Rare Find: Albertsons #4365 - Jupiter, FL Classic Photo!

     A big thanks to new AFB contributor William S. for sending us this picture! This is a very rare photo of former Albertsons #4365 in Jupiter, FL back when it was still an Albertsons. This store opened in 1987, and closed in the summer of 1990, lasting barely 3 years. Albertsons cited the sudden and early closure of this store as "a real estate mistake". To read more about the history of this store and to see more of how it looks today, you can read the original post from this store here. 

     William found this picture in the 1988 Jupiter High School Yearbook. He sent a scan of the entire page, which looks to be a page showcasing new construction/new businesses in town. I don't know anything about the places/things seen in the top two pictures, or the bottom left one. The picture of the sign that says "Don't judge a mall by it's cover - we are open!" is a reference to the Jupiter Mall. The Jupiter Mall was a very tiny enclosed mall built in 1980, with Bealls Department Store and what is now an 18 Screen movie theater (currently Cineopolis, but it's changed hands too many times to know the original occupant) as anchors. The Jupiter mall was located across the street from the Albertsons, directly to the north. By the late 80's, the owners of the mall decided to convert it into a more traditional shopping center, which the sign is probably a reference to. (Side note: That information you just read on the Jupiter Mall was courtesy of AFB contributor Graham S., who mentioned that in the comments section of 4365's original post - Thanks!) The Rite Aid you see on the bottom right was also a tenant of the Jupiter Mall...

     ...And it's not too often you see a picture of a live Florida Rite Aid either! Rite Aid entered Florida after purchasing the Florida locations of Kroger's SupeRx chain of drug stores (a separate entity from Kroger's SupeRx Food and Drug stores, which became Florida Choice around the same time). Right Aid bought a total of 187 stores from SupeRx, including the one in the Jupiter Mall, and the stores were converted into Rite Aids in 1987. Rite Aid built a few stores on their own in Florida after the acquisition (all of which were in shopping centers, to the best of my knowledge, but are fairly rare). They also had a distribution center in Melbourne (not sure if it was acquired from SupeRx or if Right Aid built it/purchased the building themselves). Either way, Walgreens and Eckerd proved to be too powerful in Florida for Rite Aid, and in 1995 Rite Aid announced they would be pulling out of Florida completely. The former Jupiter Mall Rite Aid is now a Staples, which expanded into some of the storefronts that used to be next to the original Rite Aid space. 

     Tangents about dead malls and (soon to be dead if Walgreens gets their way) drug store chains aside, I'll wrap up this rather short post with a picture of the front of former Albertsons #4365 from only a few months ago. It looks exactly the same as in the picture from 1988, honestly, just with the minuscule Publix sign where the old Albertsons one once was.

     Thanks for the little trip back in time, William! William has also sent in a few other classic Albertsons photos that will be making their way to the blog in the future. 

Anyway, that's all for now. Until the next time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Former Albertsons #4446 - Jupiter, FL

Albertsons #4446/Publix #1333

17400 N. Alternate A1A, Jupiter, FL

The Shoppes of Jonathan's Landing

    Albertsons had a strange run in this town. After closing up shop in Jupiter the first time in 1990 with a store that only lasted three years (#4365), you would think that Albertsons wouldn't come back after suffering such a painful defeat, right? Well, Albertsons is and has always been a company full of surprises. After a seven year hiatus, Albertsons decided to return to Jupiter with a brand new store, located only a half mile west of that original store. In November 1997, Jupiter's brand new Albertsons opened at the corner of Indiantown Road and Alternate A1A, indirectly replacing their original Jupiter store, and according to one article I read, this store also indirectly replaced the Stuart Albertsons (#4382) nearly 20 miles to the north of here, which had closed in the days prior to this store opening, but that's a story for another day. Albertsons' return to Jupiter was much more successful than their original run. This new Albertsons lasted 11 years before it became one of 49 Albertsons Florida stores that were sold to Publix in 2008, a sale that cut Albertsons presence in Florida by half. This was one of four South Florida Albertsons stores to be sold to Publix in that sale, and the only one in Palm Beach County. During that acquisition, Publix completely gutted and in some extreme cases, tore down some of the Albertsons stores they acquired. In other cases, they did practically nothing to the buildings except install their decor and restock the shelves. This store was one of the ones Publix did practically nothing to, as we'll be seeing shortly... 

