Publix #364 / Winn-Dixie #349
5600 West Sample Road, Margate, FL - Peppertree Plaza
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| Today's post is a presentation of Broward County retail |
Straying not too far from where we were last time, we find a Winn-Dixie just across US 441/SR 7. The way the city boundaries are laid out, the east side of 441 where we'll be today falls within the City of Margate, while the other side of the road where Turtle Run Shoppes was built is part of Coral Springs. Regardless of city name, this Winn-Dixie is part of the same cluster of retail former Albertsons #4430 falls within at the busy junction of 441 and Sample Road in northern Broward County. At first glance this Winn-Dixie doesn't seem too strange, and could come across as 1980's store that had a little work done to it over the years. Part of that observation is true though - this is a 1980's store that had a little work done to it, but this was actually a 1980's Publix that Winn-Dixie did some work to! While there are a handful of Winn-Dixie to Publix conversions out there in the wild, this store is one of only 3 current Winn-Dixies that occupies a former Publix building (those others being in Jacksonville and Lake Mary, although it was recently revealed that the Lake Mary location is on its way to an Aldi conversion sometime in the near future). Out of those three examples, the Margate Winn-lix has by far had the most work done to it by Winn-Dixie, however, there are still some traces of Publix hiding in this building, even if those traits are more subtle here than in those other two examples. On top of that, the Margate Winn-lix holds a little significance in Winn-Dixie's own recent history too, so let's learn a little more about how Winn-Dixie ended up in this old Publix building:
Publix #364 opened for business on December 1, 1988 as part of Peppertree Plaza, one of the original shopping centers at the intersection of 441 and Sample Road. Store #364 was a nearly identical twin to the (now demolished) Publix that would open a year later at Coral Springs' Ramblewood Square (store #373), both featuring the same arched facade. Being that I couldn't find any photos of Publix #364 while it was open, those photos on Google Maps of #373 will have to suffice, although #364 probably had a more standard style of exterior signage falling within Margate instead of Coral Springs, a city that's known for having weird signage restrictions. Both stores were 49N Publix locations, the design known for its arched paraline ceiling over the dairy department.
Publix #364 remained in operation until February 29, 2008, when Publix (fittingly) made the leap across 441 to a new store (#1121) on the Coral Springs side of the road, across from the old Albertsons and next to an old Target (which became a school after Target moved to a new Super Target building up the road).
After sitting vacant for about a year, Winn-Dixie selected the empty Margate Publix building to mark the Floridian debut of the chain's new prototype, a design we've come to know in the retail blogosphere as the "Transformational" store (due to how this new store design was supposed to "transform" the public's reception of Winn-Dixie as a higher-class operation that could rival stores like Publix). That idea in mind, I guess it was appropriate that Winn-Dixie used an old Publix for the prototype's Floridian debut! While it took until 2010 to arrive in Florida, the origins of the Transformational store actually date back to 2008, when a Winn-Dixie in Americus, GA flattened by a tornado was rebuilt in the new style. That Georgia store was mostly swept under the rug by corporate, with the chain's next new store, located in Covington, LA, receiving all the pomp and circumstance of you'd expect from the launch of a new design. The Covington, LA store opened in February 2010, 4 months before the Margate prototype. Unlike Margate, the Covington store was a ground-up newbuild, and also unlike Margate, the Covington (and Americus) stores used the Post-Bankruptcy interior (and it's kind of weird seeing Post-Bankruptcy in that style building, almost like how weird it is to see Publix's Classy Market 3.0/Sienna decor in a modern 48M store).
So while Margate was officially the 3rd Transformational store, it was the very first to feature the customary Transformational decor that we typically associate with one of these stores. To this day, the Margate store is also one of very few (I believe less than 5) Winn-Dixies left in the chain with the Transformational decor too, as these stores were heavily targeted for Down Down and Winn Win remodels (even though these stores were still relatively new at the time those remodels were sweeping the chain). Pictured above is a peek inside this store upon its grand opening, with a little bit of the "new" decor visible in the background. One of the major selling points for how these Transformational stores were classier than the typical Winn-Dixie was their expanded selection of prepared foods, like the BBQ bar seen in the photo. In addition to the hot foods and the BBQ bar, these stores also had larger produce and service departments, a large selection of bulk foods, and an expanded wine and beer offering with premium items like $259 Cristal champagne. It was very clear these stores were supposed to be fancy, and the Transformational era (I feel) offered the fanciest and most thorough remodels I've ever seen come out of Winn-Dixie since the 1990's. While Transformational stores can be found scattered throughout Winn-Dixie's footprint (for now, that is - Aldi has taken a liking to these stores as far as conversions go), a good majority of these stores are located in South Florida, as per the article, South Florida was one of Winn-Dixie's strongest markets.
With its opening in June 2010, the Margate Winn-Dixie marked the first new store for the chain in Florida since 2005. Officially, this store was part of a replacement project, replacing an older Winn-Dixie about a mile south on 441, and returning Winn-Dixie to this retail cluster following the 2005 closure of a Food Pavilion that stood where the Super Target is now. Being a fancy prototype store, Winn-Dixie put a lot of work into this old Publix building, so for the most part it's a standard Transformational store all around. The facade, however, is partially left over from Publix though, as the arched design is a holdover, with Winn-Dixie adding some new stucco elements to the facade as part of their remodel.
On the left side of the building is the liquor store, which opened alongside the main store in 2010.
The liquor store occupies Publix's old pharmacy and bakery departments, with one of the original arches filled-in to make room for mounting the "LIQUOR" sign.
If you look closely at this wall next to the liquor store entrance, you can see where Publix's original left side entry doors were walled in. In person the patch job was pretty obvious, as there's a lump in the wall designating where the old doors used to be.
Winn-Dixie consolidated the store's entry and exit doors to a front-facing pair toward the right side of the building, off in the distance along this walkway.
Publix's right side vestibule became home to Winn-Dixie's new entrance, primarily with the doors flipped to face the front instead of the side like they were in the Publix days. The exit doors are located in roughly the middle of the facade. While I didn't get a picture of it myself, this store must have been one of the last to receive the old 1990's-era "Entrance" and "Exit" signs above the doors, which I typically associate with stores from the Marketplace era.
Stepping inside, we're first taken into the store's grand aisle. Looking straight ahead upon entering you see the prepared foods island, although I ended up angling this picture a little more to the right to showcase the store's produce department (decorated for the upcoming 4th of July holiday when I was here too).
Looking in the opposite direction from that last photo, here's a look at the "freshly prepared" counter that greets you upon entering the store. At that counter (originally) were the carving stations (with features of assorted roasts and even prime rib too!) and the custom sub counter, with the BBQ, salad, and olive bars located in island bars next to the main counter. Since these stores debuted, Winn-Dixie has simplified the "freshly prepared" offerings to feature the prepared foods selection of almost every other Winn-Dixie out there (for the most part), with the prime rib carving station giving way to the typical Wing Bar and some assorted other sides. Winn-Dixies in South Florida and other heavily Hispanic areas with expanded prepared foods bars also offer items like tamales too, which are still available these days. I haven't seen the self-serve BBQ or salad bars in these stores offered in ages, with most having removed those counters completely or not using them at all if they still exist (and even stores that added salad bars during their Winn Win remodels have discontinued those too, from what I've seen).
Another new feature in these Transformational stores was the "Community Connection", which was Winn-Dixie's fancy term for an in-store seating area. By the time of my visit in 2021, the second "o" in "connection" on the pink painted wall seemed to be suffering from a lack of connection though!
When I visited this store, the olive bar was still alive, although the hot food selection had already been pared back to the usual Wing bar and sides. I've also heard that Winn-Dixie's deli has pared down its fresh salad offerings (potato salad, cole slaw, etc.) to mostly pre-pack in recent months. In the photo above you can see the fresh salads on display at the deli, and after seeing those cases put to other uses in my most recent visit to a Transformational store, it appears the pre-pack shift is true.
In front of the island service counters is produce, which transitions into wine and beer as we move further back along the salesfloor. Between those two departments we find random pallet displays of beer and soda to fill space, with an aisle of snack foods filling up some of the space where the original bulk foods/dedicated organic department was pared down over the years.
15 years later, while these Transformational stores are still nice in terms of architecture and design, most of the fancy features Winn-Dixie tried to make these stores different from the rest have been watered down or removed completely. Winn-Dixie has never been very good at running higher-end stores or concepts, even after many attempts at trying to create one (Transformational, Food Pavilion, etc.). As we saw in the most recent bout of new stores from the 2021-2023 timeframe, those stores were fairly plain and average compared to these Transformational ones, and weren't trying hard to come across as upscale - just modern more than anything.
From produce, here's a look toward the back right corner of the store, where the beer and wine department resides. Some tables of baked goods also crashed the photo as well, because the bakery is located at the back part of the island right behind me:
The "Freshly Baked" department is located next to the deli, and like the grand opening articles mentioned, this store's bakery got quite a bit more space than what you'd find in a typical Winn-Dixie from a prior era (and even a newer one).
From beer and wine, here's a look at the passage this exists at the back of the fresh island, within which is the meat and seafood service counter as well. Some Transformational Winn-Dixies would have had a gourmet cheese counter at the back of the island next to the bakery, but it appears this store never had one (as the bread racks would have been pushed back more if there was one here).
Other than that side profile from the last photo, it appears I didn't get a straight shot of the "Freshly Caught" department, skipping right ahead to the "Freshly Raised" (aka meat) department following the service counter along the back wall. The "Freshly Raised" department is located approximately where the old Publix deli would have been.
Turning the corner into aisle 1, another feature of these Transformational stores was the large advertisement on the back wall of the island for the Winn-Dixie Rewards card. While the most common variant of this advertisement was the "Most Valuable Card in you Wallet" one you can partially see here, this store had one that said "Shop Smart, Think Savings" with graphics of Winn-Dixie's other early 2010's promo signs joining the picture of the rewards card. While Winn-Dixie sent out new rewards card stickers to cover the previous designs with following the change to the Plenti program and later SEG Rewards, those old shelf tag graphics still live on here in Margate!
