Publix #119
Former Albertsons #4729 | Former FoodMax Supercenter
Indian Lake Marketplace
110 Indian Lake Boulevard
Hendersonville, TN 37075-6206
We Don't Talk About Bruno-no-no-no
Hello, and welcome to another edition of "The Sing Oil Blogger takes over The Albertsons Florida Blog." Although that title may not be great, I think most of you will agree that the subject of today's post is; that's also why today's post officially kicks off my brand new series: O Bruno's, Where Art Thou? Publix #119 in particular has quite the unique history, and I felt that it was only fitting for me to explore this store here on The Albertsons Florida Blog. Let me explain.
You may remember my post last year covering Publix #1306 / former Albertsons #4428 which was my first experience researching Publix stores in Florida's Capital City. It was at that time when I discovered Bruno's, once Alabama's dominant grocer, had a notable presence in Tallahassee. This intrigue led me to cover the Sunshine State's one-and-only Pubno's, while leaving me with loads of questions on how the long-lost Publix #689 looked while it was open.
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| Courtesy Sky City: Retail History - Former Bruno's #5 - Montgomery, AL |
In May 1995, the Bruno's family sold the chain to investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. who also owned Safeway, Fred Meyer, and Stop & Shop at the time. The $1.2 billion deal would only continue the supermarket chain's slow death spiral, as a 1998 Wall Street Journal article states that "An effort [by KKR] to convert the chain from the "everyday-low-price" format to the so-called frequent-shopper program backfired when Bruno's cost-conscious customers deserted the stores. This miscalculation, pulling down same-store sales by more than 10%, coincided with a well-advertised push by Bruno's rivals to open new stores."
The Bankruptcy
That same article goes on to describe the Chapter 11 bankruptcy Bruno's filed the day $21 million in bond coupon payments came due. Stocks for the company were trading at $1.75 a share at the time the news broke, down from $12 a share only three years prior. Bruno's operated 218 supermarkets at the beginning of 1998, with 123 in Alabama, 50 in Georgia, 17 in Florida, 20 in Tennessee, and 8 in Mississippi. That number would slowly dwindle as the bankruptcy drug on . . .
It is stated that the company had $780,808,000 in total assets, but $1,204,000,000 in total liabilities, meaning that they had over $400 million in unsecured debt . . . that's a lot of money!
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| Courtesy Sky City: Retail History - Former Bruno's Supercenter #248 - Birmingham, AL |
- The Value Format. Value stores are designed to attract value conscious customers through a combination of low prices, good customer service, and a broad range of product offerings. Approximately 111 of the Company's 218 stores are operated under the value format. Six of the value stores are Supercenters. The Company's value stores are operated under the names Food World and FoodMax.
Food World. The Company operates 79 stores under the Food World name. These stores are typically high volume stores designed to appeal to a broad range of customers. With a primary emphasis on value, these stores offer low pricing along with an extensive variety of name-brand merchandise and specialty departments. Food World stores are promoted through television, newspaper, and radio advertising. The Company's Food World stores average approximately 44,000 in total square feet.
- FoodMax. The Company operates 32 stores under the FoodMax name. These stores are large with an open design, warehouse-style ceilings, and expanded perishable departments. These stores emphasize low prices and an extensive product selection while achieving low overhead through reduced staffing. The Company's FoodMax stores average approximately 52,000 in total square feet.
The Combination Format. The Company's combination format consists of approximately 54 stores, including 10 Supercenter stores, operating under the name Bruno's. These stores generally have a substantial breadth and depth of product offerings and are widely regarded as the quality and service leaders in the markets in which they are located. The combination stores typically contain expanded produce, bakery, delicatessen, and gourmet foods not generally found in conventional supermarkets, a variety of health and beauty care products normally found in large drug stores, and a wide range of general merchandise items. These stores average approximately 51,000 in total square feet and are generally located in suburban markets.
- The Neighborhood Format. The Company's neighborhood format consists of approximately 53 stores operating primarily under the names Piggly Wiggly and Food Fair. The neighborhood stores are generally smaller than the Company's other supermarkets and emphasize friendly service and promotional pricing. For its neighborhood stores, which are generally located in small- to medium-sized towns and suburban neighborhoods, the Company advertises primarily through direct mail and weekly advertised specials.
Piggly Wiggly. The Company's Piggly Wiggly stores are located in small- to medium-sized towns in central and southern Georgia. These stores average approximately 34,000 in total square feet and are promoted primarily through weekly advertised specials.
Food Fair. Food Fair stores, like Piggly Wiggly, are designed to operate with lower overhead and competitive pricing in suburban neighborhoods and towns that will not support the volume necessary for a large supermarket. All of the Company's Food Fair stores are located in Alabama, and these stores average approximately 29,000 in total square feet."
The Bruno's story has many more chapters to read (including a couple that repeat), but for now we will put a pin in this saga and focus on the life of this particular store.
However, if you are impatient, I'd advise you to check out this informative article from AL.com which I used as an outline for my research. The Sky City: Retail History blog, mentioned with the photos above, also has a few posts about the former chain that are worth looking at.
Background
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| Logo Courtesy Ryan Brotherston |
Shortly after conducting my research on Publix #1427, I learned that Publix owned a number of other former Bruno's stores in the Nashville area. To make matters more bizarre, all seven of these locations were purchased from none other than Albertsons. It wasn't until I was planning a trip to the Music City when I began to examine the history of these locations and of the former Alabama chain itself. It turns out that Bruno's entered Middle Tennessee in 1987 under their FoodMax brand by building a store on Murfreesboro Pike.
The store we will be looking at today was officially announced at the end of 1992 when permits were filed with the city; however, it appears that this store had been in the works since at least 1991. While I was never able to find a grand opening date, the new FoodMax Supercenter opened by November 28, 1993, according to a sales flyer I was able to find.
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| Logo Courtesy Ryan Brotherston |
Bruno's was still a small fish in the Nashville grocery market when they opened this location in 1993, which would likely explain why they built a number of large and flashy stores in the metro. The company would go on to build 11 stores in the region: seven of which operated under the FoodMax name, three which opened as Bruno's stores, and one which was never completed. By 1996, The word on the street was that Bruno's would convert all of its Nashville area stores to the flagship banner; however, this never happened and only newly-constructed locations received the upmarket moniker. This led me to believe that KKR's acquisition was the reason for the brand identity crisis, but that apparently wasn't the case. Bruno's claimed that they often didn't pick the name for a store "until one of the last steps right before the grand opening" way back in a 1992 article.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - August 1, 1998 |
By 1998, Bruno's only held 10% of the Nashville grocery market, second place to Kroger with 46%. This, along with the fact that the company was six-months deep in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, led to the decision that the Alabama grocer would exit the state of Tennessee entirely by selling 15 Bruno's and FoodMax stores to Albertsons. This comes on the heels of Bruno's also selling the 10-store, Memphis-based Seessel's to Albertsons in January 1998.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - August 1, 1998 |
In addition to the eleven Nashville-area stores, four Chattanooga FoodMax locations were sold, which included a single location in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. Not only did the Idaho chain enter Nashville for the first time, but it also gained the singular location it has ever operated in The Peach State.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - August 30, 1998 |
Probably the most interesting piece regarding the Albertsons acquisition is a line from the Tennessean article above:
"From the outside it's hard to tell. Front the inside, too . . .
At 10:30 a.m. FoodMax is lightly sprinkled with customers. It still looks like FoodMax.
But at a closer glance employees have swapped the khaki and green uniforms for Albertson's khaki and navy. The grocery bags read Albertson's too." - The Tennessean
It appears that Albertsons opted to keep all of the stores open immediately following the acquisition while slowly phasing in any new branding. Food Lion followed a similar practice when they purchased 62 stores from Southeastern Grocers a few years back, but the move isn't exactly a great way for a new company to generate buzz around entering a new market. This leads me to wonder if these stores were ever fully remodeled under Albertsons.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - Photo of former Albertsons #4729 - March 14, 2002 |
By the time 2002 rolled around, Albertsons' Nashville area stores had garnered a whopping 7.3% market share, fourth behind Kroger (45.9%), Walmart (10.4%), and Food Lion (9.6%). Shockingly, the company seems to have done worse in Nashville than even the chaotic Bruno's would have. This was likely one of the prime culprits in the debt-laden company calling it quits in Tennessee only four years after entering the state. All eleven Nashville-area Albertsons stores would permanently close by April 5, 1998, and at least one additional location never made it out of the planning phase. These moves were part of a larger cost-cutting effort that included the complete withdrawal from other metropolitan areas such as Memphis, Houston, and San Antonio.
Needless to say, the Bruno's and Albertsons disasters could not have come at a better time for Publix.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - June 21, 2002 |
On June 20, 2002, Publix announced that it would acquire seven Nashville-area stores from Albertsons, with six of those originally belonging to Bruno's.
Critics were skeptical as to whether Publix could offer something different to the Music City, but others noted how "In Atlanta they pretty much bulldozed the market . . . In the early '90s they had no stores there; now they are No. 2 in the market (to Kroger)." - Chuck Gilmer, editor of The Shelby Report, to The Tennessean Publix eventually opened their first two stores in Tennessee on October 2, 2002, with #119 following suit on April 9, 2003.
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| The Tennessean (Newspapers.com) - June 21, 2002 |
In the following decade, Publix opened a total of 36 stores in Tennessee (two of which eventually closed) as they proved to be a formidable competitor in the Nashville, Chattanooga, and more recently Knoxville areas.
I'd also like to point out that this isn't the only store #119 to have existed for the chain. The original location was at the current site of store #591 in Sea Ranch Lakes, FL, and was demolished in the late-1990's to make way for its replacement.
Publix decided to recycle store numbers for a short time in the early-2000's which is why the Hendersonville store didn't get a number in the 800 block. I'd guess that all of the numbers in the 800-900 range were allocated by the time these stores were acquired, and the 900-1000 block had already been reserved for the Crispers chain (when Publix purchased a stake earlier in 2002). It appears that Publix's computer systems or business procedures couldn't handle 4-digit store numbers, so the new Tennessee stores were all given recycled numbers between 100-200. By 2004, Publix began assigning new stores numbers above 1000.
Now that we know a bit about this store's past, let's take a look at its present state.
The Store
Located about 40 minutes northeast of downtown Nashville, this Publix is well within the realm of suburbia and isn't even in the same county as Nashville proper. The area seemed relatively nice, despite the fact that I'm not all that familiar with the Nashville area. I do know, however, that many of the ultra-affluent suburbs are south of town and include the likes of Brentwood and Franklin (don't worry, we'll get to tour stores down there as well).
If you look closely at the bricks surrounding the Publix sign, you may notice that some of them are still discolored from the Albertsons and possibly FoodMax logos which hung here over two decades ago.
My recent Bruno's research kick did yield a lot of interesting information; however, it mostly brought to light how disorganized and haphazard the company was throughout the 1990's. This store appears to have an identical layout to the Capital Circle Publix (#689), but the façade is a different story. The symmetrical turrets encasing a central vestibule showcases one of Bruno's most recognizable designs despite the fact that this location only operated as a FoodMax under the chain. If your head is spinning, join the club!
The general look may be familiar, but the execution is a departure from the similar buildings I've come across. Those locations Alabama and Georgia use a different, widened arch shape and a narrower vestibule. The aforementioned stores also look different from aerial views which seems to indicate they used different interior layouts.
On the other hand, the Hendersonville store's façade only matches two other Bruno's stores I've found: Columbia, SC, and Kerry Forrest Parkway (Tallahassee). Neither of those buildings remain supermarkets and both appear to have been heavily modified since their Bruno's days, but I think the interior layout of the Columbia store would have matched the Hendersonville Publix. Fellow researcher Henry H. and I have begun to call this layout the "updated FoodMax / Food World" since it seems to have predominantly been used with 1990's-built stores from those two brands.
Ultimately, we may never know what those long-lost locations looked like on the inside, but as we've seen with numerous other Publixsons on this blog, Publix often likes to keep things the way they were when they take over somebody else's store.