     While this store looks like a typical early 2000's Albertsons, with an exterior almost reminiscent of the St. Lucie West Albertsons (#4466) we toured prior, this store actually uses the Mid-Late 90's layout inside. This particular store was built during a transitional era, which is why this store combines the designs from both eras.

     One of the distinct exterior traits of a Mid-Late 90's Albertsons was this windowed in area for shopping cart storage, located to one of the sides of the entrance, with it being on the left side at this particular store. In the very first photo of this post, you can see what this area looks like from the front. 

     Looking down the front of the store from the cart storage area. And look at what Publix left on the doors...the original 'Entrance' and 'Exit' decals from Albertsons!

     You can see the decals a little bit better in this photo. This is Albertsons original entryway setup, and the typical entryway set up for a Mid-Late 90's Albertsons, with the four separate doors, two for entry and two for exiting. Normally Publix will replace these swing doors with sliding ones when they take over someone else's building. It's actually very unusual that they kept these here, especially complete with Albertsons' decals! 

     Heading inside for our first look at the interior. Turning to the left when you first walk in is the floral department. Honestly, the interior of this store is an Albertsons with Publix decor (Classy Market 2.5 specifically). Publix left just about everything intact from Albertsons here except for the decor. The only slight modifications Publix had made to this building since they took over was adding the new Publix standard curved front Bakery (which we'll see in a moment), and they added that extra set of sliding doors to the entryway that Albertsons more than likely didn't have.

     Heading down the first aisle, and looking back to see the bakery department, located in the front left corner of the store. The way this store was designed, the entire outer perimeter of the store where all the service departments are located has a warehouse ceiling, and all the grocery aisles in the center of the store are under a drop ceiling. This design was used in the late 90's by Albertsons until the Early 2000's stores began to be rolled out in 1999, when Albertsons decided to begin using full warehouse ceilings in almost all of their newly built stores. 

     Looking under the bakery awning. The fancy tile work behind the counter was added by Publix when they upgraded the bakery during the remodel to Classy Market 2.5 decor. 

     Looking into the back of the store from the bakery and wee see the produce department, which takes up aisle 1 along with some beach stuff and souvenirs over to the right (which didn't make it in the picture). In the far back left corner is the deli. 

     Looking down the front end. You can see the transition to the drop ceiling here. 

     Heading into the grocery aisles under the drop ceiling portion of the store. As for the decor when this store was Albertsons, this store had Blue and Green Awnings decor, which came out around 1996-1997ish and is what this store had for its entire life as Albertsons. Blue and Green Awnings was the decor that replaced Blue and Gray Market after its long 10 year run, and Blue and Green Awnings' rollout began an era when Albertsons was coming up with new interiors every 2-3 years, some of which began to overlap each other. Blue and Green Awnings lasted until 1999, when it was pretty much phased out for the Theme Park/Grocery Palace interior.   

     Looking down the back aisle. The milk, eggs, butter, and yogurt portion of dairy is located back here where the wall is painted yellow, with meats extending down the rest of the back wall where the wall is painted red, where it then transitions into seafood. 

     Heading back up front...

     I think I've mentioned before how I like these classic photos Publix used to put up in their stores, usually up at the front end, but sometimes elsewhere on the perimeter of the store. Speaking of classic Publix... 

     Somebody forgot to take these old signs down! There were actually quite a few of these signs throughout the store hanging on the sides of these end displays. There's a slight glare, but these signs show a bag of Publix brand groceries featuring Publix's old ribbon logo packaging. I'm surprised always-wanting-to-be-up-to-date Publix hasn't found something to replace these with yet. And what's even weirder: This store opened in 2008 as Publix, approximately 4 years after that packaging was phased out from Publix's shelves!   

