Albertsons Florida - Celebrating 40 Years of Serving The Sunshine State

     It was 40 years ago today that Albertsons opened their first store in Florida, located at 2170 Gulf-To-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater. Albertsons Florida has definitely had an interesting run here over the last 40 years. The first two decades of Albertsons Florida were looking bright, with expansion throughout the state. The third decade started to see some change, and much more pressure from their competitors, including a few minor scale backs and trip-ups for Albertsons Florida. The fourth decade was, well, I think we all know what happened to Albertsons Florida over the last decade. However, let's use today to look at some of the positives from Albertsons Florida's past. 

     Amazingly, that original Albertsons Florida store in Clearwater survives until this day, even after all the scaling back Albertsons has done over the last decade in Florida. Later this year, the Altamonte Springs store will also turn 40. I guess Albertsons knew what they were doing when they were picking out those first few sites, since two of the four original Albertsons stores from 1974 remain into the final four. 

    This year also marked Albertsons 75th year in business. To celebrate, they had their customers send in their stories about their first memories of Albertsons, their experiences with Joe Albertson, and their experiences over the years with Albertsons in general (you can read more about that here). So I figured why not do the same here, but with a Florida twist? What were some of your stories of Albertsons Florida over the last 40 years? Feel free share them in the comments section of this post. If you would like to read some of the "Joe Stories" that Albertsons has been collecting over the last few months, you can check some of them out here (although the website they dedicated to this seems to have been taken down). 

     As for what the next decade of Albertsons Florida has in store, who knows what will happen. I've always felt that their keeping of those four stores meant something, like they're not quite done with Florida yet. They didn't completely leave the state yet, with those four stores surviving the last two years practically isolated from the rest of the chain, so who knows what the next few years has in store. 

So Until Next Time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Planned Albertsons #43XX - 9th Street N. & 94th Avenue N., St. Petersburg, FL

Black and white satellite images courtesy of historicaerials.com. This is a 1969 image of the intersection of 9th St. N. (Dr. Martin Luther King St. N.) and 94th Avenue N. in St. Petersburg.

     October 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of Albertsons entering Florida. For this month's featured post I decided to do something in Albertsons Florida's home territory of Pinellas County, where the two of the first four Albertsons Florida stores opened in late 1974. When Albertsons first decided to enter the Florida market in early 1974, they announced they were going to open four new stores in Clearwater (#4301), St. Petersburg (#4302, 4th St. N.), Winter Park (#4303), and Altamonte Springs (#4304). However, unknown to most, Albertsons was actually planning to open 5 stores during their initial Florida push. This post is dedicated to that long forgotten and mysterious fifth store that was never built.

     The fifth Albertsons Florida store was planned to be built at the corner of 9th St. N. (also referred to as Dr. Martin Luther King St. N.) and 94th Ave. N. at the northernmost reaches of St. Petersburg, near the Gandy Bridge. This satellite image above is of that intersection in 1969. By the time Albertsons would have came along, a Kmart store had already been built at the northwest corner of this intersection.

     And this is where the mystery comes in. The pending construction of this store was mentioned in a February 12, 1974 article of The Evening Independent, The St. Petersburg Times former evening edition. The article talked about Albertsons' big push into Florida and the other new stores that were being built in the area (along with all the wonderful features Albertsons would bring to Florida). This article is the only reference online or anywhere to the 9th and 94th Albertsons ever existing, however details in the article were quite vague about this store. The only other known information on this store was that construction was to start in the summer of 1974, although that never was to be. I'm not even sure which of the two available corners was supposed to be the one this store was to be built on (it could have been either the northeast or southwest corner, however I'm leaning toward the southwest corner due to the shape of the lot and the fact it looks like there were some wetlands on the northeast corner).

