Kash n' Karry #722 (Pre-Delhaize) / Kash n' Karry #1748 (Delhaize-era) / Sweetbay #1748 / Winn-Dixie #2433 / Future Aldi #2433
2100 West Swann Avenue, Tampa, FL
Today's post is a presentation of Hillsborough County retail |
G'day mates and welcome to AFB, Down Down Under edition! While featuring actual retail from Australia would be quite the shock for this blog (operating and vibrant Kmarts, a grocery store called Woolworths, and an Aldi in a mall practically attached to a supermarket that looks just like a Winn-Dixie), yours truly has to settle for this store in the city that gave us Outback Steakhouse, in a state that also happens to have a city called Melbourne, and where a pet kangaroo was recently on the loose. As you probably know, Winn-Dixie did have a brief period of Aussie influence in the late 2010's, which gave us American retail fans a taste of what Australian retail was like without having to suffer through a 23-hour flight for an in-person glimpse at what grocery stores are like down under. Even without the Down Down decor's Australian influence, the Winn-Dixie we'll be touring today was a special store for the chain overall, and was a special store for the two other chains that once operated out of this building. Considering the recent theme for why I've been featuring certain Winn-Dixie stores on the blog (and if you read the caption above), you can probably imply that everything that made this store special for the last 3 decades has come to a screeching halt, but we'll take more about that part in a little bit. For now though, sit back and grab yourself a Vegemite sandwich as we learn more about Hyde Park's (formerly) flagship grocery store:
For those of you not familiar with Tampa, let me start by describing the neighborhood this store was located in. Hyde Park, located immediately to the west of Downtown Tampa on the opposite side of the Hillsborough River, is considered one of the trendiest (as well as wealthiest) neighborhoods in town. Filled with historic homes and oak-canopied streets with little pockets of commerce lining some of the main thoroughfares (like Swann Avenue and Platt Street), Hyde Park has always been a neighborhood known for boutique shopping, classy restaurants, and trendy entertainment venues. While there were some small neighborhood grocers in Hyde Park in the early 1990's, the closest full-size grocery stores to the neighborhood at the time were a U-Save at Henderson and South Dale Mabry (now TJMaxx), with a Publix across the street from that store South Dale Mabry. A little further south from those two stores and you would find South Tampa's retail hub - Britton Plaza - complete with a brand-new Albertsons too. Even with those options not too far away, Hyde Park was a bit of a hole for grocery coverage, especially for the people who liked the walkable urban setting of the neighborhood. Having been built-out for years though, constructing a large modern supermarket in Hyde Park was a bit of a challenge site-wise, but if there was any grocery chain that could find a place to squeeze in a store (without a terrible amount of pushback from the locals), it would be none other than hometown supermarket chain Kash n' Karry.
Beginning as early as 1990, Kash n' Karry's plans for a supermarket in Hyde Park came to light. Looking for a site large enough to house a 48,000 square foot flagship grocery store in this neighborhood, Kash n' Karry began to eye one of the more unsightly buildings in the neighborhood - an old warehouse used by the Fabric King chain located at the corner of Howard and Swann Avenues. While the plans for the new store created some hesitation from locals at first, overall, most were just concerned about how a 48,000 square foot "Cadillac Kash n' Karry" would look in the neighborhood - curious about things like architectural aesthetics and where the building would go on the land rather than protesting the construction store overall. As such, the new supermarket's permitting and rezoning went through without much issue, with Kash n' Karry now waiting for Fabric King to vacate its warehouse before construction could begin.
Fabric King moved to a new warehouse elsewhere in Tampa in July 1992, after which Kash n' Karry came in and began demolition of the old structure. The new Kash n' Karry store - a flagship model for the chain - would showcase Kash n' Karry's turnaround in their era of independent ownership. The new store was designed as one-of-a-kind location featuring all the frills Kash n' Karry could muster in a building designed to be unique to Hyde Park. The new store would be all white with glass block entries, and was designed to play off natural shadows from the surrounding trees and structures - a classy touch for a classy store in a classy neighborhood. While Kash n' Karry tried to portray themselves as a "price conscious" chain in the 1980's during their era of ownership by Lucky Stores, the newly independent chain of the 1990's was trying to rebrand itself in a higher-end light. While Kash n' Karry wasn't trying to stray from is price-conscious roots, the chain wanted to make its stores look and feel nicer in this new era, and there was no better place to showcase the company's new look than in one of Tampa's nicest neighborhoods.
While you can see a little bit of architectural inspiration drawn from Kash n' Karry's typical early 1990's store design, the imposing glass block tower and wall of windows to let in natural light made this store stand out from the rest in the chain. To attest to that claim, Kash n' Karry's CFO Ray Springer described this store as "by far the prettiest and most expensive store" built by the chain (and if the CFO is bragging about this being the most expensive store the company ever built, I guess it was money well spent).
While the balance sheets may have been crying following the construction of this building, Kash n' Karry wanted to make a statement with this new store. The Hyde Park Kash n' Karry was the Kash n' Karry of the future, a stark departure from the bare-bones discount stores the company ran in decades past. The new deluxe supermarket was to feature a full-service floral department, a seafood counter, pharmacy, a food court, home delivery services, video rentals, a wine consultant, and an expanded beer selection on top of the usual produce, bakery, and deli service options.
Even with a store offering all that opening in the not-too-distant-future, all the small grocers that had served Hyde Park for years weren't concerned at all with the arrival of the new Kash n' Karry store. The owners of those other stores felt they were specialized enough to survive whatever Kash n' Karry could come up with, a surprisingly optimistic tone from these small businesses. Even less concerned about the new Kash n' Karry were the Publix and U-Save down the road on South Dale Mabry (although U-Save did remodel their store during the time Kash n' Karry was building theirs, although U-Save's manager claimed the remodel was merely a coincidence).
The new Hyde Park Kash n' Karry opened to grand fanfare on Thursday, March 11, 1993, featuring "bells, whistles, clowns, live music, scavenger hunts, and buy-one-get-one free specials". Kash n' Karry wanted a huge event to mark this store's opening, with grand opening festivities going on for well over a month with assorted specials, live music, weekend events (like karaoke and caricature artists) and celebrity appearances (such as Miss America 1988 - Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, the players from the (now dissolved) Tampa Bay Storm AFL team, and the Topaz Man (a Fabio knockoff from a rival romance novel publisher)). Unfortunately, Kash n' Karry was unable to book Michael Jackson for an appearance at the grand opening as he turned out to be a Publix fan (and based off those other celebrities Kash n' Karry booked, I don't think they would have had the budget to schedule an appearance by Michael Jackson anyway).
