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| It's a celebration today! We'll party like it's 1999 and a new Grocery Palace store is opening near you! |
Another year has come and gone, and boy, was 2024 not a fun year for Floridian retail! In the 11 years I’ve now been running this blog, I would have to say 2024 has been the worst for store closings and other big Floridian supermarket news, as it feels like something new has been announced to close seemingly every week! There’s been so much going on I've had to be more selective about what I'm going to cover, as there's no way I'd have been able to cover it all! From the constant (and painful) trickle of Winn-Dixie to Aldi conversions, losing a number of notable Publix stores, and throwing in the bloodbath coming out of Big Lots too, there was no shortage of retail news to cover. Will 2025 be the year that shows we can only go up from rock bottom, or have we not even hit rock bottom yet? One notable event that will be coming up in 2025 for Floridian retail is Winn-Dixie's 100th Anniversary. What the company plans to do to mark that occasion has yet to be seen (if anything), but Winn-Dixie's centennial year certainly won't be shaping out to be the glorious celebration of resurgence we were hoping for after seeing the massive turnaround that was seemingly happening pre-Aldi. Here's to hoping that 2025 will bring some kind of good news - any kind - to Floridian retail, as we certainly we need it!
Anyway, I'll try to keep this post as short and sweet as possible, and start off by thanking everyone for supporting the blog for yet another year. Keeping a blog like this going for 11 years is no small feat, and because of the interest you all express in this content from your pageviews and comments, that holds my motivation to continue on with this blog! Much more to write about in 2025, so keep checking in for more as we enter the new year! Also, be sure to come back on Sunday for our next retail adventure, which will commemorate the blog's 11th birthday! I'll finish out this post with my usual yearly recap, in case you want to catch up on anything you might have missed or anything you may want a refresher on:
Bonus Buy Stores Covered:
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| Former Albertsons #4401 - Clearwater, FL - Covered January 2024 |
The Year in Review (and Some Random Stats):
Albertsons Stores Covered:
Albertsons #2997 - Chandler, AZ (A guest post by Monique Sammi)
Albertsons #4339 - Dothan, AL (A guest post by the Sing Oil Blogger)
Albertsons #4389 - Gainesville, FL (Butler West) (A collaboration with the Sing Oil Blogger)
Albertsons #4401 - Clearwater, FL (N. Belcher Road Jewel-Osco) (My third most popular post of the year)
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| Former Publix #356 - Lakeland, FL - Covered September 2024 |
Bonus Buy Stores Covered:
Sweetbay Supermarket #1973 - Pinellas Park, FL (A Publix turned Sweetbay turned Asian Grocer which left some remnants of the rare Sweetbay 2.0 decor behind)
Winn-Dixie #2411 - South Pasadena, FL (A Winn-Dixie in a very well preserved A&P Family Mart building)
Publix #80 - North Miami Beach, FL (A 1960's Publix that closed a few days after my visit) (My second most popular post of the year)
Publix #356 - Lakeland, FL (A rare Publix prototype store that began its life as a Food World) (My most popular post of the year)
Winn-Dixie #632 - Lakeland, FL (A Winn-Dixie with a rare decor variant, which later closed for an Aldi conversion in 2024)
Winn-Dixie #2404 - Bradenton, FL (A Winn-Dixie housed in a rare Kash n' Karry prototype building, which later closed for an Aldi conversion in 2024)
Winn-Dixie #2433 - Tampa, FL (Hyde Park) (A high-end Winn-Dixie prototype housed in Kash n' Karry's flagship building, which later closed for an Aldi conversion in 2024)
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| Former Winn-Dixie #2433 - Tampa, FL - Covered November 2024 |
Thank you all again for your years of support, and for those of you who have only started reading AFB this year, welcome to this journey, and be sure to stick with us for more in the new year!
So until the next post,
The Albertsons Florida Blogger
Congrats on the 11th anniversary of AFB! Thanks to AFB and all the guest bloggers for some great posts this year. Hopefully AFB does not mind me picking a guest post, and one very far from Florida, as my favorite post of the year, but I suspect AFB will understand! I have to go with the Chandler, AZ Grocery Palace Albertsons post as my favorite post of the year for reasons that are probably obvious! As far as non-Albertsons posts go, the Lakeland Food World post is the obvious pick, and not just because it was the most popular post of the year! That is pretty impressive that it was the most popular post given that it was posted relatively late in the year.
ReplyDeleteI know that 2024 has been a rough year for Floridian retail watchers, especially those who like to shop at full-service supermarkets not named Publix, and the Big Lots bankruptcy must also be especially hard on AFB! I guess as far as blogging goes, like what happened when Albertsons/Safeway left Florida, it is good and bad news. On the one hand, all the closures and conversions does lead to a sudden flurry of new content opportunities. On the other hand, obviously, once nice stores (how much this applies to Winn-Dixie and Big Lots in 2024 is debatable, but still) close, they're rarely replaced with anything as nice and that probably applies even with the 2024 state of SEG and Big Lots.
At least outside of Florida, all eyes will be on the continuing Krogertsons merger drama. I hope AFB can make it to an Albertsons once again before they become Krogerized, C&Sized, or whatever else might happen to Albertsons! I'm not sure what else will happen in 2025, but whatever it is, I'm looking forward to reading about it at the AFB!
Thanks! The Chandler post was a fun one, as getting to see an open Albertsons store, let alone a Grocery Palace one, was quite the sight for this blog! As far as posts that I wrote this year go, I have to agree that the Lakeland Food World was one of my best - I spent a lot of time writing that post (although I knew going into it that store had a long history, but I feel that's what made that post shine in the end though). That store was pretty significant to Publix, so I have a feeling its reputation may have gained it some views from Publix employees who may have found that post and shared it elsewhere online, as the views on it really took off.
DeleteIf these Winn-Dixie stores were getting replaced by something that was a little more comparable (say Kroger, for example), I'd be sad seeing Winn-Dixie torn apart, but at least the replacement would be along the same lines in terms of offerings. Winn-Dixie to Aldi, on the other hand, is not quite the same match, and seeing the company ripped apart like it is (even considering WD's past problems) is just tough to watch, especially as some high-tiers stores like the Hyde Park Winn-Dixie come up as conversion candidates. Considering that no other grocery chains seem to want to touch Florida with a 39 1/2 foot pole, that also makes it hard, as we're losing options and not gaining more. I like the ridiculous (and slightly ironic) theory of Krogertsons buying the remains of Winn-Dixie and converting those stores into Albertsons, but the odd of seeing that happen are probably about the same as me winning the lottery!
Speaking of Krogertsons, that's been a big topic this year too. While it probably won't change things in Florida too much one way or the other (unless one of them is talking to Aldi about the remains of WD), it will be interesting to see how that plays out, as it could really reshape the grocery industry elsewhere and in your area. It's almost agonizing that none of the court cases have released a verdict yet after wrapping up a while ago!
The odds of me being near anything Albertsons-owned in 2025 aren't looking too great, although if such a chance happened, it would probably be to a store named Safeway or Acme instead (which is close enough, I suppose). That would certainly make for a shocking post to close out 2025 with if I did make it to any of those stores though!
Congrats on 11 years my friend!! I always thoroughly enjoy reading your content, and looking forward to much more in the future!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad to have had you along on this journey for so long too!
DeleteCongratulations on another year! I'm glad that I was able to help out with the two posts, and had fun collaborating on the post for #4389! I'd agree with the masses that I enjoyed reading your extensive post on the Lakeland Food World, but also liked learning about some of the obscure Winn-Dixies out there and of course other Albertsons. While we may miss fallen stores like Publix #356, Publix #172 (RIP Classy Market 1.0), or Winn-Dixie #2433, at least you got to see them before they were gone. Cheers to 2025!
ReplyDeleteThanks! If I ever revise my top 10 favorite posts list, the one about the Lakeland Food World will certainly be on it! I really liked how that one turned out, and I'm glad you liked it too. I can assure you there will be more Winn-Dixie coverage coming next year (and of course Albertsons stuff too).
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