     I wonder why this store was never constructed in the first place. Did locals not want it? Was zoning or some other government agency giving Albertsons a hard time? Could Albertsons have been trying to build over those wetlands on the northeast corner, which upset environmentalists? Due to how long ago the plans for this store were scrapped, information on it is hard to come by. Both of the potential sites were later developed as something else though. The northeast corner is now home to a hotel and office buildings, and the southwest corner is now a community of apartment complexes, which you can see below. 

The same area as pictured above in 2014. Image courtesy of Google Earth. Both of the potential Albertsons sites have since been redeveloped for other uses. The Kmart on the northwest corner became a Sears Essentials in 2005, and later closed in 2008. The building was torn down in 2013 for a new office complex, which is under construction in this image.

     After the plans for this store were mysteriously scrapped, Albertsons never pursued building another store in this area. The Pinellas Park Albertsons (#4349), which wouldn't open until 1982 about 3.5 miles west on Gandy Boulevard, was to become the closest Albertsons to this site. 

    As always, if anyone can add any information to the history of this planned store, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Until Next Time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Former Albertsons #4345 - West Palm Beach, FL

Albertsons #4345

1901 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL

Pine Trail Square

***Photos of this store courtesy of Osi Florida on Flickr***

     What you're actually looking at in the photo above is the Liquor Store entrance to this former Albertsons. I decided to start this post off with a side shot since the front of this store has had its original Albertsons entryway ripped off and reconfigured, and this side entrance was made to look just like the original, just smaller, and complete with an all too recognizable Albertsons labelscar! 

     This store first opened in 1981 as Albertsons second store in Palm Beach County, after the Lake Worth store (#4328). This store originally opened with the 70's Stripes interior, and was later remodeled to the Blue and Gray Market interior sometime during the 90's. Albertsons modernized the exterior of this store in the early 2000's shortly before they began to pull out of Florida, which is when they added all the exterior arches. Although the exterior was modified at that time, the interior wasn't, so this store had the Blue and Gray interior all the way until its closure in 2009. After sitting vacant for approximately 2 years, this store became one of hhgregg's first South Florida locations during their push to enter the state. hhgregg took up the leftmost two thirds of the former Albertsons building, with the right third still sitting vacant.

     While it seems like hhgregg left most of the Albertsons exterior intact, they completely removed and reconfigured the original Albertsons entryway in order to make it the standard hhgregg entryway, which you can see in the photo above.

     A zoomed out shot of the Liquor store entrance, still all original on the exterior. I like these arches that Albertsons added in the early 2000's. Albertsons did a really nice exterior remodel of this older store.

     Doors that once led into the Liquor store.

     This one original Albertsons decal stating rules and regulations remains on the glass between the two doors.

     Now for a look inside:

     ...And nothing. Completely gutted. Not a trace of anything Albertsons remains inside here anymore, unfortunately. This would have been looking directly into the Liquor store.

     Looking down into where the Bakery, Deli, and Produce departments would have been.

     Now for Bird's Eye Aerial Images (Courtesy of Bing Maps):

Front - The Albertsons is sitting abandoned here. This is what the original entryway looked like before hhgregg moved in. 

Right Side - The former Liquor store entrance is under the arch on the left.

Back

Left side

     Historic Aerials (Courtesy of Google Earth and historicaerials.com):

Pine Trail Square overview - 2014 - The Albertsons building is the large one in the middle. Now for some closer looks at the Albertsons building below.

Former Albertsons #4345 - 2014 - hhgregg has moved in at this point.

Former Albertsons #4345 - 2011 - Still sitting abandoned in this image.

Albertsons #4345 - 2006 

Albertsons #4345 - 2002 - This is the building before the exterior renovations that modified the entryway and added the arches around the building.

Albertsons #4345 - 1994

Future Albertsons #4345 - 1979 - Historic Aerials has coverage of this area, however the next oldest image they have from before 1994 is from before the Albertsons or adjoining shopping center was built.

     I'd like to thank Osi Florida for sharing his photos of this store with us. Remember, photo contributions to the Albertsons Florida Blog are always welcome!