Kash n' Karry was really pushing the fact this store was Hyde Park's very first full-service supermarket, really marketing this place as a destination for not only the neighborhood, but for Tampa as a whole. Kash n' Karry maintained the status of being the only full-service supermarket in Hyde Park until 1998, when Publix managed to squeak in a small-format store at Bayshore Boulevard and Platt Street on the eastern edge of the neighborhood, followed by the construction of one of Publix's Greenwise 1.0 stores on the western edge of Hyde Park 10 years later in 2008. Even with Publix's encroachment into the neighborhood in later years, the Kash n' Karry seemed to do quite well.
Upholding their promise of keeping the Hyde Park Kash n' Karry unique, this store ran its own weekly ad that was different from the other Kash n' Karry stores in the area. The ad above is an example of one of the store's unique ads, touting not only the weekly meat specials, but also the store's unique services like grocery delivery, cooking demonstrations, and the wine stewardess.
After only 3 years in business, the Hyde Park Kash n' Karry began a remodel in November 1996, right around the time the company began its sale to Food Lion. While the salesfloor space would remain the same size, a greater emphasis would be placed on the fresh departments. As such, all of the fresh departments would receive a remodel and expansion as part of Kash n' Karry's new initiative to push fresh offerings, the centerpiece of which would be a retooled food court with an on-site chef as well as the addition of a coffee shop. Also, a liquor store was to be added, that being carved out of a portion of a (now-demolished) building just to the west of the main supermarket structure.
If you read the article about the 1996 remodel, the additions and reconfigurations happening should sound familiar to you if you've been keeping up with my recent posts. Essentially, Kash n' Karry was installing their new deluxe prototype here at Hyde Park - the same format that would debut in full in early 1997 in Bradenton. Considering the Hyde Park store was Kash n' Karry's flagship, I'm not surprised this location was chosen to debut some of the same deluxe features the new prototype in Bradenton was to feature as well. We'll see some more evidence of the 1996 flagship remodel in a little bit, where we'll see confirmation this store and the store we recently toured in Bradenton were pretty similar, even if Hyde Park didn't get the new building design like the Bradenton location did.
Between 1996 and 2006, not much happened to this store. However, in 2004 Delhaize announced that Kash n' Karry was to be rebranded to the new Sweetbay format, and this store's turn to make the change to Sweetbay came in 2006. While the vast majority of Sweetbay conversions involved not much more than a decor swap, here in Hyde Park, the conversion process took 9 months - beginning in March 2006 with work carrying out through December. Much like how this store was treated by Kash n' Karry as a flagship, Sweetbay was also going to consider Hyde Park that brand's flagship as well, carrying on the tradition from its predecessor. As part of the renovation, the store's interior was completely redone, including thorough remodels to all service departments, a reconstructed facade, and a relocated liquor store (which moved from the building next door to a new location within the main building, accessible through the side entrance like a new-build Sweetbay would have).
Photo courtesy of Google Streetview |
Even with two Publix stores now in Hyde Park, Sweetbay also seemed to be able to ward off any threats from those two stores, maintaining this store as a higher-end shopping experience with more fresh options that would appeal to the people living in the area. However, while this store may have been doing well, Sweetbay as a whole wasn't living up to Delhaize's expectations, so in 2013, the chain's 72 remaining stores were sold to the parent company of Winn-Dixie. Following the completion of that sale in late 2013, the remaining Sweetbay stores would be rebranded as Winn-Dixies by early 2014, with the Hyde Park location closing as a Sweetbay on April 5, 2014 and making the transition to The Beef People on April 11, 2014.
In early 2014, Hyde Park was abuzz with the opening of a new Trader Joe's - the first in Tampa - on March 21, 2014. Technically just outside of the traditional boundary of Hyde Park at the intersection of Swann Avenue and South Dale Mabry Highway, Trader Joe's was a perfect fit for the clientele of South Tampa. While Trader Joe's was the talk of the town at the time, the pending arrival of Winn-Dixie to Hyde Park seemingly wasn't. The above article by Tampa Bay Times business columnist Richard Mullins had a bit of a snarky tone when it came to describing Winn-Dixie's arrival in Hyde Park, curious to see how frumpy old Winn-Dixie (a chain not known for high-class operations through the years) would appeal to the affluent shoppers of the neighborhood...
Photo courtesy of Brad H. on Google |
… and while at first it didn't seem like much was going to change here from how Sweetbay left the place, it turns out some new upper management at Winn-Dixie was determined to show the people of Hyde Park that Winn-Dixie can be classy too - on its own, no less, without the help from anything Sweetbay left behind:
After arriving at Southeastern Grocers in 2015 as the company's new CEO, Ian McLeod, former managing director of Cole's Supermarket in Australia, had a new vision for turning around the company's beguiled grocery chains: make them look exactly like the stores run by the company he just left. While that's actually what ended up happening, in reality, Ian McLeod's turnaround plan involved a larger emphasis on more fresh offerings and remodeled stores. However, when it came to picking a look for these newly refreshed locations, McLeod scrapped SEG's relatively-new Green Interior format for one of his choosing, which happened to be the decor from the grocery chain he previously managed (I guess some people don't like change). McLeod actually prototyped two decor packages following his arrival at SEG in 2015 at two different Winn-Dixie stores in Jacksonville - the decor package from his previous employer, Cole's (which we now call Down Down) at the Deerwood Village store, and a different prototype I call the "White Interior" at a store in Mandarin (which incorporated some elements from Down Down among a very stark white design). Following those two remodels, McLeod ultimately decided to stick with what he was familiar with and Winn-Dixie would go forward with the full decor from Down Down Under, developing a new showcase of a store for the grand debut of the new design just down the road from that original rough Down Down prototype. The first "Deluxe" Down Down Winn-Dixie made its debut in February 2016 in a former Winn-Dixie that had been sitting empty since 2010, with the second (and final) deluxe prototype - the Hyde Park store in Tampa - making its debut in October 2016.
The Baymeadows store in Jacksonville (which has become Winn-Dixie's flagship) and this store in Hyde Park were sadly the only two stores to get the "Deluxe" version of the Down Down decor, which featured the metal and faux brick wall paneling, the expanded service departments, and the most amazing looking supermarket deli you'll ever see. As the Down Down decor began to spread further throughout the chain come 2017, future Down Down remodels began to look "cheap cheap" as it evolved into the version you commonly see in the wild today.
