tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post5572283552100614819..comments2024-03-28T03:22:39.407-04:00Comments on Albertsons Florida Blog: Former Albertsons #4318 - Tampa, FL (Town 'n' Country)Albertsons Florida Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-27747417557824366112020-09-06T18:28:30.360-04:002020-09-06T18:28:30.360-04:00That Albertsons was so run down before it closed. ...That Albertsons was so run down before it closed. You didnt have to ask where the restroom were because the smell of urine told where they were. I live a mile and a half from this store for 9 years and out of two publixs and Winn Dixie and a couple of Kash n Karrys this Albertsons was the place I shopped the least. They always kept one register open with long line. You also had to watch expiration dates on can goods as I found stuff expired for over a year.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11233391875588435810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-40836051676104104282020-06-20T17:43:41.572-04:002020-06-20T17:43:41.572-04:00At least I'm not alone! :)At least I'm not alone! :)Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-53364419024345757182020-06-20T17:38:18.998-04:002020-06-20T17:38:18.998-04:00There was a lot to uncover at this intersection!
...There was a lot to uncover at this intersection!<br /><br />As for Columbus Plaza, the building in the back facing 50th Street was originally home to Cook's Discount Store (a midwestern discount chain that expanded into the Southeast in the late 1960's). The other portion of the plaza had a Kash n' Karry where the Family Dollar/meat market is now. The plaza at Fletcher and Nebraska originally had a Winn-Dixie next to O'Reilly (which is mostly likely in an old Eckerd). The large building at the southern end of the plaza was originally a Grant City, later Kmart. There's also a vacant 6 screen movie theater tucked into the front right corner of the old Kmart space.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-58512863887648410342020-06-20T17:01:18.439-04:002020-06-20T17:01:18.439-04:00Modern Publix stores also have curved pharmacies, ...Modern Publix stores also have curved pharmacies, which makes it hard to know for sure. A store in similar design to this one, remodeled around the same time in the 2000's as well, had a pharmacy with a flat front, which made me think Publix was the one to change the pharmacy configuration: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tiAR_pt0xpM/VigTyPuD88I/AAAAAAAACng/t9TDcqZZYtQ/s1600/Pharmacy%2B2.jpgAlbertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-37499429460778100602020-06-20T16:55:28.123-04:002020-06-20T16:55:28.123-04:00LOL! Albertsons was much more forward thinking bac...LOL! Albertsons was much more forward thinking back in the 1970's than I thought with that sale!<br /><br />It's quite interesting to see how much Publix does to the buildings they take over. Like I said in the post, the scale goes from new signs and paint all the way to building a new store from scratch. Publix's 2010's decor looks nice is just about any building they put it in, which is one think I like about it. Whether a 40 year old building or a store opened today, I've never seen this decor look tacky or forced before (although some stores have more decor detailing than others). Publix does a good job of keeping a pleasant store atmosphere.<br /><br />Publix has been using that bakery tile pattern for a while now. It compliments the current decor well, but the new Publix decor (which uses a gray and green color scheme, and is in the prototype phase now) would completely clash with that tile. Knowing Publix, they'll have no problems ripping the tile out in the future and replacing it when this stores needs to be remodeled again. I believe this is the Albertsons tile pattern you mention, with the blue/red/gray stripe: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3H_nKgO18lQ/Ve9WhbCYrwI/AAAAAAAAB84/Z7NxZ6jHb28/s1600/Interior%2B5.jpg<br /><br />The flooring in here appears to be some kind of vinyl/linoleum stuff with a terrazzo pattern on it (not tiles, but some kind of stuff that's rolled out). When Publix builds a store themselves, the floor is always real terrazzo (with very few exceptions to that). In buildings Publix inherits from others, what they do with the floor varies. When Publix puts less effort into a remodel, they use vinyl tiles. When they want to put in more effort, they use flooring with an imitation terrazzo pattern to better match one of their own stores. While I can't explain how that scuff mark got there, it's there because the floor isn't real terrazzo.<br /><br />Glad you liked this store, and the post! Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-47500521131010503422020-06-20T16:33:46.710-04:002020-06-20T16:33:46.710-04:00Interesting! Glad you got to see this one yourself...Interesting! Glad you got to see this one yourself before!Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-6270469606049185402020-06-19T09:55:43.079-04:002020-06-19T09:55:43.079-04:00No judgment here. I myself have photographed super...No judgment here. I myself have photographed supermarkets during a vacation to Tampa! An excellent activity.Zacharyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474240202879870641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-22669544061117962412020-06-14T22:11:37.953-04:002020-06-14T22:11:37.953-04:00I was wondering if West Hills had an old supermark...I was wondering if West Hills had an old supermarket, and you told me. I was wondering about that Publix. A Kash n Karry where Home Depot is and Harbor Tools where Jewel T was...<br /><br />I'd love to know about two shopping centers Columbus Plaza in Tampa (50th and Columbus) and a shopping center at Fowler and Nebraska (the corner where O'Reilly Auto Parts is. The O'Reilly looks like it was an old Eckerd.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06777948370342480997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-18918702269966408142020-06-10T15:35:06.392-04:002020-06-10T15:35:06.392-04:00About the curved pharmacy... The curved pharmacy d...About the curved pharmacy... The curved pharmacy department is probably from Albertsons. I live in the San Diego suburbs, and there is an Albertsons near me (opened in May 2004) with the curved pharmacy. This store had Industrial Circus decor until last year, when Albertsons gave it a "Colorful Lifestyle" remodel. <br />There is another Albertsons (now Vons) like that in the San Diego suburbs, but it had Albertsons Marketplace/Jewel decor. Haggen bought this one after the merger with Safeway, but Haggen sold this back to Albertsons, but this was converted to Vons instead, and was remodeled with Brown Lifestyle. Both of the stores I mentioned have the "Early 2000's Modified" model.retailfanmitchell019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-18156244907116631432020-06-08T07:30:54.930-04:002020-06-08T07:30:54.930-04:00Gee, with all those free corn chips, ice cream, sp...Gee, with all those free corn chips, ice cream, spaghetti, pizza, and link sausages at the Albertsons grand opening sale, it's a good thing that they also put Kaopectate on sale for only 88 cents! I wonder if Kaopectate is still being sold. I'd probably ask that question to the Publix pharmacist in the temporary pharmacy box because there used to be a time when it was trendy around here to tell someone "Smooth move, Kaopectate" when they made a faux pas. Oh Mylanta, I think I'm starting to lose the audience!<br /><br />But, seriously, I may have been quite negative about the Lakeland Greenwise, but I quite like this Publix. I dare to say that this is a nicer conversion of a former Albertsons than what Kroger and others have done here in Houston. This store is full of color. While it is colorful, the colors are such that they are quite pleasing to the eye. This store isn't foolishly trying to pretend to be industrial or attention-grabbing like an ultra discount store. <br /><br />The store looks spacious. I prefer drop ceilings over open ceilings in general, but the drop ceiling really works here because it is high enough that it adds to the spacious feel. Nice.<br /><br />I'm not sure what to make of the tiling on the bakery wall. It looks nice now, but I wonder if that's one of those things which may not age well. In a way, it reminds me of the tiles Albertsons had in their delis (I think, my memory might be fading here). The colors are about the same, but the Albertsons tiles were more lined up in rows. The Albertsons wood paneling near the stockroom entrance is a nice touch though. <br /><br />I'm a little confused about the flooring at this location. Is that a vinyl tile floor, decorator concrete, or some kind of stone? It's quite hard to tell from the photos. The skid mark near the seafood counter (I wonder how that got there?!) leads me to think that it might be vinyl, but I don't know. It certainly looks classier than just regular concrete which surely would have had all kinds of hideous tile scar at an older location like this.