Former Albertsons #4401 - Clearwater, FL (N. Belcher Road Jewel-Osco)

Jewel-Osco #4102 / Albertsons #4401 / Publix #1300

1921 N. Belcher Road, Clearwater, FL - Beckett Lake Plaza

Today's post is a presentation of Pinellas County retail

     Hello all, and welcome to another year of AFB! How about we kick of 2024 in a big way with a really big Publixsons? If you want a big Publixsons, you don't have to look much further than one of the former Jewel-Osco stores Publix inherited from Albertsons. The 4 former Jewel-Osco buildings Publix still operates out of consist of the 4 largest stores in the chain, with all of these buildings hovering around the 75,000 square foot mark - a good 20,000 square feet outside of Publix's typical comfort zone. It's always fun to pop into a Jewel-Publixsons store, so let's find out a little bit more about this location in Clearwater before we head inside:

Photo courtesy of YonWooRetail2

     The Clearwater Jewel-Osco opened on August 2, 1989 as the second of these Floridian superstores dreamed up by the Skaggs Company, opening 5 months after the brand's somewhat messy Floridian debut at Largo Mall. As far as I'm aware, grand opening day at the new Clearwater Jewel-Osco was much more uneventful compared to Largo Mall's total failure of the cash register system.

     And speaking of the grand opening of the Clearwater Jewel-Osco, I managed to track down this photo of the store's ribbon being cut on the morning of August 2, 1989, one of many photos uploaded by Skaggs family member Mindy Skaggs Benkenstein to this fantastic album of photos showcasing many of the Jewel-Osco grand openings throughout Florida. While some of the interior photos in that album could have been from this store (all 7 Jewel-Osco stores opened in Florida looked exactly the same inside, so I can't narrow down where any of the interior photos were taken), the photo above I was able to confirm as being of the Clearwater location, as the building's address number of "1921" is visible above the doors in the background.

     The Clearwater Jewel-Osco operated for just shy of 3 years before Albertsons purchased Skaggs' failing Floridian superstores in early 1992. Following a brief conversion, Albertsons opened in this location in April 1992, and remained here until this store was included as one of the 49 locations sold to Publix in 2008. Publix reopened this store after yet another brief conversion, with Publix's new "superstore" opening on November 6, 2008.

     Outside of the paint color and the decorative trim Albertsons installed around their logo (which now surrounds Publix's), the exterior of the building is still exactly as it looked when Jewel-Osco was here. These massive stores had an equally as imposing facade, all adding to the effect of just how large these store are.

     As usual with these Jewel-Osco superstores, the building has three sets of doors into the main store - a set of doors on the right side of the building that leads into produce and the service departments, a set of doors on the left side of the building to access the pharmacy, and a set of doors in the center of the building that leads to the check lanes and the center aisles. While Publix seems to use all the doors interchangeably as entrances and exits, the original Jewel-Osco configuration used the doors on the far ends of the buildings as the entrances, with the set of doors in the center of the building (behind the check lanes) being a central exit.

     While Publix doesn't designate any of the doors specifically as an entrance or exit, the center set of doors seemed to be the most popular option at this store, with the photo above giving us a nice close-up of the central entrance.

     Stepping onto the front walkway, here's a look down the long sidewalk that connects the three sets of entrances as well as the liquor store (located behind me, which we'll see later in the post). The center set of doors (behind the propane tank case) is the set we'll be entering through, so let's head inside and enjoy a little bit of the oddity that is the Jewel-Publixsons:

     Say what you will about Publix's Evergreen decor, but every time I walk inside a Publixsons or any other ancient Publix and see this decor, I breathe a sigh of relief that it has evaded the replacement list for a few more years. The Evergreen decor you see in this store is the third Publix decor package this building has seen through the years, beginning its Publix tenure with Classy Market 2.0, followed by a remodel to Classy Market 2.5 in the early 2010's, and then receiving Evergreen in early-mid 2021.

     The right side entrance is visible to my left, with the service desk in an island (most likely relocating to the island during the CM 2.5 remodel from one of the alcoves now present on the front wall).

     As you would expect from a 75,000 square foot Publix, there's a lot of wide open space in here, especially along the front end. That tiny table of BOGOs doesn't do much to fill this wide expanse of salesfloor as we look from the service desk toward produce in the building's front right corner.