Winn-Dixie did a good job of trying to carry on this building's legacy as being a classy flagship location, but this store still seemed to pale a bit in comparison to its sibling store in Jacksonville. Some of the special service features (like the gelato bar) appeared to not be used anymore when I visited this store in 2021, and this store also never received a WD's Taproom, which many of the high-end Winn-Dixie stores (like the Baymeadows and Ponte Vedra Winn-Dixies) did in the late 2010's. I feel that Winn-Dixie may have been struggling a little bit trying to prove themselves to the folks of Hyde Park, but not struggling to the point where the store would have to close (either because it was still making a little money due to its convenient location in the neighborhood, or purely due to corporate pride from the folks at SEG too ashamed to admit defeat on this venture). Overall, if Winn-Dixie were still part of an independently-owned Southeastern Grocers, I'm sure this store would still be open today, as it's pretty bad to close one of your company's flagships (even if it was paling in comparison to its sibling in Jacksonville). However, Winn-Dixie is no longer part of an independently-owned Southeastern Grocers, they're owned by a bunch of real estate pillagers Aldi, who had much different plans for this site.
Again, as we've been seeing play out for the last few months, Winn-Dixie's new parent company, Aldi, plays by the motto of "Aldi takes what Aldi wants", and not even a flagship status was able to save this store. The impending conversion of the Hyde Park Winn-Dixie was one of the earlier conversions that came to light, breaking in an August 5, 2024 article published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Being that Aldi already had plans for a store in the former Barnes & Noble space 2 miles away at Dale Mabry and Kennedy, and with Hyde Park being fairly upscale, the conversion of this store came as a bit of a shock. However, as more conversions came to light, Aldi has announced conversions of a number of other stores in fairly well-off areas, such as taking Winn-Dixie stores in Aventura, Indian Harbour Beach, Fleming Island, St. Johns, and Westlake (with Westlake and St. Johns being stores the company opened in 2022 - and St. Johns was built from the ground up too - what a waste!). I have seen articles about how Aldi is becoming trendier (maybe not to the extent of its semi-related counterpart Trader Joe's), but as the company has managed to connect with younger shoppers on social media (with viral product drops like its advent calendars and seasonal gnomes), Aldi has gone from the store you were embarrassed to admit you shopped at to the store where the cool kids go. Maybe that's part of the logic for Aldi wanting a presence in some of these areas where a deep-discount store seems a bit strange, but if people thought Winn-Dixie in Hyde Park was a stretch, I can only imagine what Richard Mullins would have to say about Aldi's pending arrival to the neighborhood!
The Hyde Park Winn-Dixie closed for good on October 20, 2024, and should reopen as an Aldi sometime in early 2025. However, today we'll be remembering this store for a flagship supermarket it was, and an example of how different of a Winn-Dixie this was can be seen parked right outside the front doors:
Parked next to the entrance we see the store's customized catering delivery van. Not only is this the only Winn-Dixie I've ever seen with a separate catering service (I don't even think Baymeadows had that!), this is the also the only one I've ever seen with a custom delivery vehicle too! I guess being close to downtown and all the offices there, this store probably got a decent flow of catering business, at least enough to justify the purchase of a Dodge Grand Caravan with custom graphics to be used as more than advertising prop outside the store!
Entering the front vestibule (which is located in roughly the same place the round glass tower was before the Sweetbay remodel), we find a really nice seasonal display for Halloween. Not only were there pumpkins, haybales, and a fall backdrop, someone took the effort to make a really cool spider prop that hung from the ceiling. There was a hook on the ceiling the spider was attached to, with the end of the string holding the spider attached to the front door. With that set-up, every time the door slid open or closed, the spider would move up and down like it was crawling on its web. I thought that was one of the most ingenious supermarket holiday props ever (and I thought I took a video of the spider going up and down, but I can't find it, so I guess I didn't). Even if the Hyde Park Winn-Dixie had a hard time rivaling its sister store in Jacksonville from a sales perspective, this store certainly had a much better merchandising department! Following this Halloween display, I also found a picture of the Christmas 2021 display that replaced this one, which was just as impressive (and I can't believe they'd keep an actual fake fireplace in storage just for a display!).
Like most Down Down stores, there's a photo collage near the entrance welcoming you to you local store. While many times photos of old Winn-Dixie stores got thrown into these collages, the collage scene here was comprised entirely of scenes from around Tampa (such as the Ybor City sign and the Gasparilla boat).
However, before we enter the main store, I'd like to do a little compare and contrast. We'll start off with a photo from the front entrance before the Deluxe Down Down remodel, followed by my picture from after the remodel to demonstrate the scope of the work Winn-Dixie did:
Photo courtesy of Yelp |
Pre-Down Down remodel, this store looked pretty nice, with the typical Sweetbay decor and Sweetbay's wooden hanging decorations over produce and the rest of the grand aisle.
Post-remodel, I was standing is a similar place to take the above photo from where the photographer took the pre-remodel photo. Yes, Winn-Dixie did a lot of work here in 2016! While the grand aisle stayed in the same place on the right side of the store, all the departments were moved around. Not only that, but the flooring and lighting was all new too. Winn-Dixie spared no expense with this remodel - they wanted a show-stopper of a store, and they certainly got one (until Aldi stopped the show, that is)!
Unlike all the Down Down remodels that followed this one, these Deluxe Down Down stores had corrugated metal paneling around the perimeter of the store. All of that paneling was painted red with the department names stenciled on top, adding a little more texture to this version of the decor compared to the stores where the walls were cheaply painted red. Anyway, looking to the left from the main entrance we find the floral department tucked between the two sets of doors.
Stepping further into the salesfloor, here's a better overview of the Floral department in relation to the entrance. While it was more apparent in the previous photo, the department names are much taller in the deluxe version of the Down Down decor compared to the cheaper version. Thankfully this store was built with a really high drop ceiling to make those tall signs work!
Winn-Dixie made use of the ceiling support columns by attaching tall, skinny advertisements on them for the produce department, making use of what would otherwise be dead blank space.
Upon the debut of the Deluxe Down Down format, one of the main attractions these stores had was "The Kitchen", home to an expanded selection of prepared foods such as a custom sandwich station, a carving station, barbecue, sushi, and a pizza oven. Also available in "The Kitchen" were party platters available through this store's catering arm, whose delivery van we saw out front.