<br /><br />Long story short, this is a pleasing grocery store to look at. Thanks for sharing the photos of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-71408836704320098772020-06-07T19:44:41.023-04:002020-06-07T19:44:41.023-04:00Hi AFB, I'm the talkative Publix geek on your ...Hi AFB, I'm the talkative Publix geek on your emails cammcoleman, I talked also on your blogs on the Macon Publix, etc. I been in that store myself during a cruise trip when I was staying in Tampa, The Cookies, and Crackers in the Dairy remind me of the stores 1044, and the now closed 1249 where the snack cookies and crackers are in an aisle with dairy. XD Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-22734118772154663102020-06-07T19:07:19.349-04:002020-06-07T19:07:19.349-04:00This Publix is certainly a popular one in the area...This Publix is certainly a popular one in the area! It's amazing how many of these sleepier Albertsons stores were transformed into super high volume Publix locations after that 2008 sale. For such a large city, it's a bit strange how Albertsons was never able to stick around in many parts of town, and 4380 was sold to Publix a few years before the 2008 purge too. 4318, 4372, and 4326 were the only Tampa area Albertsons stores that had a decent following I suppose, considering how short lived most of the other Tampa area locations were. 4406 didn't even last a year and a half if I remember right, but at least Albertsons squeaked 2-3 years out of 4405!Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-8390586961072770362020-06-07T19:00:58.411-04:002020-06-07T19:00:58.411-04:00Yeah, it was disappointing to see that video was r...Yeah, it was disappointing to see that video was removed. Like you said though, it's harder to download a video than it is photos (although I can kick myself for not downloading some photos too!) There is a small chance that I could have downloaded that video onto my old laptop, as I did have a program on there many years ago that could download videos from YouTube. I'll need to pull out the old laptop sometime to check if its there, as that's probably the only hope of the video resurfacing! And that's a good point too - the parking lot is probably smaller due to its odd shape, what makes it seem busier than the parking lot at a larger shopping center location would.<br /><br />Publix is very big on promoting their in-store experience and customer service, so I'm sure these less-interactive programs (like grocery pickup and self-checkout) were more so afterthoughts for Publix until other competitors really started pushing these services, and Publix noticed the need. Publix did try and fail in the early 2010's with a grocery pickup program, so that probably didn't help motivate them to start a new program either.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-36927989275930786572020-06-07T16:01:29.361-04:002020-06-07T16:01:29.361-04:00I take that back- #4406 and #4405 were by far the ...I take that back- #4406 and #4405 were by far the shortest-lived stores in that whole area!YonWooRetail2https://www.blogger.com/profile/08255107904539545011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-29186055251428203962020-06-07T15:51:59.743-04:002020-06-07T15:51:59.743-04:00Publix did a thorough remodel on this store, and i...Publix did a thorough remodel on this store, and it has certainly paid off! This store appears far more busy as a Publix than an Albertsons. It seems like in the Tampa Bay region, Pinellas County was better for Albertsons than Tampa itself. There were quite a few weak stores for the chain in Tampa that closed after only 10 years or much less, like stores #4380,#4405, #4406, and especially #4472. #4321 lasted about 14 or 15 years but I think the surrounding neighborhood went into decline, sort of like the Pine Hills area of West Orlando. <br /><br />Yes, I tried in vain to find that 2005 YouTube video of this store. I guess people just get tired of being on YouTube and delete their accounts. That was such a comprehensive photoset too!YonWooRetail2https://www.blogger.com/profile/08255107904539545011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-51923452534357034112020-06-07T12:42:33.041-04:002020-06-07T12:42:33.041-04:00That's a shame about the video being removed. ...That's a shame about the video being removed. I hate when that happens, as I always try to save photos when I can knowing that they're likely to disappear, but you can't easily do that with videos. But like you said, at least we still have that photo of the exterior as Albertsons! It's interesting to see Publix did so much work on the outside in addition to the interior, here. And I agree - that angular lot layout is crazy! I wonder if another reason the place seems so busy is because the parking lot is smaller than it normally is.<br /><br />Cool to see that tiny bit of Albertsons wood paneling remain! And that's also interesting that Publix wasn't as big in the online grocery stuff before this year. I'm sure they've still been doing well during the pandemic regardless, but I kinda would've thought they'd be like Walmart or Kroger and majorly rolled that out already. But then, I guess they also have had reservations against self-checkouts in the past, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.Retail Retellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12636351832804174132noreply@blogger.com