We Come From a Land Down Down Under, Where Kash n' Karry Glows and Aldi Plunders

 

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 Michael 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