Until next time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Former Albertsons #4429 - Melbourne, FL

Albertsons #4429

2447 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL

Lake Washington Square

     The current state of the exterior of this former Albertsons looks rather weird at first sight. Three quarters of this store's current exterior is renovated beyond recognition, yet the other quarter looks the same from the day Albertsons first opened here in June 1996. Albertsons opened this store on the site of a former Kroger owned SupeRx Food and Drug store, which was torn down for the new Albertsons. The SupeRx opened here in 1982, and closed in 1987 when they moved down the road a little to a new Florida Choice store in a former A&P Family Mart in the Melbourne Village Plaza. Florida Choice was the new name Kroger gave to their Florida SupeRx grocery stores as a way to salvage their Florida division, which would ultimately fail when Kroger pulled out of Florida in 1988. To read more about Kroger in Florida, click here. 

     Anyway, back to Albertsons. This store was a Pre-Plaza Model Albertsons, and one of the last ones built before the Pre-Plaza stores started to morph into the Plaza Model stores. I'm pretty sure this store had the Blue & Gray interior for its entire 14 year run. This Albertsons had the honor of being the last Brevard County Albertsons to close, making it all the way to February 2010. All the other Brevard County stores closed by 2006 or earlier.  

     This store sat abandoned for three years until LA Fitness announced they were opening a new location in three quarters of this former Albertsons store in late 2013. What I found strange was the extensiveness of LA Fitness's remodel to this store. LA Fitness has two other locations in former Florida Albertsons stores, stores #4384 in Lake Worth and #4415 in Ocoee. Both of these locations still retain their Albertsons look on the exterior after LA Fitness moved in, while this store got their extensive remodel for some reason. At least LA Fitness didn't remove every piece of this store's previous life. A small sliver of the main store and the former liquor store got to keep their original Albertsons facade. This part of the store became a second location for Palm Bay based Thrifty Specialty Produce in Summer 2014, who broke through the wall to combine the liquor store and part of the main store into one space. The photo above was taken during my first venture to this former Albertsons, before Thrifty opened. I didn't take many pictures during that visit because I wanted to come back after Thrifty opened to see what they did with the interior, which you can see in the photos below. 

      

     A similar shot to the one above, taken after Thrifty Specialty Produce opened, and of slightly lower quality due to the lighting.

     A close up shot of what remains of the original Albertsons exterior. Thrifty reconfigured the entrance by adding a new door to the left of the original liquor store entrance, which is blocked by that white van. This door is Thrifty's main entrance, and leads into the small slice of the original Albertsons store that they occupy. The original liquor store entrance/exit is now the exit to Thrifty's store. Thrifty also added those windows between the two doors.

     And the exterior of Thrifty Specialty Produce after they opened.

     Under the original Albertsons canopy looking toward LA Fitness and Thrifty's new entrance. They were able to cram a lot of produce under this canopy. 

     Now let's head inside... 

     After heading in Thrifty's entrance, this is the sight that greets you. For an independent market, Thrifty did quite the extensive remodel of this place. What they did looks nice, however I thought they were going to leave more of the Albertsons in tact. I couldn't find anything original in here, however I still took some photos for a quick look around. This Albertsons would have had a similar layout to the Palm Bay store covered here back in May. Also like the Palm Bay store's post-Albertsons remodel, the original Albertsons drop ceiling was removed in favor of the warehouse style ceiling. 

      I'm standing right where the wall used to be that separated the liquor store from the main store. You can see the transition in this photo between the two parts. Originally, the part of the main store that Thrifty currently occupies would have been Albertsons' Bakery and Produce Departments. 

     Also, just to note, this place was pretty busy when I visited, so it was hard for me to get photos completely free of people.

      Thrifty's Meats and Seafood Department is located in the very back of the section of the main Albertsons store they occupy. I have to say, I'm a fan of that neon Meats and Seafood sign.