As we've seen so far, there really isn't much left from Publix inside this building - this place is a Transformational Winn-Dixie through and through for the most part. We can see all the traditional Transformational traits like the layout, fresh department island, warehouse ceiling, and tile floor around the perimeter. But, going into the grocery aisles, Winn-Dixie did have a soft spot for one of Publix's characteristic features:
The terrazzo floors live on in the center store! While I'm sure the terrazzo was pretty well butchered around the perimeter as Winn-Dixie rebuilt the walls and added the service island, the center store didn't see much happen to it other than new shelves and the drop ceiling removed, so the terrazzo remained mostly unscathed in this part of the building.
Terrazzo is pretty classy, and preserving the terrazzo in the center store saved Winn-Dixie a little money on flooring, so this was a Winn Win overall (and an extra win for the 3 people who would care about finding Publix remnants in a Winn-Dixie too!). You also never see terrazzo in a Winn-Dixie either, which makes this an interesting sight for that reason as well.
Returning to the back aisle, the terrazzo disappears in favor of new tile once again. Looking ahead, we find the luncheon meats (and not the "freshly luncheon meats", breaking the theme on most of the other signs seen in the store), with "Freshly Farmed" (aka Dairy) department off in the distance along the left wall.
Turning the other way, here's a look back at the prepackaged meat alcove and the "Freshly Caught" counter.
Aluminum pans, fruit cups, and terrazzo floors, what more could you want in a supermarket?
Some specially designed category markers live on here in the pet food aisle. Frozen foods was the only other part of the store with category markers these days, and all of those were replaced with modern Down Down/Winn Win style ones like has been done at most other Winn-Dixies in the early 2020's.
The health and beauty aisles follow pet supplies, placed as such to align with the store's pharmacy counter. Here in health and beauty, you can find ways to sweep away any ailments you may have!
The pharmacy was located between the check lanes and frozen foods, right next to the store's exit doors. Publix's original pharmacy would have been located in the same area as Winn-Dixie's, and considering Publix #364 closed with Classy Market 1.0, I doubt it lasted long enough for Publix to have moved the pharmacy to the multi-purpose nook on the other side of the store, which was a more common tactic in later Classy Market 2.5 and 3.0 remodels. Winn-Dixie's pharmacy in Margate lasted until all Winn-Dixie pharmacies were closed in late 2023 as part of the sale to Aldi.
Cutting through our old friend Aisle 12, we find more non-food items, such as paper products and automotive supplies.
Another unusual Transformational store feature I spotted here - aisle 11 had a specially made blue sign to designate it as a health and beauty aisle (the front part of aisle 10 was home to health and beauty as well, but since the back was baby supplies, it ended up with a standard sign). The blue aisle sign must have been another rare trait from this early Transformational store, as later stores used all regular red and gray signs throughout.
Aisle 12 is the last numbered aisle in the store, with the last two unnumbered aisles being home to frozen food and dairy. Unnumbered aisle 13 is entirely home to frozen foods as we can see here.
Looking at unnumbered aisle 14, we find frozen food coolers to our right, with the "Freshly Farmed" dairy department to my left. When Publix was here, produce would have been located straight ahead in the back left corner of the store.
Along with the pharmacy, the only other part of this store that roughly lines up with Publix's old layout is the placement of frozen foods, which used to run the left side of the store connecting produce in the back left with the bakery in the front left.
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| Why isn't it "Freshly Frozen"? |
With the liquor store in the old Publix bakery space, frozen foods wrap around the back of the liquor store to end with the ice cream, seen in those coolers in front of me. Most other Transformational stores have an alcove in the front left corner for ice cream and additional frozen food overflow, but with the placement of the liquor store where it was, that wasn't possible here.
From frozen foods, here's a look back out toward the pharmacy and the store's front end.
The front end consisted of 7 regular check lanes and 4 self-checkouts, about average for a Winn-Dixie in modern times.
It's certainly a different atmosphere compared to Publix's old faux skylight that shined over this area from 1988-2008, but still a nice front end overall (although the closed-up pharmacy in more recent times probably takes away from that now).
Thank you for shopping your Margate Winn-Dixie, and if you bought a quick lunch while you were here, it's easy to pop over to the Community Connection for a table and some free wi-fi while you eat:
I ended up taking this photo of the Community Connection from the cart corral next to the door instead of from a less-obstructed viewpoint (probably because there was someone sitting inside it), but it was just a few tables, a newspaper rack, and some framed prints of oranges on a tree in true Floridian style. While we may not be able to see the tables, we can at least appreciate the citrus art from here!
Back outside, the outline of where Publix's right side entry doors used to be located is still faintly visible on the wall, similar to the patch job on the left side of the building.
Anyway, considering how things are going with Winn-Dixie, it probably won't be long before we see another one of that chain's stores appearing on the blog. But until then, more Albertsons coming up next time on AFB, so be sure to come back in two weeks for that!
So until the next post,
The Albertsons Florida Blogger