While most of "The Kitchen's" food selections were located along the main stretch of counter we just saw, the pizza oven was located along the side of the counter, facing the small dining area and Coffee bar. I believe this was one of 3 Winn-Dixies to have ever gotten the pizza station - the other two being this store's Deluxe Down Down sibling in Jacksonville, and the Cocoa Beach Winn-Dixie (which was essentially rebuilt as a new store following a roof collapse from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, receiving a nice version of standard Down Down when it reopened). With this store closed and with Cocoa Beach having discontinued pizza from the deli in recent times, I don't know if that feature is still maintained at Baymeadows or if Winn-Dixie pizza is now a thing of the past thanks to Mama Cozzi.
The next department we find in the grand aisle is the Coffee bar, which looked totally closed and disused during my visit. When this store first opened, Winn-Dixie tried to make the Coffee bar a higher-end experience, featuring coffee from local boutique coffee chain Kahwa Coffee, smoothies, gelato, and other baked goods (such as mini donuts, which got prime billing on the sign). Shortly after this store remodeled in late 2016, the Coffee bar looked pretty popular, but either business really dropped off or Winn-Dixie decided to discontinue the concept completely. The identical Coffee bar at the Baymeadows store was converted into a WD's Taproom, and like I said before, I'm surprised the one here wasn't converted around the same time, especially if Winn-Dixie was just going to let this counter sit and rot.
If you looked at that 2016 photo of the coffee bar I linked to, another interesting item to note is that the soda machine in the 2016 photo showed Coca-Cola products being sold. By 2021, the soda machine was switched to Pepsi, however, whatever brand of soda sold here didn't matter much by this point, as the machine had an "Out of Order" sign taped to it. Considering the state of the Coffee bar overall, it didn't seem like there was a big rush to get that soda machine operating again either. For a look at some of the Coffee bar food offerings back when this was a more lively space, here's what the gelato selection once looked like (pretty fancy) and here's a look at the drink menu and prep area.
Even though the Coffee bar was as good as dead, the seating area out front of it was left in place for people who wanted to eat their food purchased over in "The Kitchen".
Following the Coffee bar, we find the bakery, decorated in (presumably fake) brick texturing like we saw in "The Kitchen". The different texturings on the wall like the corrugated metal and brick really made the Deluxe Down Down decor seem so much more lively than the plain red walls in the cheaper remodels.
Behind produce and in front of the bakery was a small Kosher and international foods department. While there was a variety of international foods for sale in this little section from a number of places, sadly, there was no Vegemite to be seen here. (You'd think Ian McLeod could have gotten some Australian products brought in to compliment the Australian decor, right? However, if any of us Americans ever want to try Vegemite without having to make the long journey to Cole's or Woolworths, you can apparently buy it at World Market).
From the back of the grand aisle, here's an overview of what we just covered. The Winn Win decor's tomato cart also makes an appearance in this shot, although by late 2021, it seems like every Winn-Dixie received that cart for its produce department, Winn Win decor present or not.
Turning the corner to the back wall, we find the Seafood and Butcher counters. Unlike a lot of supermarkets where these counters are combined (or only feature one or the other as a full service option), Winn-Dixie installed a separate counter for both the Butcher and Seafood departments. In addition, behind the Butcher counter is an special oven for making dry aged beef - another fancy option only found at this store and Baymeadows!
Photo courtesy of Yelp |
Before the Deluxe Down Down remodel, the back right corner where the Bakery and Seafood counter are now was home to Sweetbay's deli, pictured above. Quite the change, right?
Photo courtesy of Yelp |
Here's a nice overview of the store's back right corner pre-remodel, where we can see Sweetbay's fancy wine displays in addition to an overview of the old meat and seafood counters.
Photo courtesy of Yelp |
Looking at a close-up of Sweetbay's meat counter (which appears to have been in the area where Winn-Dixie's "CHEESE" sign is now), there's one other thing I'd like to point out about this store's past. If you remember my recent post about the rare Kash n' Karry prototype in Bradenton we toured, the flooring in this store pre-Down Down remodel should look familiar, because that's the same tile pattern that matched Kash n' Karry's prototype decor from Bradenton. While this store didn't get the full prototype treatment like we saw in Bradenton with the fancy grand aisle and new building design, the 1996 remodel at this store spearheaded that change at Kash n' Karry (which was later squashed by the company's sale to Delhaize in late 1996). In the end, it appears we had 3 1/2 of those prototype stores come to light before Delhaize changed Kash n' Karry's design direction.
Looking away from the counters on the back wall, here's another look at the grand aisle, this time looking down the produce coolers and back toward produce.
It's not a visit to a supermarket in Tampa without pirate ship decorations somewhere! In late 2021, the Buccaneers were still on their high from winning the Super Bowl, hence the oversized cardboard replica of the Vince Lombardi trophy on that Bud Light display. Outside of pirate ships, beer, and football, the store's front end lies beyond the Bud Light display, portrayed just a little bit clearer in this next photo:
Now that we have sailed past the pirate ship, here's a clearer view across the store's (very quiet) front end. While I was here on a weekday afternoon (which isn't the busiest time for a supermarket), I was here close to lunchtime, and the store still seemed pretty dead. I have to wonder if this store always lived in the shadows of its more successful sibling in Jacksonville, with Winn-Dixie never quite able to win over the folks of Hyde Park like the former hometown chains Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay could. Like Richard Mullins mentioned in his column, Winn-Dixie had a lot to prove to the locals that they weren't the dumpy old store everybody remembered, and even with the remodel, could it be this store still had a hard time proving itself?
Even if Winn-Dixie was never able to cast its past baggage from the opinion of locals, Winn-Dixie really gave it a good try with this store. The Deluxe Down Down remodels were much showier than anything Winn-Dixie came up with during the Winn Win era, as even the Winn Win newbuilds were still a fairly basic supermarket in terms of design and services. Anyway, moving into the grocery aisles, following the grand aisle, we find ourselves in the "Naturally Better" department.
As the name implies, the "Naturally Better" department was home to the store's organic food offerings. The "Naturally Better" departments were a feature only found in the earliest Down Down remodels, as later remodels followed the recent trend in grocery to mix the organic products into the main grocery aisles with the standard products, doing away with these special departments just for organics.
While this store was mostly devoid of shoppers while I was here, it certainly wasn't short on managers and corporate officials during this visit! Just ahead of me in the Wine and Beer department, a whole gathering of SEG high-ups and managers were standing around, spending most of their time in that aisle during the half-hour or so I was in here. I'm not sure what those managers were here for or if their gathering had to do with alcohol sales (hence choosing that aisle to talk in for so long, unless they were stocking up for the after-meeting party). I tried listening in on them, but one of the only things I was able to overhear was one of the corporate people telling a lady in the group (who appeared to be a vendor of some kind) about how this was "one of only 2 stores of this design in the chain, the other being #7 [Baymeadows]". Regardless of how successful this store was overall, it was certainly a showpiece (and bragging point) for corporate, which is why it's sad to see what this store's fate would become only 3 years after my visit...