     And heading into the frozen food department, located in the center of the store. I believe all of these coolers are original to Albertsons, because they don't look to be of the style of the ones Publix has been using for the last few years. 

     The remaining portion of dairy (cheeses) and the lunch meats were stuffed into the end of this frozen food aisle, along with the beer. 

     Getting closer to the right side of the store and the pharmacy. In front of the pharmacy were about 5 or 6 short aisles featuring health and beauty items and pharmaceuticals, one of which I am standing in. From this aisle, you can see how the drop ceiling looks over the grocery aisles.  

     And in the front right corner of the store is the pharmacy counter, again, same location as it was in this store's Albertsons days. 

     It's hard to tell in this photo, but that white painted portion of the wall is actually painted over wood paneling. Albertsons has always loved using wood paneling in their stores, and they used it in their stores well into the 2000's, long after many people classified it as outdated. 

     In this photo of Aisle 16, we get our best look at the transition from the drop ceiling to warehouse ceiling portion of the store. 

    Seafood in the back right corner. In Mid-Late 90's stores, the seafood counter was always located on an angle in either the back right or back left corners of the store, depending on which was the layout was situated. 

     And the final aisle, Aisle 17, is home to wine and bottled water. Publix always puts those arched things over their wine aisles. 

     Looking across the front of the store from the pharmacy to the bakery. 

      Well, that was an interesting store, but now it is time for us to begin heading out...

     Now that we're back outside, let's take a few more quick looks at the exterior. This is looking down the front sidewalk toward the right side of the building from the front entrance. This view does look very similar this view along the front walkway at the St. Lucie West Albertsons.

     Looking back toward the entrance. 

     This is the walkway that leads to the few small storefronts located to the right of the former Albertsons building. 

     And back over on the left side of the building is the former Albertsons liquor store, now home to Publix liquors. 

     Publix even left the original Albertsons decals on the doors over here as well. 

And now for some Bird's Eye satellite images courtesy of Bing Maps:

Front

Right Side

Back

Left Side

And now historic aerials, courtesy of Google Earth:

Former Albertsons #4446 - 2014

Albertsons #4446 - 2005 - Not a bad crowd.

Albertsons #4446 - 1999 - Still relatively new at this point.

Future Albertsons #4446 - 1995

     So that wraps up our look at the former Albertsons stores of Jupiter. Two very different stores with two very different stories, both sharing a common fate: becoming a Publix. Publix seems to be doing fine at both locations, with each location offering different services that compliment each other and the part of town they are located in. 

So until the next time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Former Albertsons #4365 - Jupiter, FL

Albertsons #4365/Publix #401

95 S. US Highway 1, Jupiter, FL - Jupiter Square

     The city of Jupiter. When most people think of Jupiter, some of the first things that will pop into their mind are the rich and famous, who like to buy mansions over on nearby Jupiter Island. Jupiter's famous lighthouse is another thing that may pop into your mind, located over on the inlet, having led boats safely into the Loxahatchee River for the last 150 years. Nearby Jupiter resident Burt Reynolds may also pop into your mind, as Jupiter is home to a park bearing his name and was formerly home to a museum of his life. Or if you're really not familiar with this area, you'll probably just think of the planet. After reading this post, Albertsons will probably be another thing that will pop into your mind when someone mentions Jupiter. Albertsons had a very strange presence in the City of Jupiter, a presence that will be covered in this post and also in another upcoming post. So, let's start at the beginning. The first Jupiter Albertsons (#4365, which is being featured here today) opened in Jupiter Square at the corner of US 1 and Indiantown Road back in 1987. This intersection pretty much marks the heart of town, and this new shopping center was supposed to serve as a new draw to the eastern side of Jupiter, whose bix box retail hub is mainly located to the west of town along Indiantown Road, heading toward I-95. That grand plan, though, ended up leading to one of the very first Albertsons Florida casualties, with this Albertsons closing only three years after it originally opened in late summer 1990, around the same time Albertsons also closed their stores in Coconut Creek (#4351) and Hallandale Beach (#43XX). According to Albertsons, their reasoning for closing this store was that it was a real estate mistake. According to an article about this store's closing, Albertsons says this store suffered from 'poor access and traffic problems'. Additionally, Albertsons said they were having trouble luring their target customers, the more middle income demographic located primarily to the west along Indiantown Road, to the eastern part of town, which is typically where Jupiter's higher income citizens live, near the beach and Jupiter Island. Albertsons got out of this store fast, and not long after they left, Publix took over this location. I guess one chain's real estate mistake is another's real estate success. Publix has been in this location now for 25 years, and they seem to do really good business here, even with another Publix only half a mile west of here, but we'll get to that part of our story later. Publix tends to lean more upscale in products and image than Albertsons, so they would definitely be able to attract more of the higher income demographic that Albertsons was not as successful at attracting. As far as traffic problems, I'm not sure what Albertsons was referring to. This plaza was designed like most I've seen, and the parking lot design didn't seem horrible. I've seen much worse parking lot designs. Maybe the traffic issues were resolved by Publix or the city/state years ago. Anyway, Albertsons' loss became Publix's gain. That became even more true in 2008, but let's get back to this store for now...        

     Design-wise, this was a fairly typical Superstore model Albertsons, and most of the Superstore design was retained by Publix. This is the archway over the right side entrance. Sorry about the lack of exterior views here. I was trying to beat a bad thunderstorm, and this photo and the previous one were all the exterior pictures I was able to get before the pouring rain started, along with one of the liquor store. 

     The right side entrance into the store, which is where we will be entering. Albertsons originally would have had two swing doors here, like this, but Publix modified the entrance to their standards. To the untrained eye, you could very easily think this place was just another typical 90's built Publix store by going off of the exterior alone, as Publix's early 90's stores and Albertsons Superstores shared some exterior characteristics. However, once you go inside, the interior layout is nothing like an early 90's Publix, and it becomes much more apparent that this building was occupied by someone else before Publix came along.   

     With all that being said, let's head inside...

     One quick comment before we get any further. When I came here, I saw this store had these really new looking plastic carts I've never seen at any other Publix before. I've been to Publix stores remodeled and built from the ground up in 2015, and all those stores still had the usual metal carts Publix has been using for years. I wonder if those carts will slowly be phased out for these in the near future. Anyway, back to Albertsons...

    After entering through the right side entrance and turning immediately to the right, you come to Publix's Apron's Event Planning station, which was carved out of a small piece of the deli (sorry about chopping off the top part of the sign). I'm not really sure how many Publix stores have this feature at the moment, but I've only ever seen it in stores built within the last few years and at stores in more affluent areas. It's basically a catering service, and they'll help you plan menus, decorations, floral arrangements, and things like that for just about any type of event. 

     Heading over into the front right corner of the building, which is home to the Deli. This is also the same location Albertsons' deli was located in. This store retains Albertsons original layout almost exactly. There is one major change Publix made, and we'll see that in a moment. 

    Since this opened as a Publix in 1990, this store would have originally opened with Publix's Wavy Pastel interior. It's probably just me, but I think it would have been really interesting to see what this old Albertsons building would have looked like with that interior. Anyway, this store currently has a fairly basic version of the 3rd Generation Classy Market interior, like every other Publix now has in some form. From the looks of it, this store had the 2nd Generation Classy Market interior prior to this remodel, and Wavy Pastel before that. As for when this store was Albertsons, the interior would have been Blue and Gray Market for its entire 3 year life.   

     Heading on down the right side wall after the deli is the bakery. The bakery received the new rounded front typical for a 3rd Generation Classy Market Publix. Prior to this remodel, it probably still retained the more typical flat front from Albertsons.  

     Looking down into the Produce department in the back right corner from the bakery and deli. In many Superstore Albertsons, this area in the back corner would have opened up into a partial octagon shaped area, although some stores for one reason or another did not get that treatment. Also to note is that Publix replaced the lighting in this store to their standard, and replaced the Blue and Gray Market tile pattern with plain white tiles. A typical ground up built Publix has real terrazzo floors, so if you're ever in a Publix and don't see a real terrazzo floor in at least a portion of the building, it was something else before. I have also been to a Publix that took over another store's building, and there they replaced the former occupant's tiles with new tiles with a terrazzo pattern on them to better match a typical Publix.   

     Another thing to point out, which you'll also see in some of the other pictures that I took here, is that this Publix has lots of empty and open areas. Everything in here very spaced out and open. I think this building may have been a little too big for Publix when they first took it over back in the early 90's. These Superstore Albertsons were in the 55,000 square foot range, and the typical early 90's Publix was only 45,000 square feet. While Publix's many of Publix's modern stores reach 55,000 square feet, it still seems like Publix has a lot of space here that they don't know what to do with it. The effect is much larger if you come to this store in person. 

     Leaving Produce and heading into the main back aisle of the store. Meats is off to the right there, with Seafood further down in blue, and dairy just beyond that in yellow. Also, notice anything strange about the aisle markers? 

     Turning down aisle 2, which only runs 3/4 the length of the store. At some point, presumably after Publix took this building over from Albertsons, Publix moved the location of the pharmacy from the front left corner of the store to this island location in the middle of the grocery aisles, which is straight ahead. This choice of location for the pharmacy is strange even for the typical Publix built at any period. 

     Aisle 2 merges into aisle 3 when it approaches the pharmacy structure. The front of the pharmacy is to the left behind those sunglasses displays. 

     Heading around to the front end, looking from right to left. Albertsons's distinctive slanted second story office windows are still perfectly intact. These windows were a distinctive feature of Albertsons' Superstore model stores, and the entire design of the front end makes the store feel really big.  

     Looking down one of the grocery aisles toward the back of the store. 

     The portion of the back aisle looking toward dairy. 

     Meat cases. That pole just had to get in the way of the sign.

     The center of the store, featuring the frozen foods department, same as it was in Albertsons days. The coolers have since been updated to the ones Publix typically uses. 

    Back at the front end, looking up at the office windows. This store also got to keep its classic Publix photo collage that was featured in the 2nd Generation Classy Market interior. A lot of the recently remodeled stores had these removed, however I've been noticing that lately many stores have been getting to keep these pictures. This was one of the best features that Publix has rolled out into their decor. That purple colored painting of a Wing Store partially cut off by that pole from register 8 even made it onto a Publix canvas bag that recently came out. 

      And flipping over to the back of the store once again for a look at the Seafood department and the seafood counter. 

     Dairy is also in the approximate location of where it would have been back in the Albertsons days. In some Superstores, dairy might have continued along the left side wall for a little bit, or they would have put the beer coolers there. 

     Remember me asking if you noticed anything strange about the aisle markers? Here's one up close. See it now? Publix decided to cut corners here. These are actually the markers from the 2nd Generation interior, however the usual number in the circle was popped off, and the 3rd Generation fake wood grain numbers was stuck in their place. See here for what an authentic 3rd Generation marker would look like. This is another thing I've noticed at many of Publix's stores that have been remodeled in the last year.  

     Another grocery aisle. This store really feels big. 

     And turning right out of that aisle and here's the front left corner of the store, originally home to Albertsons' pharmacy. After Publix took over this store, they moved the pharmacy over to that island location in the middle of the grocery aisles that we saw before. The old Pharmacy area was then converted by Publix into an expanded wine department. This store has a really large wine selection, more than the average Publix, and comparable to the large wine departments being put into some newer stores. 

     The last aisle that runs along the left wall, aisle 15. That's probably right around the number of aisles Albertsons would have had. Back when this store was Albertsons, this area would have been home to Health and Beauty and the Cosmetics departments, to complement the neighboring pharmacy. There also would have been a few short aisles running parallel to the front of the store in front of the pharmacy as well. When Publix moved the pharmacy, this area became home to chips and soda. 