     Even the produce department itself is pretty spaced out, as Publix had a lot of space to fill in this alcove.

     Following produce are the bakery and deli departments, which we'll see more of in a little bit.

     Floral found its home on the back wall of the produce alcove, a fairly spacious floral arrangement compared to some of the cramped little counters near the front entrance you typically find at newer Publix stores.

     I always like these photos I take from the produce alcove looking toward the other side of these former Jewel-Osco stores. From this vantage point, you can really feel how large these stores are. Way out there in the distance is the pharmacy, with a large expanse of grocery aisles separating us from that.

     As usual in these former Jewel-Osco stores, the deli counter is located in an island near the back right corner of the building. Originally, Jewel-Osco had a small cafe of some kind and a cheese counter at the front part of the deli island, with the main deli counter located toward the back of the island. A small seating area would have been located in front of the island to accommodate the cafe as well. Publix still uses the back part of the island for the main deli counter, with the front part mostly blocked off by grab-and-go coolers and the Pub Sub station. I'd have to imagine Albertsons had a similar deli set-up to what we see here today as well, as Albertsons didn't run any super-elaborate prepared food options like Jewel-Osco was trying to with these stores.

     Also, it is just the photo, or does the "D" in the deli sign over the main counter look like it wants to fall off already?

     Jewel-Osco's former seating area is now home to Publix's soup and salad bar, a few tables of baked goods, and more of that famous empty space. From this angle we also get a view down the inner aisle of this store's dual front actionway, another famous feature at Publixsons stores.

     From the front of the deli island, here's a look back toward produce and the building's right side entrance. For a grand aisle, the one in this store sure is grand due to its size - Publix's smallest store is probably no bigger than this store's grand aisle!

     As we approach the deli island, the grand aisle channelizes itself between the island to my left, and the bakery department to my right.

     While Publix updated most of the decor during this store's Evergreen remodel, there were three major relics of past Publix decor packages that slipped by - the first and most obvious being the floor. While the tile floor isn't exactly decor specific, the tan and white color scheme meshed much better with the Classy Market iterations of the late 2000's and 2010's. I've yet to come across an Evergreen Publix that opened with a non-terrazzo floor, but if the remodel at the Oakland Park Publixsons was anything to go by, this shiny beige flooring is what appears to be the non-terrazzo floor covering that directly compliments Evergreen. Flooring aside, the other major relic of Publix decors past we'll find in this photo is the tile backsplash in the Bakery department, which is a remnant of this store's previous Classy Market 2.5 decor. All said, while you can tell floor and the bakery tile don't perfectly match Evergreen, there are worse clashes with Evergreen that exist in this world.

     As for that third relic of Publix decors past, we'll see that a little later in our tour...

     When someone says "It's too soon for pumpkin spice" and you realize you don't need that negativity in your life - oh no, Publix is bringing Instagram memes to life! #publix #pumpkinspice #afbisawesome #whyamimakingfakehashtags

     Last fall pumpkin spice was everywhere, to the point where a tire shop by me put a similar message to this one on their roadside sign, which I thought was fun satirical spin on the modern pumpkin spice craze. Anyway, there's still a few more months before we have to think about pumpkin spice again (and what new products will be getting a pumpkin spice version this year), so lets move on to the Meat & Seafood department and think about some pumpkin spice steak & shrimp for a moment:

     The Meat & Seafood counter is located behind the deli island along the store's back wall, with an alcove beyond the service counter for the prepackaged meats.

     Aisle 1 begins along the back of the deli island, with water of all kinds to my right, and juices to my left. Looking toward the back of the building, aisle 1 lines up perfectly with the center of the meat and seafood counter.

     Here in aisle 2, we get a better look at the raised ceiling over the center of the store, featuring a similar effect to what we'd find in an older Publix store.

     Wide aisle are certainly one bragging point about this store - all the grocery aisles and actionways in this store were plenty big for carts to pass by. Even though this store is obviously oversized for Publix's taste, I have to say, the spaciousness is really nice for shopping purposes. It's quite annoying having to maneuver around people blocking the aisles in tighter stores, and that's not a big problem here with how much passing room is available!

     While the last photo showcased the inner aisle of the dual front actionway, the outer part of the actionway near the check lanes is even wider, and chock full of filler displays to try to hide all the extra space.

     The cleaning supplies aisle is nice and tidy, as it certainly would have been ironic if it wasn't!

    Returning to the back of the store, here's a look into the meat alcove. The only signage for the meat department was the sign over the service counter, with some of Evergreen's stock photo collages breaking up the blank wall space in the alcove.

     And if it makes you feel any better, I did pick up that package of hamburger buns on the floor after taking this photo - it was bothering me too.

     Pet supplies, hardware, and other assorted general merchandise items could be found here in aisle 6.

     From aisle 7, here's a look toward the doors at the very center of the building. Yes, we are roughly at the halfway point of this tour!

     There is something oddly satisfying about how neatly all those bottles of Sparking Ice were placed on that endcap. I applaud whoever took the time to do that, because that endcap looks very painstaking to stock so perfectly!

     Anyway, reaching the end of aisle 7, the short segment of it between the two parts of the front actionway contain magazines and books.

     Halfway through our tour, we still have plenty more to see, as we still have a bit of walking to do before we get over to this store's last aisle, aisle 15.

     All the comfort foods you need are available here in aisle 9 - candy and soup.

     Here's a closer look at the photo collage in the meat alcove. Pretty much every Evergreen store has this collage somewhere on the perimeter wall, this particular one most commonly found in the frozen foods aisle in newbuilds. This photo collage seems to be a nod to Publix's Floridian roots, with its artistic depictions of palm fronds, the art deco building, and the tropical cocktail ingredients. The middle panel says "I ♥ Green #Publix", stating the theme of the collage (everything featured is green in some way), and may even be a subtle nod to the decor package's name, "Evergreen". Unlike Publix's previous decor packages (which were all named after random paint, tile, or fixture elements within the packages themselves), I wonder if the name "Evergreen" was created as a nod to Publix's longtime corporate color (green) and mantra ("Bleed green"), and isn't just a random named picked out of the Sherwin Williams catalog like some of the others were. So far that's the only theory that makes sense, as the name Evergreen certainly wasn't derived from this decor's primary color scheme! (Hence the tongue-in-cheek "Evergray" name this decor has developed in the supermarket fan community).

     While most of the departments in the store only got one wall sign, Dairy was the exception, getting its name on the wall twice. The sign in the corner is clearly the primary sign for the department, with its complementary textured back paneling (which from closer inspection at another store, is just wallpaper of some kind). The secondairy sign for this department (and I'm sorry if I used that one before, but it's too fitting here) looks like an afterthought, just slapped on the wall without any background directly on the colored stripes.

     Returning to the grocery aisles, we find the health and beauty overflow in aisle 11. The front aisles closest to the pharmacy contain the rest of this store's health and beauty/pharmaceutical selection.

     Near the pharmacy side entrance was this gigantic beer display, which featured signage congratulating the Tampa Bay Lightening for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win in 2021. While the signage is a nice tribute, this display isn't as creative as the faux hockey rink the Palm Harbor Jewel-Publixsons built to fill their extra front end space!

     Earlier in this post I mentioned there were three major relics of Publix decor past floating around in this building - the first two being the flooring and the bakery tile backsplash. The third relic can be found in this aisle, and stands out quite a bit from its gray surroundings - the Classy Market 2.5/3.0 "Cold Beer" sign. No one bothered to yank that sign down during the remodel, and this isn't the first time I've seen that "Cold Beer" sign survive an Evergreen remodel either.

     Following the beer coolers in aisle 13, aisles 14 and 15 contain frozen foods. The photo above shows aisle 14, which is entirely dedicated to frozen food coolers...

     …while aisle 15, the store's last, is three quarters frozen foods, with a tiny bit of the dairy department wrapping around from the back wall into this aisle.

     Speaking of the dairy department, we'll take a closer look at it now. The above photo shows us the secondairy department sign again, as well as an overview of the store's back wall as seen from the building's back left corner.

     The main dairy department sign is located in the back left corner, with the sign taking up the perfect amount of space to fill the corner cut.

     The dairy photo collage was placed on the left wall in aisle 15, although I feel it would have been better if Publix flipped the placement of the secondairy department sign and the collage. The secondairy department sign would have looked less awkward on this wall than the taller back wall.

     Leaving aisle 15, the front left corner of the building is home to the pharmacy counter. The pharmacy counter itself is located just out of frame to the right, with the short aisles of pharmaceuticals in front (and what the above photo is focused on).

