tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post8687588142254231678..comments2024-03-28T03:22:39.407-04:00Comments on Albertsons Florida Blog: A Tale of Two Krogers - Part 2Albertsons Florida Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-13352317033455760802021-04-28T20:20:55.309-04:002021-04-28T20:20:55.309-04:002021 Update...
The Rockledge SuperX has been heavi...2021 Update...<br />The Rockledge SuperX has been heavily remodeled and is now an office building for Space Coast Health Foundation called "Center for Collaboration."<br /><br />Similarly, major changes are happening in the Barton Commons Shopping Center area, with Brevard Health Alliance occupying the part once planned as Florida's Choice. A large luxury apartment complex is also under construction, occupying the old Kmart area. Thornyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12556655111162182869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-12645198248901623722016-05-25T09:50:40.182-04:002016-05-25T09:50:40.182-04:00I was saving that for the day of Safeway's deb...I was saving that for the day of Safeway's debut. My mock obituary like I did for Sweetbay should now have uploaded.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-70108470502503795282016-05-24T23:48:45.211-04:002016-05-24T23:48:45.211-04:00No post on the sun setting on the final day that t...No post on the sun setting on the final day that the Albertsons name is in Florida after some 40 years? Bummer.Pseudo3Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17848368606946150471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-15593263833900308832016-05-24T07:00:32.969-04:002016-05-24T07:00:32.969-04:00Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't able to...Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't able to find a photo of a Family Mart with anything other than a tesl sign, but the one from the link you shared looks exactly like the one I remember. I'm glad to know I may not have been wrong after all. Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10235041708769810551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-49092864036103561822016-05-23T19:42:27.465-04:002016-05-23T19:42:27.465-04:00You're memory wasn't deceiving you. Family...You're memory wasn't deceiving you. Family Mart did use an orange logo on some stores, like <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/42444189@N04/20173836931" rel="nofollow">this one</a>. I don't know why Kroger was so hesitant on using their own name to expand into Florida, especially since their 80's Florida expansion was completely organic and didn't involve a buyout. From what I understand, Florida Choice wasn't necessarily doing bad (but wasn't doing too great either), and a corporate shakeup put an end to Florida Choice more than anything. Still, had Kroger used their own name, things would have probably played out differently than they did. One thing is for sure, most of those old Family Mart stores have been through a good four or five banner changes since they were built.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-28225369179479651312016-05-23T19:25:21.692-04:002016-05-23T19:25:21.692-04:00Kroger bought 17 Family Mart stores in Florida. I ...Kroger bought 17 Family Mart stores in Florida. I don't have an exact number for how many they bought in the other states, but they bought a good chunk of their stores as A&P began to wind down that concept. I know Kroger bought 2 of those Safeway Save and Pack stores I've mentioned before in the late 80's to turn them into Welcome stores. Those are the only two Welcome locations I've found, as there doesn't seem to be much information about the concept out there. I know it was a warehouse concept like Save and Pack.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-11084509403088353092016-05-23T12:38:43.722-04:002016-05-23T12:38:43.722-04:00My family and I used to frequent a Family mart tha...My family and I used to frequent a Family mart that later became Florida's Choice, but I couln't tell you what the interior looked like. My memory might not be that reliable anyway. I remember Florida Choice's blue logo, but somehow all these years I had pictured orange Family Mart signs, when I saw in someone's Flickr feed that they were actually teal.<br /><br />The one thing I do remember is that my parents thought Kroger should have used their own name instead of Florida Choice, and they might have done better with all the people from the midwest that live here in Florida.<br /><br />In case you're wondering, that store became Kash N Karry, later Sweetbay, and currently Winn Dixie. There are several other stores here in the Tampa Bay area that followed the same pattern.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10235041708769810551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-40891389002187873512016-05-23T08:52:49.130-04:002016-05-23T08:52:49.130-04:00I think some Florida Choice stores were Family Mar...I think some Florida Choice stores were Family Marts as well. The Family Marts Kroger purchased in the Carolinas were branded as Kroger Sav On as well. There were also a few Welcome stores near Jacksonville as well. <br /><br />Speaking of Welcome, Kroger had a few concepts that didn't make it in the 80s:<br />-Welcome<br />-Kroger Sav-On (which was assimilated into the regular Kroger banner<br />-SuperX<br />-Florida Choice<br />-Barney's Food Emporium<br />-Barney's Cafe<br /><br />Greenhouses ranged between 20,000 ft² and 50,000 ft².The earlier stores were smaller, and some of the later stores built toward the end were larger. Sav-On stores that were in the rounded corner prototype also had slanted upper walls along the perineter departments. Kroger (inconsistently) started moving to lay-in fluorescent light fixtures around the late 80s as well.<br /><br />11110https://www.blogger.com/profile/16662982190462109753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-4677302762690098302016-05-22T20:33:52.341-04:002016-05-22T20:33:52.341-04:00For all I know, that pastel remnant in the back of...For all I know, that pastel remnant in the back of the store could have been from Florida Choice. Gooding's could have left Florida Choice's interior completely intact if they had already finished putting it in. But I guess the interior of Florida Choice shall remain a mystery. I must agree, if Florida Choice's interior wasn't some kind of pastel overload, it just wouldn't be right!<br /><br />It is strange to see Bealls and Bealls Outlet in the same plaza. It doesn't happen often, but it makes for an interesting shopping combination. I looked up the Greenville Kroger, and the design of the exterior does look like a Kroger-Savon prototype with the curved entryway. I bet if that store wasn't located in the middle of the shopping center, the front corners of the store would have been curved as well. Looking forward to those pictures!<br /><br />If all goes as planned, I have a series of small Safeway posts coming later in the week...Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-60363770675194359482016-05-22T19:57:35.960-04:002016-05-22T19:57:35.960-04:00Kroger had a few other Florida Choice design varia...Kroger had a few other Florida Choice design variants other than the one seen in Titusville and Rockledge. The design seen here was the one used right before Kroger pulled out of Florida in July 1988. However, none of the other Florida Choice designs share a resemblance to a typical Kroger design of the late 80's. The design of the SupeRx stores was definitely due to its close relation to Kroger-Savon. Considering Florida Choice was supposed to be a unique store unlike a typical Kroger (as I mentioned in my reply above to Pseudo3D), the design was probably developed for or by the Florida KMA solely for its use (considering Florida Choice was targeting a different format and audience than what a typical Kroger branded store in the late 80's was targeting).Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-12243645999670134662016-05-22T19:37:01.774-04:002016-05-22T19:37:01.774-04:00Considering SupeRx Food and Drug was essentially a...Considering SupeRx Food and Drug was essentially a spinoff of the Kroger-Savon format (as mentioned by 11110 below), it makes sense that the SupeRx stores got the similar rounded design of the Kroger-Savon stores instead of the Greenhouse design. As for Florida Choice, Kroger was going for something different. They wanted Florida Choice to be a larger sized store in the league of Publix and pre-2000's Gooding's. The Florida Choice stores pushed 60,000 square feet and were supposed to feel upscale. I believe a typical Greenhouse store is about half that size. Not that Kroger couldn't have built a giant Greenhouse store, but I think they were trying to make Florida Choice feel less like a typical Kroger.Albertsons Florida Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17350708223049245195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-60280567502316643162016-05-22T13:39:33.019-04:002016-05-22T13:39:33.019-04:00Thanks for the links! It'd be cool to see what...Thanks for the links! It'd be cool to see what Kroger's Florida division décor package(s) looked like, but alas it's not to be. Very cool that the door was open at the former Gooding's and you were able to get several glimpses inside there, though! I'm sure Kroger's décor had those pastel colors as well :P<br /><br />I also find it interesting that Bealls and Bealls Outlet are operating in the same center! As for the exterior design conversation: the curved walls of the SupeRx seem pretty similar to the Kroger in Greenville, MS, which I have photographed and will post to my flickr photostream either next week or the following one. Perhaps it was one of those Sav-On stores 11110 mentions above...<br /><br />Those Safeway conversions are just in time for Memorial Day weekend, haha! Looking forward to your future posts regarding them :)Retail Retellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12636351832804174132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-39272292845353576512016-05-22T11:15:28.829-04:002016-05-22T11:15:28.829-04:00I could be wrong, but I don't believe any of t...I could be wrong, but I don't believe any of the Dillon banners (Fry's, Dillons, King Soopers, etc) had standard Kroger decor until the Millennium era (and even then, it was just the Dillons nameplate that had the Millennium decor, the other chains had custom decor)<br /><br />Again, I could be wrong.<br /><br />Also worth noting, the late 1980s marked the debut of two new prototypes: the Greenhouse/Wedge Hybrid (The same store prototype used by the Columbia,SC store that closed a few years back),and the Wedge entrance stores. As mentioned earlier, the SuperX stores were a variant of the Kroger Sav-On prototype that was also used quite a bit back then. I believe the late 1980s would be where Kroger started letting the KMAs design their own stores. 11110https://www.blogger.com/profile/16662982190462109753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628100700550321985.post-16347414664262339812016-05-22T08:32:50.363-04:002016-05-22T08:32:50.363-04:00I wonder why no Florida Choice stores used a varia...I wonder why no Florida Choice stores used a variant of the Greenhouse design. It was clear Kroger loved it, as it was used in some form or fashion for most of the 1980s, and it still largely remains a favorite for retail historians. Such a distinctive format would've been a plus in what was (then) a competitive market.Pseudo3Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17848368606946150471noreply@blogger.com