Before I left, I had to swing back to the Wine & Beer aisle for this photo after the group of managers slowly dispersed, as taking photos in front of a group of executives and raising their suspicions probably wouldn't have been a wise choice!
Moving along from Beer & Wine, the remainder of the store's grocery aisles feature your standard grocery fare, starting with chips and juice here in aisle 4 (the first numbered aisle, with unnumbered aisle 1 being the grand aisle, and 2 and 3 being the two aisles in organics and beer and wine).
Photo courtesy of Todd M. on Google |
Jumping back to the Sweetbay decor days, here's a look at the grocery aisles. The photo above was taken in July 2016, which was during the time of the Deluxe Down Down remodel. Since this photo was taken during the remodel, that's why the aisle markers are out of alignment, as what you see here are Winn-Dixie's new low-rise shelves laid out in their new positions, which didn't match that of Sweetbay's previous aisles. Also, here you can see the previous lighting style, which most likely originated with Kash n' Karry. While Winn-Dixie replaced all the lighting in the remodel, similar (although presumably now LED) hanging light strips were installed in the place of those originals.
Looking down aisle 6, we see the deli counter along the store's back wall...
…and have I mentioned before that the Deluxe Down Down deli design is the greatest supermarket deli design ever? With the counter that projects out into the back aisle, the windowed department sign with meat and cheese props behind, the low ceiling - everything about this department is great, and the attention to detail is a huge plus!
Making the department sign a window with related props behind it was such a great idea, and wouldn't it have been fun to see a similar setup in the bakery and in the other service departments? I guess since I've always been such a fan of decor packages like Grocery Palace, of course an over-the-top deli like this one would catch my attention!
Photo courtesy of Proxibid |
Courtesy of the store's fixture auction page (which you can view at the link in the caption for some near-the-end shots of this store), we get a nice close-up of the deli sign from behind the counter. In case anyone was curious, the deli sign and its related props sold at the auction for only 50 cents, which is not a bad price for some dusty fake cheese wheels and hanging meats. What the winning bidder did with all that fake deli meat and cheese is anyone's guess, but I can only assume they wanted to ham up their decor!
While I like the deli's design overall, it is interesting how the deli counter in these Deluxe Down Down stores is so far separated from "The Kitchen", which is the prepared foods offshoot of the deli. I guess both departments can operate fine on their own, but I'm sure from a staffing standpoint it's easier to have the counters consolidated like we see at most other Winn-Dixie stores.
Beyond the deli we find the dairy department, with its subcategory of milk along the back wall.
Returning to the grocery aisles, we find the baking products here in aisle 7...
…and as we emerge from aisle 7 back to the front end, here's a look toward frozen foods and the health & beauty departments (which we'll see in more detail in a little bit).
Entering aisle 8, we switch to non-foods...
…with more of that in aisle 9 above, where the remainder of the health and beauty products that didn't fit in the front corner are housed.
Aisle 10, the second to last aisle, is home to paper products, encompassing both paper towels and greeting cards in that designation too.
The last aisle in this store is aisle 11, home to this store's single aisle of frozen foods.
Even though frozen foods is contained to one aisle here, it's a fairly long aisle, so the selection of products was quite complete.
The majority of the store's health and beauty products were located here in specially-designated "beauty" department in the front left corner of the building.
While this store's counterpart in Jacksonville included a pharmacy counter in the same location, Winn-Dixie did not include a pharmacy here at Hyde Park. This store did have a pharmacy counter prior to the remodel, which Winn-Dixie opted to close during the Deluxe Down Down remodel. The remodel happened in 2016 around the same time Winn-Dixie purged a good number of pharmacies throughout the chain, with this store's pharmacy license (inherited from Sweetbay) allowed to expire in early 2017 due to that department's removal. The old pharmacy counter appears to be sealed behind that bump-out wall in the corner, making it pretty obvious where the the counter used to be.
Our final interior photo of this store looks across the front end, looking back toward the grand aisle.
The exit doors are located on the left side of the building, pictured here. The Sweetbay-era liquor store is also located in this portion of the building, and was accessible via a door inside the exit vestibule (it was common of Sweetbay stores, particularly newbuild Sweetbays, to have that kind of liquor store design).
Throughout the tenures of Kash n' Karry, Sweetbay, and Winn-Dixie, this building on Swann Avenue in Hyde Park always represented the pinnacle of design and concept for all the grocers who once occupied these walls. I can't imagine Aldi will keep the tradition alive, as I don't think there's such a thing as a "flagship" Aldi, as every Aldi looks basically the same! I wonder how receptive the folks of Hyde Park will be having Aldi in the neighborhood, just down the block from stores like Sur La Table and Lululemon. If Winn-Dixie, even in the form we just saw, was considered a downgrade from Sweetbay, Winn-Dixie to Aldi is even more of a step in the wrong direction! I guess with this location, Aldi is banking on their new "trendy" reputation to keep this store afloat - either that, or this store was just doing so bad as a Winn-Dixie that it couldn't do any worse changing over to an Aldi. I really wish I knew the metric used in deciding which stores will convert and which will stay Winn-Dixies, as some of the conversion choices (like this one) left me scratching my head.
As for this building's future as an Aldi, the City of Tampa's online permitting portal allowed me access to the construction plans for the conversion, which you can click on to view in full-size. As you can see in the drawing above, Aldi provided us with a compare and contrast of what the building looks like as a Winn-Dixie, and what it will soon look like as an Aldi. The facade won't be changing all too much, with Aldi adding a few windows as they set up shop in the right half of this building, leaving the left half for a future tenant. Interestingly, the liquor store at this location will be kept too, but due to its location in the left side's vestibule, it will be (if I'm interpreting the drawing above correctly) moving to the right side of the building into a small sliver that Aldi will not be taking over there.
If that's the case, it will be interesting to see what a brand new Winn-Dixie liquor store will look like attached to a new Aldi. Anyway, above is the drawing showing Aldi's new floorplan, which doesn't look like anything too out of the ordinary for a modern Aldi store in terms of layout. It's quite sad to see a store with such a long line of grocery prestige reduced to nothing more than a plain ol' Aldi, but it will be interesting to see just how well Hyde Park embraces the newest grocer to the neighborhood - if it will be popular from the start, or if it will be met with just as much skepticism as Winn-Dixie was back in 2014.