Our first indication of this is the presence of Bruno's original swinging doors and curved vestibule ceiling. This is certainly a unique look for a Publix; I'd also imagine a replacement solution would be very expensive. Regardless, surprised Publix still hasn't found a way to install their typical sliding doors here over the last 22-years.
Turning a bit toward the left, we see this store's collection of firewood along with a mix of circa 2012 and more modern Technibilt shopping carts.
Something about the "easy to compare" sign in the photo above caught my attention as hearkening back to Publix's 2011 "Love to Shop Here. Love to Save Here." campaign, even though I think the former is much newer.
I feel like it would be too much of a coincidence for both this store and #689 to have the same floral and produce layout (considering #119 was acquired by Publix 4-years after #689), so I think this is where Bruno's would have placed both departments.
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| Courtesy of Robert B. on Foursquare - Publix #689 - Tallahassee, FL - July 11, 2013 |
It's also possible that Publix has kept Bruno's original ceiling grid in place. The photo we have of this side of the store from Tallahassee shows similar florescent light fixtures but a slightly different dropped ceiling grid. I also have a feeling that the décor in the Hendersonville store looked strikingly similar to our pictures of #689 when it opened; however, I'll have to save my reasoning for a future post.
Back to the present, we see this store's decently-sized (for a Publix, at least) Floral department and the corresponding signage. I still haven't figured out why some Bamboo stores receive this sign, while others get one reminiscent of the Invigorate package – maybe it had to do with space constraints?
We'll take one last look at the vestibule, Instacart staging area, and checkout lines before moving on.
Before the Evergreen era, it wasn't common to find a Publix with the produce department in the front right corner of the store: that's a surefire way for a novice to identify an older store Publix didn't build!
At least Publix still does a good job of making themselves feel at home in these acquired stores. The faux terrazzo really works wonders to "Publixify" the space.
Turning to the left, we can start to see the deli come into view. You may notice something over there that is a bit out of place – more on that later.
Here's another view of the front speedway with the produce department in the foreground. Bananas were 64¢ a pound for those who are curious.
A deluxe 1990's grocery store wouldn't be complete without a fresh-cut produce counter, and this former FoodMax was no exception. This space was located in the back of the produce department, just before the wall curved around to the deli.
The best surprise from this department was a familiar friend days gone by: a Classy Market 1.0 / Kiwi fresh produce sign. You may remember that we saw this same sign back in Publix #1498, but at least it makes sense in a store that opened in 2002 rather than one from 2015!
Continuing on, we'll take our first look down the remainder of the grand aisle toward the back right corner of the store. I thought it was odd for Publix to have the "Deli Now Hiring" banner hanging from the wall, considering I've never seen a banner like that displayed inside a Publix, but I guess Tennessee stores just do things differently.
Wine is located just opposite the deli and bakery, which creates the perfect setup for a last-minute charcuterie party! I feel like this placement for the beverage used to be more common in Publix stores a decade-or-so ago.
Conversely, wine has only been in this spot for roughly 7-years. AFB pointed out on my last Tennessee Publix post that grocery store wine sales were only legalized in the state back in 2016, which is shocking considering how I've grown up seeing the phenomena. Prohibition-era laws still have a bizarre way of popping up in various jurisdictions, like how Oxford, Mississippi, only legalized the sale of refrigerated beer in 2013.
You'll notice that the wine placard for this aisle doesn't match the remaining category cards which is a result of this store last fully remodeling roughly 2-years before the new law went into effect. We saw a similar color mismatch in Chattanooga a few weeks ago.
Something about the orange signage Publix uses on their specialty cheese coolers always reminds me of Winn-Dixie's Transformational package – maybe it is just the similar color scheme.
On the other side of that cooler, we see several people Lingering in front of the deli. Meanwhile, the friends that I drug along were all standing behind me chatting with their fountain drinks.
Speaking of the deli, here is a better view of the Pub Sub and fried chicken portion of that counter.
The back right corner of this store is where customers can find seafood and baked goods, which is exactly what Bruno's intended.
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| Courtesy of Ato F. (Foursquare) - Publix #689 - Tallahassee, FL - June 1, 2013 |
Publix #689 featured an identical configuration when it was still in business, but it looks like the Hendersonville store swapped the tall refrigerated cases for the shorter ones we saw earlier to open up the space.
Publix appears to have done a thorough remodel when they moved into this space, like they did with #1165, considering every department uses the same checkered grey tile pattern we would find in a circa 2002 Publix-build.
We'll take one last look at the bakery, which is the perfect time for me to point out the blue "cakes" sign placed in front of the bamboo backing (you may have to zoom in to see it). Publix likes to use this style of secondary signage in other stores, but I recall most locations using brown lettering as opposed to blue.
It's interesting that Bruno's used a vaulted ceiling over their grocery aisles in a similar move to what Publix favored at the time.
Beginning our meander through the grocery aisles, we'll take a look at the tea and cereal located on aisle two . . .
. . . followed by the condiments and baking needs on aisle four. Is Publix implying that butter pickles can serve as a shortening substitute in red velvet cake?
Just like former Albertsons #4441 and Publix #1427, this store currently features the circa 2014 Bamboo aisle signs. These always make me do a double take based on how similar they look to the ones used with Sienna!
Speaking of the aisle signs, this store appears to have previously used some of the Atlanta Division's infamous painted tri-siders (like we saw at Publix #515) which were likely recycled from this store's opening in 2003.
Next up, we'll take a quick look at snacks and chips on aisle six . . .
. . . followed by the most novel idea I saw in the entire store: putting chips in tubular canisters! What is this "Pringle" thing you speak of?
On a positive note, for my friends, they were able to find some Ale-8-One (aka Ale 8, according to The Sing Oil Sidekick) on aisle seven which is apparently something you have to try if you visit Kentucky (or Tennessee, I suppose). I'm typically not a fan of soft drinks myself, but I tried a sip of the ginger ale-style drink and thought it, well, tasted like ginger ale. Regardless, it's still fun to come across regional brands like this in various stores.
It looks like we could host a party on aisle 9 with all of those plastic utensils and Solo cups!
Returning to the back, we see the frozen department come into view along with the hallway to the restrooms.
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| Courtesy of Karen P. (Foursquare) - Publix #689 - Tallahassee, FL - June 10, 2012 |
This shot from the Tallahassee Pubno's was taken from a similar angle and shows a familiar raised ceiling in addition to a Wavy Pastels-adorned endcap cooler.
Aisle 10 is the final one to run under the raised ceiling, and for some reason this photo makes the aisle seem wider than most.
We'll pop our heads out the end of the aisle for a quick look at this store's historic photo collage – it wouldn't be a Bamboo or Invigorate store tour without one!
Now, turning to the right, we see this store's customer service and pharmacy counters tucked way over yonder past the checkout lines (notice how all three of the standard lines are staffed in addition to the four self-checkout machines – ehm, Kroger).
While I was walking down the freezer aisle, I noticed a subtle detail which almost certainly dates back to FoodMax:
There was a subtly curved piece of molding surrounding the two frozen foods aisles. Take note of this feature because we will see it again at a later date . . .
I was really digging that piece of accent molding; I just wonder what it looked like in 1993. I feel like it would look really cool if it also featured some uplighting to shine on the ceiling above it
Another fun surprise was an additional Classy Market 1.0 sign hanging out on the side of the beer cooler: so chill!
Continuing on down the aisle, we see where cold beer transitions into frozen foods.
Meanwhile, aisle 12 looks pretty similar to its neighbor. The fact that the freezers don't quite line up with the ceiling detailing makes me wonder if these aisles used to be narrower, or if the line of case freezers between aisles 11 and 12 used to be narrower coffin coolers (picture this typical Winn-Dixie layout).
This store may not be as large as some of the other Publixsons we have seen on this blog, but Publix still followed one of its familiar tactics by piling water bottles in random voids around the store.
Greetings, from your local Publixsono's Hallmark aisle! This isn't the most greeting cards I've seen in a Publix, but it still shows how the company wasn't exactly pressed for space in this store.
Off in the back left corner, Publix decided to angle the typical Entenmann's snack cakes display to try and fill this space as well.
Or maybe, this is just an implied design cue to direct shoppers away from the pricey fresh eggs so they will instead opt to buy a jug of yellow Softsoap for their next baking adventure. Who knows?
Speaking of soap, let's venture down aisle 14 to take a look at the health and beauty care items.
AFB and YonWoo recently covered former Albertsons #4431 / Publix #1329 in Clearwater where we got to see possibly the last example of a Publix with the early-2010's backlit aisle toppers. Unfortunately, this store's toppers are much more modern, but we can still see two vintage "Health and Beauty Care" signs hanging from the ceiling. The three stock images (lipstick, popcorn, and water) just so happen to match those used on the old backlit aisle toppers and roughly correlate with the categories of product. Water / blue falls above the oral care products, popcorn / yellow above hair care and soap, while lipstick / pink is above cosmetics and hosiery. I'm surprised that I'll still occasionally encounter one (or two) of these old hanging signs despite the fact that Publix has nearly eradicated the old aisle toppers. If any of y'all are aware of other stores which still use the old H&BA or curved wine aisle toppers, I'm all ears!
Dairy rounds out aisle 15 of this store, followed by the pharmacy off in the distance.
I also wanted to point out how the blue paint used in this store's dairy department may be the standard issue for the Bamboo package (Sherwin Williams' Something Blue), it differs from what I've seen in several other stores including #599. The signage in the Ansley Mall store uses a much more vibrant shade of blue than what we see here.
The pharmacy also happens to have received signage featuring the 2018 logo, which likely means this store received a light remodel around 2018-2019. That same remodel also probably added the cooler doors and motion sensors we see on the right along with the self-checkout machines we see up front.
I'm guessing FoodMax's pharmacy would've been in the same location we see here, but I have absolutely nothing to base that off of.
Turing back toward the registers, we see a few short pharmaceutical aisles between me and the customer service counter.
I do wonder how many of those fluffy socks and long sleeve shirts Publix ends up selling in a year.
Back out front, I wanted to capture a close up of a very subtle Bruno's trait: the wall sconces. I doubt many people who come to this store could tell you anything is special about these, but my recent random Bruno's research tells me otherwise.
You know what they say: "back in Sumner County, our Pubno's is second to none!" (You're welcome, Sing Oil Sidekick.)
I just love how symmetrical this style of Bruno's façade is! I also feel like I've read somewhere that this is considered "Charleston" style architecture yet have no knowledge of my own to back that up.
The last remnant we'll examine is the road sign facing Highway 31E. This also, you guessed it, dates back to 1993. Of all the things I've come across at former Bruno's locations, this sign design is probably the most common trait to remain in place. In my post on Publix #1427, I neglected to mention how that store also continues to boast a similar sign which even features that shopping center's original name: Centervillage.
I'll close out this post with an interesting long-exposure photo of this store I found on Publix's website. Publix recently revamped their store listing page and removed these pictures, but they can still be found by inserting the store number at the end of this link: https://cutpcdnwimages.azureedge.net/images/static/StoreFront/00<insert store number here>-828x498.png
The example for this photo would be: https://cutpcdnwimages.azureedge.net/images/static/StoreFront/000119-828x498.png
So, what did you think of this Publixsono's? It has quite the past, but hopefully Publix will continue to operate this unique location well into the future.
I was personally surprised at how little information is available online regarding Bruno's, so that's what inspired me to launch this new series in attempt to solve some of the mysteries I've found. Furthermore, if you didn't get a full grasp on all of the history I outlined at the beginning of the post, don't fret. I plan to dive deeper into several of the topics I dug up and paint a better understanding of the breadth of the former corporation. All of these posts will be linked back to my More Than Convenience page when I get around to writing them.
Make sure to check back here in two weeks to see what else AFB has up his sleeve and be sure to stop by my own blog next weekend to see where Sing (and Bruno's) will appear next.
Until then,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
Very interesting post! Even though I've read about the history of Bruno's a number of times now, it's still a sad story to hear of how the company crumbled in the 1990's because of that plane crash. Of all the stories out there of retailers and grocery stores that crumbled because of mismanagement, inability to compete, etc., the story of Bruno's downfall is by far the most tragic. Bruno’s built some nice stores, and I wonder if the company would have still been around in some form had the crash never happened, or if the pressures of competition would have eventually taken Bruno's down anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for this store in particular, I really like the facade. I like the use of arches in building design as it is, so I'm a big fan of those windows! With such a stately exterior, the interior is actually quite lackluster, and somewhat dated feeling compared to that grandiose facade treatment. The exterior seems more fit for a classier chain like a full-line Bruno's, but the interior feels much plainer and fitting for a value-oriented store like FoodMax, so I guess that could be another example of the company's indecisiveness and lack of direction at the time. I can see the similarities between this store and what we can see in the old photos from #689 as well. I'd have to agree the layouts between the two stores were almost identical, but with very different exteriors! I also think the faux terrazzo looks better in this store than the gray and white tile pattern used in #689. The interior does bear a strong resemblance to a late 1980's or early 1990's Publix though, the raised ceiling over the center of the store playing a large factor into why I think that.
I also never knew Bruno's made it as far east as Columbia, SC! That sounds quite isolated from the rest of the chain, as I don't think Bruno's had any stores east of Nashville or too far east of I-75 in GA (although I don't know how far Bruno's reach went east of I-75 in GA off the top of my head). With all the troubles Bruno’s was having in the 1990’s, I’m not surprised they weren’t able to penetrate the Nashville market much more than 10% share, and with Albertsons even more scrambled up during that time, I’m also not really surprised they did even worse! That photo of this store you found as an Albertsons was a good find, as the Albertsons logo looks so strange on that fancy façade!
Unlike a lot of the other crazy products you've featured in your posts, I've actually bought those Sun Chips in a tube before (and from Publix too)! Aren't chips that much more fun to eat when packaged in a tube! :)
Of the 7 Publixsonos there were, it's quite interesting that 6 of them still survive today (and of course, the funky 2381 Murfreesboro Pike store that Albertsons finished building was the one that was cast off!). I'm interested to see what other Publixsonos stores you've been to while in Nashville, as I know there are some other interesting building variations up there (and the lone Grocery Palace store Albertsons built, which while not a Bruno's, would be fun to see too!)
Thank you! I had a good time researching this funky location. It’s indeed very sad how the company took such a quick turn following the plane crash from its successes of the late-1980’s. Had the crash not occurred, I’m not sure if Bruno’s could’ve warded off competition from Publix in Atlanta; however, I feel like the Florida chain would have been much more hesitant to enter Alabama and more of the rural markets if Bruno’s was more stable in the late-1990’s. I also wonder if the hypermarket joint venture with Kmart, American Fare, could have been more successful or if it was just a bad idea all around.
DeleteThe facade is one of my favorite parts of this store too. I will always associate that design with Bruno’s, and it is so strange for me to see the Publix logo tacked on the front (similar to the Pub-Dixie in Chattanooga or imagine if Publix were to take over a Kroger Greenhouse store!). I’d also agree that the interior is much more boring than the exterior would imply. Other than the arched vestibule and the trim work over the freezer aisle, there weren’t many architectural details to draw shoppers’ attention. Indecisiveness seems to be a good way to describe Bruno’s operations in the 1990’s, and that seems like it may be reflected in this store. That being said, I have visited several other former Bruno’s where I think we will get a better idea of the chain’s full intents for store design . . .
I didn’t realize Bruno’s was in Columbia, SC, either until Henry H. sent me that store’s street view. I did a bit more research and it looks like Bruno’s was only in the market between 1991 and 1993. I believe they operated a total of five stores, but eventually sold them all to Harris Teeter. Following that, speculation arose of Publix entering the mix which seemed to materialize by 1997. I know Bruno’s operated a number of stores in East Georgia which they acquired from Piggly Wiggly Southern in 1988, and PWS also had stores in Augusta at one point. It would make sense for these Columbia stores to be serviced out of Piggly Wiggly Southern’s DC in Vidalia, which makes a South Carolina expansion seem reasonable.
I’m also glad I had that Albertsons photo as a last-minute find – I think it is a really cool juxtaposition. I just wish I could’ve found a better photo of this location as a FoodMax! I was also surprised to find the planned Albertsons south of town which I had never known about before.
Wow, so you are the kind of person who buys chips in a tube! I suppose the packaging is good if you want to be able to seal the container again.
I’m also shocked that 6/7 Publixsonos have survived this long! I wish I could’ve seen what Albertsons did when they finished off the Murfreesboro Pike store, but at least there is still the lone Grocery Palace for us to look at. I’d also be curious to know if these Bruno’s stores were ever remodeled by Albertsons, and if so, how thorough any of them were.
I must admit to being initially confused and wondering if I had ended up at the Mid-South Retail Blog! It seems this post is where the Mid-South Retail Blog meets the Sing Oil Blog and the Albertsons Florida Blog! I take it that this was the post we discussed privately a few weeks back which is a bit hard to categorize?
ReplyDeleteThere is a bit of an indirect tie to Houston with the Bruno's story. Randall's also fell under the KKR umbrella around the time that Bruno's did. This is when Bob and Randall Onstead were still in charge of Randall's. Safeway then bought Randall's and the Onsteads left the company. Randall resurfaced later on at Safeway's Dominick's and then Randall Onstead later took over Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie. I've heard it said that if the Bruno's situation wasn't such a disaster, perhaps KKR would have been a more formidable operator elsewhere, like with Randall's, but I guess that wasn't to be. I'm not sure if it really made a difference, some of the issues KKR had with Bruno's sounds like the issues Randall's had/has under Safeway ownership!
Aside from what AFB and Retail Retell have written about, and what you wrote here, I don't know much about Bruno's. I've heard the name mentioned a lot, but there just isn't a ton of information about them. The history written here is quite useful!
As for the Pubuno's, the store looks pretty nice! The bricks and arched windows at the front of the store reminds me a lot of the Grand Union era of Weingarten supermarkets here in Houston (and other Grand Union stores in other areas, I'm not really sure what their Florida stores were like). That's a neat aspect and I'm glad it is still around. Some of the not-so-local historical flair at the front of the store reminds me of my local Randall's where they installed a large photo of a random ~1940s-1950s Albertsons store in the front entryway! That clearly does not belong at a Houston Randall's store since it must be from out west somewhere, but it is there!
Those all-caps signs written in a sans serif typeface look quite stern! "Produce is delivered seven days a week...and you will like it!" Perhaps this explains the loyalty to Publix so many people have, lol. But, anyway, I'm glad you documented this store because there's probably a decent chance Publix is booking a wrecking ball for this store given the way things go in the world of Publix. I hope not though, it would be nice of Publix to keep this historic store of sorts going. It certainly doesn't look bad even if it isn't exactly the typical Publix experience.
I should have said those signs with the serif typeface, not sans serif. Oops, sorry about that confusion!
DeleteHaha, I feel like my blog is by definition where The Albertsons Florida Blog and Mid-South Retail Blogs meet, considering I have come close to crossing paths with both AFB and Retail Retell. Who knows, maybe one day we can have a Southeastern retail blogging reunion! And yes, I believe this was the “hard to categorize” store I mentioned to you a few weeks ago.
DeleteIt is interesting to think that the Bruno’s fiasco for KKR could've led to Randall's being divested to Safeway, and how that domino falling eventually led to Winn-Dixie's Green Interior coming into existence (for those of you who are reading this and are totally lost, take a look at the comments on this post: https://singoil.blogspot.com/2023/03/columbus-9-columbus-ga.html#MTC ).
Unless you went to Alabama 10+ years ago (or somewhere like Nashville, Atlanta, or Tallahassee in the 1990's), there is good reason that you’ve never heard of Bruno’s. I hope to change that with some of my upcoming posts because I’ve come across some really cool former stores during my travels. The history in this post is also only Chapter 1, so there is a lot more history to cover regarding Bruno’s limping into the 21st Century.
I’ve come across a few former Grand Union stores, and I noticed that they did like to use arches on the front of their stores. It’s also funny that you mention the not-so-local flair photo collage in this store because I’ve never even thought about it in that light! The fact that Publix used to hang these Floridian pictures from the 1950's and 1960's in all of their stores doesn’t really make as much sense in places like Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Good point about how stern the Classy Market 1.0 signs look. It’s a little hard to notice, but the package actually used small caps rather than all caps, but the difference in sizing was very subtle. I’d like to point you back to either AFB's or my post covering Publix #172 in Naples because that store's interior coordinates with the fresh produce sign (small caps and all). I’m personally shocked at how many of these Publixsono's stores are still around and would almost guarantee that some of them have demolition plans in the works. I’ve heard it said before that any store in Publix's fleet which is over 30-years old is destined for the wrecking ball; this store turns 30 this year . . .
Great article, and as I've mentioned previously, I'll never look at any Publix the same way since stumbling across your articulate research.
ReplyDeleteI recall my first visit to Bruno's back in 2002, in a shopping plaza along Hwy 280 outside Birmingham, AL. It was my first visit with a gentleman who would later become a good friend, he was a retired executive who owned a company that was a vendor to almost every store written about on these pages. We went into Brunos to buy something, but the store was dead and when I mentioned it (mid-day Saturday) he told me about the crash, and said they had lost their way. They were also expensive! The location is now a Winn-Dixie.
Grocery stores, being such a cut-throat, low margin business need strong traffic to even survive. 1-2% margin on the food products, and breakeven on any "cost" department - produce, bakery, meat, seafood, and deli. The advent of "ready-to-eat" deli products coincided with a push to try to cover some of the costs of that department, and the continued expansion of SNAP (food stamps for hot products) is just gravy. You mentioned bottled water being "filler" product - it's also the most profitable unit item (~50% margin) inside a grocery store so there's no mistake they want to pump those sales whenever possible. Anything else - paper goods, greeting cards, charcoal, coolers, especially seasonal, that's where the profit comes in.
Let's specifically discuss the bakery. The old days things were made fresh in store from raw ingredients, the smell of baking breads spurred sales and fresh donuts attracted kids who had parents with wallets. Problem is that all those items are labor intensive, had a very short shelf-life, and the variability of the products led to dissatisfaction so stores, including Publix, now have central bakeries who make a good portion of their products and the stores just heat up, or simply stock the shelves. Or write a name on a cake. More consistent and cheaper that way.
Dominicks - haven't heard that name in ages. Off to read some more....
Thank you, and I’m glad you’ve found your way here too! I know that I’ll never look at a Publix the same either since I first stumbled across this blog.
DeleteThat’s an interesting tidbit about the Hoover Winn-Dixie, and I’ll have to remember that when I get around to covering that store. It was a bit busier than you describe when I was there a few months back.
That’s interesting to hear some of the economics behind grocery stores. I’ve heard before that most stores operate on roughly a 2% margin and have to deal with a lot of shrink in fresh departments, but I have a feeling that Publix has figured out a recipe to increase their overall margins based on how well they seem to do. That also makes sense why bottled water is often used as a space filler and why Publix dedicates entire aisles to greeting cards.
I know Publix makes a lot of their bakery items at central plants (like the muffins, cakes, etc.) but I still thought they make some of their breads and cookies in-store. Now that you mention it, I don’t ever notice any particular “baked good” smells coming from that side of that store, so I suppose they’ve offshored much more than I had thought. I know I read where a lot of their hot deli items (like the soups and pre-made sandwiches) also come from a central plant.
The Brunos/WD in Hoover is in a great location, with a lot of neighborhoods in the immediate area as well as the competition being over the hill, and little competition between it and the 459 interchange. I'll be up there in the next couple months and give it a visit to see how my impressions have changed over the twenty years.
DeleteFor Publix, I don't know their numbers (obviously) but I would think their margins are right in line with the industry; they're making their $$ on their inventory turns due to larger numbers of stores. Spread the fixed costs among a larger base, get better buying power with more stores, etc. They also pay and treat their employees well. Someone having a piece of the pie is more likely to have pride in their job than the "Who gives a rip" mentality at some retailers. This makes a key difference in cost-containment in a 2% margin business. If anyone has been over 2% total margin in the industry it would have been so publicized everyone would copy it. That's why you see these grocers opening so many stores - spread the fixed costs out - and why any grocer closing stores generally only goes downhill (fixed unit costs increase, destroying margins, leading to the "cut your way to profitability" spiral), and with 2% margins there's not too much to cut.
As an aside, in Publix the other day no less than 3 employees said hello to me, and this was a busy store. Great way to make a positive impression; well done big P.
I'd encourage you to use the word "spoilage" with the fresh (aka cost - "we sell at cost") departments. (They were known as cost depts in the industry until the late 90s, when "fresh" was invented because it sounded better). Shrink is more a term associated with unaccounted loss of merchandise, generally theft by customers and employees, but more commonly bookkeeping errors, which technology has significantly reduced. In the cost departments, we culled expired products (cakes, meat, produce) and marked it down inventory wise so it wasn't shrink - since we knew where the product went - it was spoilage. Shrink is a terrible word in retail, but spoilage, while undesired, is an accepted cost of doing business.
And you had to bring up greeting cards! I could write a whole post about them - at one time there were three major companies (Hallmark, American Greeting, and Carlton) and that was the general pecking order. It was a no-cost, high margin product as the card companies paid for the inventory, they have product managers come in and restock the shelves (ever notice that under the card displays are drawers - that's where the cards are kept!). The grocers split the revenue according to whatever agreement they worked out, so the only true cost to the grocer was the floor space. Greeting cards also drove customer traffic, but as with some other things, the people who generally buy them are dying off, and the sub-40 crowd doesn't send cards. Another tradition will soon bite the dust.
Last I checked, Ingles markets does have a full in-house bakery. They must be one of the last holdouts. We will be up in their market area soon and I'll stop and check. The general trend though is to move everything to central bakery, shelf-stable goods, pre-packaged meat, and I said on another post shelf-ready produce is coming on strong. It's really a combination of needing to control costs, as well as the decline of American worker pride, an overly litigious society - there's just a lot of little things adding up to drive what I will call "least-common-denominator" retail.
That store is in a good location, which is probably why Winn-Dixie decided to move in at a time when the company was just starting to expand again following their bankruptcy troubles. The inside of that store looks much different than it would have as a Bruno's, but it is still worth checking out since it is an intact version of WD's increasingly-rare Transformational format.
DeleteIt would be fun to look through Publix's financials if they were public, but I guess that means we'll have to keep speculating. I also agree that the stock options for employees likely help boost morale, and it seems like Publix employees are more pleasant and more plentiful than employees at other retailers such as Walmart or Kroger. I'm sure that a higher employee retention rate would also help the bottom line by not having to train new employees as often.
Thanks for the tip on the difference between "spoilage" and "shrink". I'm very much an outsider who has never worked in the industry so I'm constantly learning new things! I agree that "fresh" departments sound better than "cost" departments even if it is just a matter of phrasing. I'm always amazed by the lack of near-expiration "fresh" items I see in a Publix compared to Kroger (who typically puts yellow tags on such items to sell at a discount), so I'd imagine Publix stores have a larger amount of spoilage since they seem to remove items from the shelf earlier. I'm sure it is more beneficial to mark a couple more items as spoiled at the end of the day as opposed to giving customers the image that you are carrying out of date products.
That's also interesting to hear about the greeting cards. That makes sense for them to essentially be sold on consignment yet be such a high margin product considering the amount of space typically dedicated to them. I believe bread and magazines are handled on consignment as well?
Next time I'm near one, I'll have to check out an Ingles bakery. It also seems like many Ingles stores still have a self-service salad bar which seems to be a rare sight these days. I've also noticed Publix stocking more pre-packaged produce than they used to (squash, zucchini, etc.)
What a good looking store, especially with all the CM 1.0 signs.
ReplyDeleteThey changed the aisles to just your average modern 45M aisles from what it seems like so I guess it isn't that special.
About the "reused" tri-siders, you can actually see squares but the quality is just bullcrap. https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/56964651_JAenPTI1DNZ6sSjZ39HivjWq5On0obAaeuoMZ_fRZIQ.jpg
As for the cutpcdn thing, yup, that store photo is definitely old, not as old as the #226 photo but old. #280 had a store pic from the 90's that has since been changed.
This store was a cool one for sure!
DeleteI may not be as attuned to aisle configurations as you are, but it makes sense that Publix would’ve wanted to arrange this store like a standard 45M.
Now that you mention it, I can just barely see the rectangular backgrounds on the signs in that Foursquare photo. Oh well, at least I feel confident that this store had the blue and teal tri-siders at some point even if they were never painted like we’ve seen elsewhere.
It is crazy how old some of those Publix storefront photos are – I guess that’s why they’ve recently decided to do away with them on the store location page. That is an old photo of #226!
If more Publix stores could look like this! I think it is very tragic with not only the passing of the Bruno family members, but a legacy chain that they had put so much effort into. AFB had a good question "I wonder if the Bruno family were still alive today would they be able to hold their own against competitors?" I think they still would have been around. Although the long forgotten Sunshine grocery chain in the Florida Panhandle lasted from the mid 1950's through the early 1990's. So it is difficult to know for sure if a family-owned grocery chain can survive the test of time. Certainly Rouses Market in Louisiana is a great example of a family chain done right, as well the Howard E. Butts family that started H-E-B in Texas. To be honest I could see Publix never entering Texas (the mistake Winn-Dixie made back in the late 1960's/early 1970's). I could possibly see Publix enter Louisiana with the eventual (I believe demise of Albertsons), but I think if Albertsons did pull out of Louisiana they'd sell to Rouse's or Brookshire Brothers.
ReplyDeleteThe whole story surrounding Bruno’s is sad! I also have a feeling that Bruno’s would have stuck around had the plane not crashed because the company really seemed to be on the up-and-up in the late-1980’s. I saw today where H-E-B is the sixth largest privately held company in the US, according to Forbes, which goes to show that there is a place family-owned grocery chains. I’m sure the tragic loss of family members, much less the loss of upper management, had a tremendous effect on the remainder of the Bruno’s family which certainly didn’t leave the company on a solid footing.
DeleteI also don’t see Publix entering Texas (remember that Winn-Dixie built some Marketplace stores out there in the 1990’s as well) and think it will be a long time before they give Louisiana a try. This still seems far-fetched, but I almost think it would make more sense for Publix to enter Mississippi in either Biloxi or Gulfport before they even attempt Louisiana. Distribution also doesn’t seem like it would be an issue for Publix to venture further north in Mississippi, since they have a DC on 20/59 in McCalla, but I think Publix is much more focused on Kentucky at the moment.
Brunos' definitely would be around. I think they'd have kept Publix from moving north and west of Georgia.
DeleteIMO, the era of the national grocer is over - Walmart and Target have conquered that market. Kroger is giving it a go trying to buy Albertsons, but can they really be national without a Florida presence? There's really no one else left to build a national chain.
I fully expect physical retail to splinter back down to regional chains, as the national chains have lost sight of the most important thing - customer experience.
This also explains to me why Publix is so successful against Walmart in the South, arguably WM strongest market. They have slightly higher prices but an entire different category of service. People have proven willing to pay for it.
The 50-year trend of national everything is reversing right before our eyes. Albertsons was the early casualty, and in some ways the canary in the coal-mine. Consolidation has largely been a net-negative for the consumer, and many of the arguments supporting it have been proven incorrect over time.
I also agree that Bruno's sticking around would have kept Publix from moving into Nashville and Alabama (in addition to some of the more recent semi-rural markets).
DeleteIt seems like Kroger's current strategy with Florida is to gain a foothold in the delivery market, but I don't ever think they can have a meaningful impact without a brick-and-mortar presence. The only way I see for Kroger-Albertsons to be truly national is if the combined company were to buy Southeastern Grocers, which seems unlikely as long as the larger merger is pending.
I also wonder if Kroger is beginning to get complacent (or at least distracted) much like it seems A&P did 50-years ago. I also couldn't agree more with your statement about the national chains loosing sight of the customer experience because that is probably the thing that aggravates me most about a Walmart or Kroger. Maybe Publix just has me spoiled? Aldi may not have near the customer experience as Publix, but that's not what they are going for either -- at least they don't try to hide it! I'm more than willing to pay the ever-so-slight price difference at Publix if it means I don't have to step foot inside a Walmart!
Just like consolidation in the technology industry, I think the consumer ends up suffering due to the lack of competition with national retailers.
Thanks for the Seessel's post link/shout-out, and for doing such a great job at documenting the rest of the Tennessee side of Albertsons' story! I really focused my research only on the Memphis side of things, but the Nashville and Chattanooga sides intrigued me as well. Besides just enjoying your writing and the obvious fun you have in the post as usual, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to read the results of your research into this history. And seeing the store as it stands today, of course, was an added bonus!
ReplyDeleteHaving never been in a former Bruno's myself, I didn't realize they had such unique architecture, and it's cool to see the full exterior as well as those handful of smaller interior features holding on under Publix. Great find with the Albertsons shot, too, and I love how you can still see the Albertsons labelscar on the brick beneath Public's logo!
I'm surprised Bruno's had so many different banners (reading the report language of all those was interesting -- perhaps someone in a position similar to me wrote that!), and what gets me even more is that quote about how the banner sometimes wasn't chosen until right before opening the store. Um, what?! That's insane! You'd think enough market research would have taken place before even choosing to construct a store regarding its potential audience of shoppers and the type of store that would suit them best. (Although perhaps the absence of such research is ultimately part of what did Bruno's in, aside from the tragedy...?) The fact that this decision was made so late in the game suggests that all the differences between the different banners as pointed out in that report language I mentioned is just a bunch of BS -- if the store can be built in one certain way but have any number of names slapped on it interchangeably, then none of those banners can be inherently unique or different from one another...
Ha -- that cold beer sales thing was before my time in Oxford, and I wasn't aware of it, but I'm not surprised to hear it! Mississippi as a whole, and Oxford in particular, can sometimes be a bit behind on alcohol laws...
It's always nice when I have some basic background research to start with, so I appreciate all of the effort you put into digging up info on the Nashville Bruno's/Albertsons! I have plans to visit some of the other Nashville Publixsono's at some point and hope to share some more random tidbits that I pick up along the way. Thank you for all of your kind words, and I always try to have a little bit of fun on my photography trips / while writing my posts. I also appreciate that my friends let me drag them to a random grocery store 30-minutes north of Nashville!
DeleteI only remember going inside one Bruno's and one FoodMax before the company totally went under, but I've always known that style of store façade was unique to Bruno's. I have a few more stores up my sleeve which really show off some of those former Bruno's traits, I just have to find the time to write up those posts! I was also excited about my last-minute find with that Albertsons picture!
All of the Bruno's banners have really confuse me too. I'm glad I was able to find that report to provide a little bit of insight into the various brands, but it still seems to me like corporate's guidance was a bit chaotic. It's also fun how you could personally relate to that report! I couldn't believe it when I read the article mentioning how a store's banner may not be selected until several weeks before the grand opening. I remember reading that the Kerry Forest Bruno's in Tallahassee was originally slated to be a FoodMax which seems to line up with the indecisiveness we've seen here. Maybe KKR was the one who really hammered out those descriptions? From what I've seen with the Alabama stores, I would have expected most of the Nashville locations to be branded as "Bruno's" since they were typically built with a Supercenter design that was almost always reserved for the Bruno's nameplate. I think part of the decision to go with the FoodMax branding resulted from the stores being outside the state of Alabama, and I'm guessing that corporate initially wanted to brand stores in other states under other names? Then again, Atlanta and Tallahassee were exceptions to this. Who knows! I think your assumption of it being a bunch of BS may not be too far off base.
I'll just say that I have a local connection who told me about Oxford's old alcohol laws! I was surprised when I learned how recently some Georgia counties remained dry, and I think there are still a few where distilled spirit sales are prohibited. I'm most surprised that it seems Coweta County, part of Metro Atlanta, still seems to be dry, along with several other, more rural counties.