     Looking toward the front of the store from the Meats and Seafood Department.

     The Hot Food counter is located along the right side wall of the former liquor store, along with a small Bakery and the Customer Service counter, which are off the the right of here.

     The front of the main Albertsons store portion.

     The front of the liquor store portion. Most of the liquor store portion is taken up by service departments, with the rest of the space containing a small amount of grocery items. 

     That completes our look of the interior. Time to head back out...

     One final look at the last little piece of Albertsons exterior that remains. This is another pre-Thrifty photo.

     This is the original Lake Washington Square road sign from when Albertsons was still in operation. After Thrifty opened, a new road sign was installed, which you can see below in the next photo.

     Now for the Bird's Eye Aerial Images (Courtesy of Bing Maps):

Front - Albertsons is still in business in these images!

Right side

Back

Left side

     Historic Aerials (Courtesy of Google Earth):

Former Albertsons #4429 - 2014 - This was after LA Fitness's renovations were complete.

Former Albertsons #4429 - 2013 - The store was still sitting abandoned at this time.

Albertsons #4429 - 2006 - Looks like this store was doing some good business back in 2006.

Future Albertsons #4429 - 1994 - The abandoned SupeRx building is still standing where the Albertsons will eventually be built.

Photo courtesy of Showcase.com

     I just had to finish out this post with an online photo of this store from back in its glory days as Albertsons. This was a really nice Pre-Plaza store back in the day. Now all that's left of it is a shell and about 100 feet of canopy.

     That about wraps up this post. There's going to be a second Albertsons post going up this month on Sept. 20th, so be sure to check that out.

Hope to see you then,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger 

Classic Albertsons Florida Footage!!!

     I'd like to give a big thanks to Albertsons Florida Blog contributer Jimmy S. for sending in the link to this newscast uploaded to Youtube from Orlando's WFTV on May 29, 1981. The top story of this newscast is about an extortion plot at the Albertsons stores in Altamonte Springs (#4304) and on South Orange in Orlando (#4323). The newscast contains some amazing interior and exterior shots of the South Orange store in its original unaltered form, including a few glimpses of the original Skaggs-Albertsons interior used from when Albertsons first entered Florida in 1974 until the introduction of the Blue and Gray Market interior in the mid 80's. This interior was very colorful, with many red and orange stripes and color schemes throughout the store. It definitely has a 70's vibe to it (and I mean that in a good way). It's hard to find photos of this interior, which is why this video was such a great find. I'm calling this interior the '70's Stripes' interior. When I get a chance I'll update the Interiors tab with some info on this interior. The 70's Stripes interior lasted in some stores well into the 90's, however it was all gone from Florida before the beginning of the 2000's. I've never seen this interior in person, which is why I've been reluctant on saying much about it until I could see some of it firsthand. This store was remodeled sometime in the 90's, and I'm assuming it got the Blue and Gray interior from the exterior remodel it got, which it probably had until the end in 2009. Unfortunately, this store was later demolished for a new Walmart Neighborhood Market in 2012. This store will be covered more in depth at a later date. For now I just wanted to share this great classic Albertsons footage.

So until next time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Albertsons Chicken Dinner Deal Bag

     I was digging through some old stuff and I stumbled across this old Albertsons Deli Chicken Dinner Deal bag from the early 2000's. Once a week Albertsons would offer a rotisserie chicken or 8 pieces of fired chicken with choice of deli sides for a promotional price. This bag was used to hold everything in the end, and it had the bar code for the special price on the bottom. I think Albertsons still offers this promotion, but I'm sure the bags have been redesigned to something fairly generic looking by now. 

     And just a quick closeup of the seal on the front of the bag. 

     That's all I have for now. So until next time,

     The Albertsons Florida Blogger

Planned Albertsons #44XX - Sportsman's Park - Port St. Lucie, FL

     In last month's post I told you the story of the once mighty St. Lucie West Albertsons, Albertsons second Port St. Lucie store, located about 2 miles west of here. This month's post will focus on the interesting beginnings of Albertsons' plans to build a second store in Port St. Lucie.  

     Albertsons opened their first Port St. Lucie store, store #4362 (not yet featured here), in 1986 in the eastern part of town along Route 1. The Route 1 corridor was Port St. Lucie's original retail corridor, with the first local shopping centers opening in the 1970's as the first few waves of people began moving to the new city. Ten years after Albertsons opened their first Port St. Lucie store, Albertsons wanted to build another store in the large (in terms of size) and rapidly growing city of Port St. Lucie. In late 1995, Albertsons started shopping for locations for a second store in the northern part of Port St. Lucie, since their Route 1 store primarily served the southern and eastern parts of town. After doing their research, Albertsons decided where they wanted their second Port St. Lucie store to be located: on the site of Port St. Lucie's oldest park, Sportsman's Park.    

Satellite Images Courtesy of Google Earth

     Sportsman's Park (outlined in red in the image above), was first built in 1975, and is home to Port St. Lucie's Little League Baseball team. In January 1996, Albertsons sent a letter to Port St. Lucie's City Manager offering to swap the 16 acre site that Sportsman's Park currently sits on to build a new 53,000 sqft. grocery store, in exchange for 40 acres elsewhere in the city to build a new park on (and Albertsons was to pay for the construction of the new park), along with giving the city 100 additional acres of vacant preserve land. When the city got this offer, they felt it was too good of a deal not to consider.

     I think Albertsons was attracted to this site because there weren't any other supermarkets in this mostly residential area. Port St. Lucie's developer, General Development Corporation, who built this sprawling city (along with a few others in Florida) in the 1960's and 1970's, didn't plan for retail, shopping, and other commercial sites in their development. They didn't even build a downtown. They just built many miles of residential streets with quarter acre residential lots to sell to northerners looking to retire in Florida. They weren't planning for the future, like where stores for this town that could hold over 100,000 residents would be located. Albertsons thought the site of the park would be the perfect place to squeeze in an fill a need in the community.       

Close-up of the Sportsman's Park site.

     However, when the city announced to the public that they were considering swapping the city's oldest park in exchange to build a new supermarket there, local residents flipped out. Hundreds of locals were completely opposed to Albertsons building a new store at the site of the park. They flooded the city with 10-30 phone calls a day saying not to agree to the deal. In March 1996, the city held a meeting where they were to officially decide whether to allow Albertsons to build their new store at the park site or not. Hundreds packed the meeting expressing to the city council why the city shouldn't give the park to Albertsons. In the end, after facing the wrath of many angry locals, the city council rejected Albertsons' deal to build a new store at the site of the park. Albertsons was pretty upset about the decision because they really liked the site, but they still kept looking for a location for their second Port St. Lucie store. Ultimately, the Southwest Corner of St. Lucie West Boulevard and Cashmere Boulevard in the new St. Lucie West development would be it, becoming home to Albertsons #4466, which you can read about here. 

     I wonder if the 40 acre site Albertsons wanted to build the new park on was the site where they ultimately ended up building their new store, which you can see in the image above. This store, however, closed in June 2012. That site could be approx. 40 acres if you include the empty lot behind the store, and it could have been larger before all those houses were built off to the left of the store on land Albertsons could have sold off.

     How different do you think Port St. Lucie would have been if the city council had approved the Sportsman's Park land swap? Would a store at the park site have been as much of a success as the mighty St. Lucie West Albertsons was? Or more of a success? Just a few things to ponder as I bring this post to an end. 

     The story of the planned Sportsman's Park Albertsons wraps up the story of the St. Lucie West Albertsons. We'll be back in Port St. Lucie one day to tell the story of their other Albertsons, but we'll leave it at this for now.

So Until Next Time,

The Albertsons Florida Blogger