Closing in on the end of 2024, that means its getting close to AFB's 11th anniversary on the web. After all the madness in the retail world this year, we'll spend our next post celebrating the blog's latest milestone with a store that's oddly symbolic of the year, with some fun Albertsons remnants thrown in too! Be sure to come back on Friday, December 6, 2024 for that - just shy of two weeks from today.
So until the next post,
The Albertsons Florida Blogger
I suppose an appropriate way to celebrate a store that's going under is to celebrate the store's Down Under decor! While Aldi might be becoming trendy in Florida, I can assure you that the same is not happening here. Shopping at Aldi in Houston is still very much an experience where you'd want to put a bag over your head while you walk in the store. Granted, given what Aldi charges for bags, I suppose you'll have to bring in your own bags anyway so why not put them on one's head!
ReplyDeleteOf course, there is the oddity that is a 'Sack-n-Save' type operation moving into a trendy area. Granted, as you say, the presence of a Winn-Dixie itself in such a neighborhood is a bit of an expectation mismatch! I suppose Aldi is trying to copy Publix' strategy of covering just about every inch of an area with stores. Maybe that wasn't the intent, but maybe the leases of these stores mandated a grocery anchor and so Aldi needs to keep a grocery store while subdividing the rest of the space for big profits.
Comparing the Sweet-Dixie decor to the Down Down decor, I think it is fair to say that this store probably looked better as a Sweetbay than it did when you went to the store. The deli is perhaps an exception, but then it is so bizarre in what is otherwise a fairly austere (especially for a 'deluxe' version of the decor) decor package that it looks even more strange than how it would have looked in a store with fancier decor. As for the failure of the coffee bar, I can't say I'm surprised. After all, who wants mini donuts gelato drinks? That sounds like one strange smoothie!
The metal look just doesn't look appropriate at a store in a fancy area, but then I suppose neither will Aldi's decor!
I suppose it is appropriate timing that you're covering a Tampa store on the day where the Bucs are playing my favorite team, the New York Giants. Given the mediocrity both teams are suffering from this year, it is hardly a prime match-up, but we'll have to see how the Giants' new quarterback Tommy DeVito does against the Bucs defense. DeVito succeeding in the NFL seems as unlikely as SEG being able to save themselves, but I suppose stranger things have happened. SEG saving themselves wasn't one of those strange things though!
On the topic of sports, it seems the orange juice war between the Rays and the Houston Astros has come to an end. Minute Maid Park in Houston will have a new non-OJ name (the new name is so forgettable that I've already forgotten it) and it seems Tropicana Field might well have been squeezed dry (or wet?) after the roof was ripped. It'll be strange seeing the Rays play in a spring training stadium for the Yankees, but then the Rays attendance has been such that maybe they'll only fill the spring training stadium when the Rays are playing the Yankees! Given the backlash Tropicana is receiving for their new downsized bottles, perhaps it is a good thing that the Rays won't be associated with Tropicana next year!
Out of all the states with Aldi, Florida and Illinois keep going back and forth as the winner of the state with the most Aldi stores (around 210-ish each). Following these Winn-Dixie conversions Florida will probably solidify is place as Aldi's #1 state over Illinois once and for all, which was probably a driving factor in this deal to begin with. Unlike Houston, Aldi has found a niche here and their stores are always busy, and I'm amazed at the total transformation in perception the company has had here. However, when the options for most people down here are pay more at Publix or deal with a mess at Walmart, Aldi has that sweet spot of being a more presentable store with better prices that fills the gap between those two.
DeleteI'm really curious to see how Aldi ends up doing here in Hyde Park, as Aldi is even more of a mismatch than Winn-Dixie was. The better perception may help them, but I don't know how locals will feel about losing all the frills as far as fresh bakeries, delis, meats, etc. go, unless the two nearby Publix stores already fill those voids. I guess if Aldi flops here, they could always sell this site to Publix for a lot of money for them to build a fancy new store here!
Sweetbay's decor treatment would be more of a "traditional" upscale from what I saw in pictures, with Winn-Dixie trying for more of a "modern" upscale look. The few times I've seen coffee bars at WD they were never that busy, which is why some of them probably converted to taprooms in the late 2010's, as beer probably attracts more people than mini donut gelato drinks!
Since I'm replying to this after the Buc v. Giants game, I'm sure you're probably not too happy with the results of that! Seems like the new quarterback wasn't doing his best the other day, as the Bucs ended up with a healthy win. Still, the odds of DeVito succeeding in the NFL are probably much better than seeing SEG have a happy ending!
Hurricane Milton certainly complicated the future of Tropicana Field, with the roof peeling off like the skin of an orange! Steinbrenner Field is certainly a fraction of the size of the Trop, but if attendance is down that much, the smaller venue will make the games appear more crowded!
Aw man! I'm beginning to become annoyed by Aldi. They're taking down some of Winn Dixie's best stores (well except #197). Although there are a handful of Gainesville natives putting up a small fight to save ole 197. I don't think they'll have any effect, but that resistance alone should give Aldi some reason to pause (before they mull over the idea of converting every Winn Dixie in Florida into am Aldi. I for one am not sold on Aldi. I find their quality in the vacuum sealed meats and their produce to be hit and miss. To me Aldi is best for milk, eggs, bread, juices, cheese, canned goods, dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate. For most other things Publix is way better, even Winn Dixie, and even (gasp) Walmart.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I say Aldi should pause on that idea is because I believe there are thousands of Floridians who grew up with Winn Dixie and stay have somewhat of a feeling of "patriotism" for Winn Dixie (even if they believe Publix is better). The fact that Winn Dixie is a homegrown Florida chain makes many folks down here still like them.
If Aldi ends up scrapping the Winn Dixie name altogether in a few years, I believe it will lead to a small revolt towards Aldi, and send any remaining Winn Dixie fans to either Publix or Walmart. I still wish Kroger would bring in physical stores, but I don't see that happening.
It appears #197 is still scheduled to close in 2-ish weeks, and I don't think any movement of angry locals would change Aldi's mind in any way, even if a petition were to garner a sizeable amount of signatures. Aldi is really creating a lot of gaps in WD's coverage area with these conversions, and taking a lot of the company's nicest stores, which doesn't seem good for the future of WD overall.
DeleteFrom what I've been reading online lately, there are a lot of people quite angry about these conversions, especially since Aldi and Winn-Dixie aren't similar stores. Even with past troubles and baggage, people don't want to see Winn-Dixie totally left for dead, and still consider the company a viable option against Publix and Walmart. Totally eliminating Winn-Dixie I think would create a bit of animosity toward Aldi, so they really need to be careful on whatever the future endgame for this mess is.
What a title! Since the WD has already closed, I suppose there are Men at Work there at this very moment!
ReplyDeleteThat was really interesting to read about this store's journey as a Kash 'n Karry and Sweetbay -- I had no idea it has held a flagship status since the 1990's. It's really a shame that Aldi is taking all of that and throwing it out the window.
When it comes to Winn-Dixie, I have to wonder what Ian McLeod's 5 concepts for Winn-Dixie were. I know we have the two mentioned (flagship and Fresco y Más), but what would the other three be? Harveys, decent Down Down, and decrepit Down Down? Or was the 5th category any store which had not been remodeled in this millennium? Who knows!
That spider display sounds like something else!
Anyhow, I'm sure that Anonymous in Houston will beg to differ, but I feel like the warehouse ceiling at #7 works better with the industrial look of Deluxe Down Down. Moreover, #7 has a lot more natural light which really helps to open up the state.
It's really a shame to see how much of this store's flagship glory had aready faded by 2021. I talked to somebody recently who said a similar thing has happened at #7, which really makes me worry about its long-term prospects. It also looks like the wider use of the WDs taprooms has been spotty at best, with the most recent one I saw being closed on a Saturday afternoon. At least I managed to try one at a former Lucky's store, where I was surprised to find craft beer on tap for $3 a pint compared to Publix' already cheap price of $5 a pint. Winn-Dixie needed to raise its prices if it wanted to turn a profit in that department!
Are you sure that the bumped-out wall next to the HBA section wasn't for the liquor store? I'm sure the demolition page in Aldi remodel plans would be able to answer that question!
Surprisingly, I think I agree with YonWoo that I'd rather shop for groceries at Walmart than at Aldi. Walmart may be "the soulless void of retail", but at least I'd be able to cross off most everything on my shopping list. I also feel much more of a sense of patriotism for Winn-Dixie than Aldi considering that the former is at least an American brand. It does seem like it would be a bad mistake for Aldi to be the one to kill off the Winn-Dixie name. It may be tarnished, but it deserves a little more dignity than that! On the other hand, if this were 2018, I'd say that Aldi has every right to take it behind the barn and shoot it . . . The only way I see Kroger entering Florida again with a physical presence is through an acquisition, and Publix is out of the question for that.
Lol, I suppose so!
DeleteAnthony Hucker discusses what Ian McLeod's 5 pillars were in this article after McLeod left but while the plan was still in action: https://www.supermarketnews.com/foodservice-retail/southeastern-grocers-ceo-talks-shop-as-turnaround-hits-growth-phase
It was more of an ideological plan rather than a plan about physical results, but your thoughts weren't too far off from the physical results standpoint!
The warehouse ceiling in #7 does compliment the industrial look of Deluxe Down Down a bit more, but Kash n' Karry's (Albertsons-style) high drop ceiling isn't too bad either with that decor. Had the drop ceiling been lower like you'd find in a 1980's Kash n' Karry, the Deluxe Down Down decor would have looked out of place. For a remodel to a store that stayed open the entire time during construction (unlike #7), I thought the results weren't bad at all.
I visited #7 about a year before I visited #2433, and its service offerings seemed a little more lively than what I witnessed at #2433. I haven't been to #7 since, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the fancy offerings were scaled back a bit (like if the pizza and some of the fancier food offerings were eliminated). I know most stores with the custom sub counters had those removed recently in favor of pre-made subs. The only WD's Taproom near me was totally removed a few years ago, but I've yet to see evidence of any others totally closed and removed. Operationally, I haven't been to a store with a Taproom since my local one was removed, so I don't know how those have been faring of late.
I'm 100% sure the bump-out wall on the HBA section is the old pharmacy, as the liquor store is located between the two sets of doors (and why Aldi has to move it, as it's being cut in half for the new Aldi). I have the remodel plans from the Down Down remodel, and those also confirm the pharmacy location too.
While I have been going to Walmart a bit more recently due to convenience, I would still shop at Aldi over Walmart unless I was going to Walmart either in the middle of the day on a weekday or at 6 am on a weekend. I made the mistake of going to Walmart on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago as they were the only store in the area that carried a grocery item I was looking for, and boy was that a chaotic mess! Even on a Saturday afternoon, at least Aldi still feels a bit less chaotic. All this makes me wish Target was more committed to opening more Super Target stores, as those would be a better alternative to the chaos of Walmart but in a store that isn't as expensive as Publix for a full-service grocery. I also think if Aldi totally killed off Winn-Dixie, that would tarnish their reputation with many (at least in Florida), as even with baggage, I think a lot of people would still be upset that Aldi killed Winn-Dixie.
I too am frustrated with what Aldi is doing. I think the brand still has value despite its troubles over the years and even if Publix (and Aldi) loyalists consider them a joke, I’d like to see the remaining stores continue to exist (and preferably improve rather than be gutted out into cookie cutter stores full of generic pre packed items.
ReplyDeleteI’m a Publix and Walmart shopper (and very occasionally Aldi) mostly, but I’ve actually found myself shopping at multiple Winn Dixie stores quite often lately. Partly out of the fear that I may not be able to soon, and also slightly out of revenge. Ha!
Even with troubles, Winn-Dixie is still a viable competitor which had (at least until Aldi came along) a decent presence throughout most of Florida. Winn-Dixie stores have also felt busier the last few years as well. Considering how most other grocery competitors left Florida, and no one (like Kroger) seems to want to come back and open physical stores, it's a shame that Aldi only wants to kill the one traditional competitor to Walmart and Publix we have left.
DeleteFor a while now I've shopped primarily at Winn-Dixie and Aldi (even prior to the sale), with Winn-Dixie serving as my place for service departments and Aldi for most else. Since my local Winn-Dixie was one of the ones picked to convert, I've been bouncing around the various other stores left in the area the last few weeks too. At least you still have some Winn-Dixies around to go to, and hopefully no others in your area will convert!
I stopped at the south Sebring Winn Dixie and I think it actually should convert to an Aldi.
DeleteIt does have the down down decor update of course, but Winn Dixie really should’ve done a more thorough remodel here.
The floors are black in places and badly worn out. Some of the refrigeration has rusted panels (actually I think on the new panels that were installed during the Down Down remodel).
It didn’t smell great either.