     Looking along the back wall at what we just covered. 

     Looking back up aisle 15. 

     This little lighted overhang along the left wall would have originally lighted up the Health and Beauty and Cosmetics merchandise. Now it lights up the soda. 

     A few last looks along the front end before we leave this former Albertsons...

     Heading out the left side entrance...

     And I timed my departure from here right as it began pouring...

     Looking down the front of the store. Not much changed here since the Albertsons days. Let's stay dry and stroll back down to the right side of the store to take a look at the former Albertsons liquor store...

     The former liquor store, attached to the right side of the building. The former Albertsons liquor store is still home to a liquor store, currently Star Wine & Spirits. From a quick Google search, it looks as this place is a part of a small local chain of liquor stores. Publix didn't begin to operate liquor stores until sometime in the early 2000's, or maybe even the late 90's on a very limited basis, so that's why this didn't become a Publix Liquors location way back when. Publix has kept the attached liquor stores from just about every Albertsons they've taken over since the late 2000's for themselves as a part of their growing number of Publix Liquors locations.  

     Looking toward the liquor store entrance from Publix. 

     Still all original from Albertsons over here as well, except for those pieces of plywood added to the rails. 

      Looking back toward Publix.

     The very 80's road sign facing Route 1. 

      Like the road sign says, this Outback Steakhouse is the other anchor to this plaza, located at the very end of the strip of stores near Route 1. My guess is that this place has been here since the plaza was built. 

     And now for some Bird's Eye Aerial Images courtesy of Bing Maps:

Front

Left Side

Back

Right Side

And some Historic Aerials courtesy of Google Earth and Historicaerials.com:

Former Albertsons #4365 - 2014 - US 1 is off to the left part of this image, and Indiantown Road runs along the top.

Former Albertsons #4365 - 2005

Former Albertsons #4365 - 1999

Former Albertsons #4365 - 1994

Future Albertsons #4365 - 1979 - Still an empty lot at that time

     Another thing about this Albertsons was that it was one of the three Albertsons stores built within a mile of the Atlantic Ocean, with this store only being a half mile away from the beach. Interestingly, all three of those stores were complete flops for Albertsons, all of which ended up closing in the 90's, like we saw with this store. The other two beachside stores were #4368 in Indian Harbour Beach (my photography skills have improved very much since that post, our very first store post) and #43XX in Hallandale Beach.

     And while being that close to the beach, you might as well stop by, right?

     These pictures were taken from Jupiter Beach Park, one of the two closest public beach accesses to the former Albertsons. That's the Jupiter Inlet there in the distance. 

     Stormy seas this day. Good thing Jupiter Inlet has a lighthouse...

     ...And the light was on too! Unless that was just a glare, but I'm pretty sure the Jupiter Lighthouse is still in use. This is the famous lighthouse I mentioned at the beginning of the post, and it's considered Jupiter's most famous symbol. Its construction was authorized by the government in 1853, and it lit its beacon for the first time in 1860. If you're interested in reading more about the lighthouse, you can read about its history here.

     I couldn't get any closer than this while I was in the area, but they do open the lighthouse and its grounds to the public for tours, even though the Coast Guard still has a small operation here. 

     Well, that just about wraps up our look at this former Albertsons. While it may have appeared that Albertsons had some bad luck in Jupiter with a store that only lasted for three years in the late 80's/early 90's, Albertsons wasn't done with Jupiter just yet. Jump ahead seven years from the closing of store #4365 and move a half mile to the west to the other side of the drawbridge and what do we see? Yes, another Albertsons! Store #4446 to be exact. That store fared much better than the original Jupiter Albertsons ever did, but I don't want to get too far ahead just yet. That store will get its own post, and will be featured here next time on AFB to complete the story of Albertsons stores in Jupiter.

So until then,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger