistake with the opening date too - I fixed that in the post. And the Bahia Vista & Beneva store wasn't the only Albertsons that got shot down in Sarasota - in the late 90's when Albertsons wanted to add more stores in town, there was supposed to be a third location built alongside #4464 and #4465 - the canceled #4457 (which residents opposed as it would have meant the development of the last large lot along Bee Ridge Road west of I-75). I guess the people of Sarasota just liked to give Albertsons a hard time!

      You're welcome! I'm very thankful I got to visit this one before it closed and was wiped away for good.

      Delete
  2. I remember this Albertsons! Used to pass by it many times when my parents and I went on day trips to Sarasota

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neat! We passed by this Albertsons on a family trip many years ago, but never stopped in (although I vaguely remember the road sign). However, on that same trip, I did get to visit a Kash n' Karry for the only time.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oddly enough, when I think of supermarkets serving wealthy ares of Houston, especially urban areas, those tend to be some of the oldest supermarket locations in Houston (not including budget grocers who generally reside in supermarket locations abandoned by the majors, of course). Randall's (Safeway/Albertsons) niche in Houston these days is mostly to serve older wealthy urban/inner suburban areas and a decent number of their remaining locations are from the 1970s and 1980s. I can only think of one location that Randall's tore down and rebuilt from scratch that was the S. Shepherd & Westheimer store that was rebuilt in around 2009-10. Supposedly that was done on request from the shopping center operator. The sole remaining Rice Epicurean, a local upscale supermarket, is in an old 1970s Safeway and the Kroger of the Villages in Hedwig Village is also in an old Safeway from the early 1970s.

      Now, granted, most of these stores are maintained well and are updated fairly regularly. Maybe wealthy Houstonians are a bit different from wealthy Floridians, but I can't help but to think that if wealthy Floridians are demanding new supermarkets, it's probably a mentality that Publix has helped to create. With that in mind, perhaps your feelings about Publix are not unjustified!

      Delete
  4. I still find it crazy how Publix will grow tired of a larger-sized Albertsons, yet they are content with some 65,000 sq. ft. stores they built in the early 1990's! Maybe they think that somebody else's floorplan is "bad for their image." I can, however, appreciate walking into any-given 45M store and knowing almost exactly where everything is located. Standardization among buildings, while boring for retail bloggers, is probably better for the average customer.

    It is funny how the residents in the area were able to stop plans to build Sarasota's original Albertsons, but they were still content to allow an Eckerd shopping center to get built a few years later. Even though the shopping center would have less traffic than a grocery store, it is still a large commercial development. You would think Albertsons could have negotiated for a store that wasn't open 24 hours if that was the primary concern.

    I find it interesting how Publix spent so much money on the remodel of this store, yet they left the fluorescent lights and the same dropped ceiling. It seems like they would have installed some of the "drop in" fluorescent light fixtures that Publix uses in other stores that don't have a warehouse ceiling.

    It is strange seeing the three "actionways" in a Publix. I always seem to get lost in stores that use this tactic and I assume Publix doesn't like this "feature." The lone aisle of cheese in the middle of the store is also unusual to see; however, I have been to a few Publix stores that have the cheese / breakfast meats alone on half of aisle 2 (with the wine section ironically behind it on aisle 1). Publix loves to help you plan for those wine-and-cheese nights!

    I've never seen those "tighten caps" labels before, but I have definitely seen Publix pull some old signs or labels and put them in brand new stores. It looks like these may have a date code in parenthesis on the bottom that I can't quite read.

    I can't wait to see your post on Publix #1331, it sounds like a really interesting place!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like I've said multiple times, Publix's logic for what stores get replaced is completely over my head! I have heard that Publix is very much into standardization, and these stores inherited from others throw off their standardization methods with the funky layouts.

      A drug-store anchored shopping center might still get busy at times, but it seems more fitting for a residential area compared to a large grocery store. The drug store acts as a convenience store for residents who don't want to venture over to the big stores in the busy part of town, and the center has all the local businesses and restaurants. Albertsons could have made that property work if they wanted to negotiate harder, but I feel there were better places to build in Sarasota than there, which could be why Albertsons didn't fight as hard for the zoning change.

      Pretty much every Skaggs, Trapezoid, and Superstore era Albertsons building Publix has taken over has the three actionway setup (while the later build stores don't). Albertsons never used that setup, so it was something Publix came up with. But as strange as a cheese aisle in the middle of the store is to us, maybe it gets a big thumbs up from the wine and cheese connoisseurs!

      I know I've seen CM 1.0-era produce wax notification signs pop up in many recent new-build Publix stores, but I'd just never seen the "tighten caps" labels in any Publix store before either.

      Delete
  5. Sad to see this store go, but definitely interesting to see some of the elements it had inside of it, such as the produce department sign and the random dairy aisle in the middle! As for the "tighten caps" sign, perhaps that was new-old stock, or maybe it's similar to Walmart in that certain posters and the like just aren't redesigned and as such are reprinted like that years after the fact. I know I posted a photo of a sign in the restroom of the Horn Lake Walmart to that effect on flickr at some point.

    Looking forward to the guest post, that sounds intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad I was able to make it out to this store to document it before the end, as it did have its unique quirks! (Something I really can't say for any standard modern new-build Publix stores). The "tighten cap" labels were probably new-old stock, but they certainly aren't something that shows up often any any Publix store regardless!

      Delete
  6. Sometimes I feel suspicious that the Oakland Park Publixsons that you toured recently may eventually have a similar fate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably so, as it seems like most older and non-standard Publix stores are scrutinized for replacement more so than other Publix stores. However, that store just remodeled to Evergreen recently, so it's good for a few more years at least before it gets evaluated for another remodel.

      Delete
  7. I'm not sure of the date it happened but shortly after the store closed, there was a fire that demolished the inside of the building. I am still waiting to hear when the new store is going to reopen. I'm not a fan of the smaller, standardized Publix. The Landings was the first Publix I ever shopped at regularly and I liked it the way it was.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard about that fire - I don't know what the official result was, but I'd heard some work the demolition crew was doing was supposedly to blame for that (although in the end, it probably made their job easier).

      Since construction began at the end of last year, the new Publix at the site of the old Albertsons will probably open by Spring or Summer of 2023 (as long as that fire didn't delay construction any). The new store is supposed to be the current new design with the upper level dining area. The new buildings are nice, but the new store won't be as unique as what was there prior, and will certainly lack the quaintness of the old store.

      Delete