That said it seemed to be decently busy up front and had four lanes open with lines.
I just found it a very depressing place to shop. It is in much worse condition than north Sebring, even the Lake Placid with the old Sweetbay decor is a nicer looking store and still has the flooring and refrigeration looking fine.
I think this store either needs at least new flooring, but I don’t know if Aldi would put in the money. I don’t know that Aldi would be the best option here either due to job losses, but at least it’d be all clean and new inside.
It does have a 4.5 rating so people still like it I guess.
The bad thing about most Down Down remodels is they were extremely cheap. In many cases (like you seem to describe from South Sebring), all Winn-Dixie did in those remodels was repaint the walls and add a few new hanging signs and shorter gondola shelves. Most everything else like the flooring and coolers were kept from whatever decor was there prior. The Winn Win remodels were a little more thorough, as those usually came with new flooring and coolers (or at the very least, repainted or retrimmed coolers) and additional new fixtures for the service departments. I wouldn't be surprised if the coolers at South Sebring are original to Kash n' Karry's 1990's remodel where the store was expanded out the side, especially if they're in that bad of condition.
DeleteInterestingly, there is one Winn-Dixie getting a new floor right now - an ex-Lucky's in West Melbourne. In that store's case, the flooring left over from Lucky's appeared to start buckling, meaning that was a replacement more so out of safety and necessity than to make the store look better, but I was still surprised to see the effort being put in to install the new floor instead of the implementation of a cheap patch job (which I would hope means that one isn't a conversion target).
At least the South Sebring Winn-Dixie is a decently busy store though, especially with a Publix right next to it too. Something is going right for that place. If either of the Sebring stores were to convert to Aldi, it would probably be the South Sebring store (considering that Aldi is rather close already to the North Sebring WD). An Aldi in South Sebring would also pull from Lake Placid too, and make up for the odd placement of the Lake Placid WD (which I think would be a poor location for an Aldi, even though there isn't one in town).
Quite the irony that a former Coles executive ripped off the store's livery to use for the A&P of the South (whose color scheme was also red) considering Wesfarmers, an ancestor of Coles' former parent company, also ripped off Target so well without the same permission it did with Kmart. Even down to the logo... surely by complete coincidence! Also quite the coincidence, Target's 1968 bullseye logo is practically the same as that of Japanese frozen foods company Nissui, and that was used since the 1910s!
ReplyDeleteComedy and sarcasm aside, I suppose Aldi has good bones to work with on this conversion, and looking at the proposed architectural elevations, not too much is being changed to the exterior. So many of their new stores have that hideous single-sloped roof and gunmetal grey paint scheme. The Beef People likely would have been a welcome addition to Hyde Park prior to their decline in the late 1990s than ten years ago, even then I think it was more welcome than Aldi would be today. The only stores less that residents would surely have a beef to pick with, would be Welfaremart or Bravo.
That worked out nicely how both Cole's and Winn-Dixie happened to use red as the predominant color scheme, although with Fresco y Mas/Harvey's and BI-LO, it wasn't too difficult to swap out the background color to give Down Down a different flare in those other stores. It's crazy how Westfarmers managed to rip off Target so well, but I guess being in a different country, it's easier to get away with things like that. I never knew about the similarity between Nissui's and Target's logo though - those are almost identical! Hopefully Target doesn't try to enter Japan anytime soon!
DeleteI've seen a few of the converting Winn-Dixies get the single-sloped gray facade Aldi typically uses shoehorned onto them in plans, although a surprising number of the stores will be keeping the old Winn-Dixie (or Sweetbay) architecture completely intact (like this store). At least Aldi is keeping some of the original designs around to make the stores a little more unique, to make up for the fact that most of these stores will look the same inside when the conversions are finished. It will be interesting to see just how well Aldi fares, and if this store is an experiment to see how well the brand goes over in more affluent neighborhoods. Even with the company's past issues, Winn-Dixie's full-service model matched the needs of Hyde Park much better than I think Aldi will.
I think this is one of my favorite posts of yours! I love the introduction and the writing throughout. The detailed history of the store is great, and it helps too that the history is so interesting. While Winn-Dixie surely was a downgrade from its predecessors here (and I can't believe that heavily sarcastic newspaper article got publish!), at least they gave it a really good shot with such a deluxe remodel, and even corporate viewed this store in high regard (that's awesome you overheard that conversation!). I suppose the coffee bar being left to sit empty wasn't the best sign, but still the rest of the store looked amazing, with the deli being particularly mind-blowing, and the textured walls bringing some visual interest even in absence of all the other fancy features. It's a shame this store has now closed and is becoming an Aldi. Perhaps I'm not giving their real estate team enough credit, but I'm leaning more towards them just taking the stores in superficially desirable locations, without necessarily considering how well an Aldi will perform in that spot. Is it bad I'm hoping Aldi will fail here in Hyde Park? Maybe I'm wrong and Aldi is so trendy now with the cool kids as you say that they will succeed, but it just feels like they will be an outlier in the crowd of retailers in town (with WD already barely escaping that same qualifier). Anyway, I'll be interested to see what happens here in the future, but I'm glad you photographed and documented the store so well prior to all that happening. Oh, and I'd love to find out what happened to all those deli props -- I'd imagine they were a bit difficult to remove, but wow, 50 cents is a bargain any way you slice it!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I liked how this post turned out too! As soon as I realized the next line after "We come from a land down under" used the word "plunder" in it, the theme seemed to roll into place right after that, especially since Aldi has proven to be nothing more than a supermarket plunderer in this deal!
DeleteWinn-Dixie could have just tried to build off of whatever bones Sweetbay left behind to keep this store nice, but it was impressive to know that Winn-Dixie really wanted to prove themselves in their own way to the people in Hyde Park who may have had sentiments similar to what was described in that newspaper article. While the store was really nice, things like the closed coffee bar really made me wonder if this store was actually struggling and only being kept open by corporate out of pride, or if that was just a fluke and the store was doing fine. While I hate that this store closed regardless, I'd like to think Aldi just put a failing store out of its misery that SEG would have never done and didn't kill a crown jewel just because the property was valuable.
Considering Aldi's bare-bones model when it comes to staffing and operations, it might not take much for an Aldi to be profitable. Considering how rare it is to see an Aldi close outright, I suppose that could be the case, but it will be interesting to see if this site does backfire on Aldi considering the demographics or if Aldi has done well enough branding themselves as the "classier" discount grocer to keep people coming here.
I'd love to know what someone would do with all those deli props too - hopefully they don't come across in their new home as looking too cheesy!