     The pharmacy counter itself if pictured here, with the pharmacy side entrance located just beyond the counter.

     Quite a bit has changed here since the pharmacy's days branded as an Osco (although it appears the Florida stores called the pharmacy "Jewel-Osco Prescriptions" instead of just plain "Osco" like the stores around Chicago would, probably because Osco on its own didn't have name recognition in Florida).

     From the pharmacy, here's a look across the front of the store from the inner part of the front actionway...

     …and our final interior photo shows a similar scene to the prior photo, just looking across the part of the actionway closer to the check lanes.

     Exiting the store through the pharmacy doors, here's a look at that set of doors from the exterior, with the liquor store just to the left.

     Here's a better look at the liquor store itself, tucked into the left side of the building.

     While that concludes our tour of the main store, let's jump across the parking lot to see one last element of this store's past, this time with a relic from the Albertsons era:

     At the back of the parking lot, in the tip of the triangle where Belcher Road intersects with Old Coachman, lies the former Albertsons Express gas station. This little corner of the Jewel-Osco property remained empty until the turn of the 21st century, when Albertsons decided to squeeze this gas station on the site. Albertsons Express operated here until 2008, the year when Albertsons began exiting the gas station business (although the company has since returned to operating gas stations). I don't know if the gas station ceased being an Albertsons Express following Publix's purchase of this store in 2008, or if Albertsons began purging gas stations prior to their deal with Publix that August. Regardless, all of the Floridian Albertsons Express locations were sold off piecemeal to independent operators around that time. This station briefly became a Citgo after Albertsons sold it in 2008, then operated independently for a few years before becoming a Valero station in the early 2010's. Today this gas station still operates under the Valero brand, with the convenience store using the name "Fuel Express".

     The convenience store building hasn't seen much change since Albertsons operated it, to the point where the only difference to the building's exterior was Albertsons A-leaf logo being removed for that square sign that reads "Fuel". The "Express" portion of the sign is a remnant from Albertsons Express!

     Even though this gas station has seen nothing more than an obvious cheap rebrand, on my original visit to the area in 2021, I only took those first two interior photos we just saw and drove off to my next destination. Later on I began to regret my decision that day, especially after seeing how other former Albertsons Express stations that were sold off to independents had virtually nothing done to their interiors. Thankfully I ended up in this area again in 2023, and I intentionally made this place my gas stop for the day so I had an excuse to check out the interior of the convenience store.

     Stepping inside the convenience store, the cashier counter is immediately to your left, with a few aisles of snacks and such to your right. the self-serve coffee and drinks are straight ahead toward the back of the building. The above photo was taken from the hallway that leads to the restrooms, which were located behind the cashier counter, looking out toward the few aisles of snacks.

     From the other side of the building, it becomes much clearer that nothing has been done inside this convenience store since Albertsons left! Besides the removal of the A-leaf logos, the wall decor is all original, with the signage for the check out and beverages visible here.

     Now that we've explored the former Albertsons Express gas station, we can head on up to the sky for a quick look at some satellite imagery, starting off with some Bird's Eye aerial images courtesy of Bing Maps:

Front

Right Side

Back

Left Side

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

Former Albertsons #4401 - 2023

Albertsons #4401 - 2007

Albertsons #4401 - 2002

Albertsons #4401 - 1998 - The Albertsons Express had not yet been built in this image

Future Jewel-Osco #4102 and Albertsons #4401 - 1985 - It looks like the Jewel-Osco was built on the site of a small farm.

     And there you go, another tour of one jewel of a Publix complete! With this tour finished, we only have one more operational Jewel-Publixsons left to see - the Bradenton one, as we've already toured the Jewel-Publixsons in Palm Harbor and Largo. Sadly, I didn't get to visit the Hudson Jewel-Publixsons before that one was ripped down, but we will eventually get a tour of that site in the future. For the remaining Floridian Jewel-Osco stores, we've already seen what remains at the former N. Dale Mabry site, and the Temple Terrace store's remains will come in the future as well. That said, I've finally hit the halfway point in my coverage of the 7 former Floridian Jewel-Osco stores, a modest milestone I suppose. We'll come back to the topic of Jewel-Osco again in the future, but next time we'll take a look at a slightly tamer former Albertsons store, so be sure to come back in two weeks for that!

Here's to a great 2024, and until the next post,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger