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| Photos from Albertsons Florida Blog's Flickr Photostream |
Today we're heading down south for an exclusive look inside a Centennial A&P, which has not been expanded at all since being built and opened in 1968. Winn-Dixie outfitted the building with their own partial facade in the early 2000's, but it doesn't make us unable to see the true Centennial beauty! This store, along with many other Floridian A&P's, closed in the early 80's as the chain shuttered all of their stores in the Sunshine State.
The original Centennial roofing is seen here at the side of the building.
This Centennial Model is slightly longer on the front than the common East Coast built ones.
A standard older decor package at Winn-Dixie seen here.
None of the flooring is from A&P. The drop ceiling could be from A&P, but I highly doubt it, as they have been gone for around 35 years when these photos were taken.
As small as this Winn-Dixie is, customers report that this store has a full-service seafood and meat department. Not even my local Stop & Shop has that, and it's triple the size! It's amazing how well small stores do, and how badly some bigger stores can fail.
A&P of Lake Terrace2960 Curry Ford RoadOrlando, FL A&P > Winn-Dixie |
Definitely one of the smallest Winn-Dixie stores out there (and the smallest I've ever been to), but this location seems to have a lot of support from the local neighborhood. It was an interesting conversion, and a nice surprise find for me on that particular day of photo taking! Hopefully this store will survive any upcoming troubles W-D may have...
ReplyDeleteYep, without a doubt. I looked up the store on Google Maps for more info on it, a lot of people like how small it is!
DeleteAnd I heard about the news on Winn-Dixie! That'd be a shame. I'm not sorry for Tops Markets... some (well, most) of their stores are really terrible.
Not sure just how they are in their main areas (around Buffalo), but many of the stores they have acquired in eastern and northern NY are on the smaller and older side, but they are also often the only store in town.
ReplyDeleteThus those areas kind of depend on them being there for their everyday needs since getting to another store is not that easy (may be 1/2 hour or even an hour drive in many places, not counting the drive it already is for some just to get to the Tops location).
So one has to hope that even if the chain winds up disappearing, someone will be smart enough to take on those types of locations to help their local areas.
Will, excellent point. When I was up in Red Hook/Rhinebeck, NY, there were only two stores at the time-- Stop & Shop in Rhinebeck (Now A Tops), and an excellent Hannaford. If Tops is the only other store in the area, it makes a lot of sense. I agree completely.
DeleteLike for instance, around here, all we have is a Giant, and a Weis (considerably farther than the Giant). It makes perfect sense of why Giant is doing so well, and same with Weis.
That is (I'd suspect) how Tops got that store in Rhinebeck - someone in the FTC looking and seeing that those were the only two stores there when their parent companies (Delhaize and Ahold) were merging.
DeleteThere are other options besides those two stores, but they require a bit of a drive north or south (and the first stores you'd come to are another Hannaford and another Stop & Shop respectively) or a shorter drive across the river (which gives you ShopRite, Walmart Superstore and a Target plus other non-foods stores), but with an accompanying $1.50 toll for the return trip.
However, once you get up into the Adirondacks there are areas with even fewer stores, and in some cases you could go through a couple towns with a Tops before you find a town with other markets to go to.
Many of these same (northern) areas had the same issues 15+ years back when Ames disappeared - to some degree they have gotten a few options (like the Family $/$ General) but it still makes it a bit hard in some of those areas if you need something quickly. Takes a bit more planning to shop ahead or order in advance.
Yeah, that was part of the FTC liquidation along with a few other stores in NY. There are a lot of 'Food Deserts' up in New York, so I can see why Tops does well in smaller towns.
DeleteWilliam, you bring up an interesting point about the dollar stores replacing department stores like Ames in rural areas. I think my biggest fear in the Tops situation is that the dollar stores will begin replacing supermarkets in similar areas. This has already happened in some places, and is a real problem because dollar stores obviously do not sell any fresh meat or produce, and do not have any healthier options. Maybe what it takes is either a large chain operating small locations at a loss or breakeven, or a smaller company to really serve the community. I've heard that MyTown Marketplace up in the Hudson Valley does that well, and now has two stores. http://www.liifund.org/projects/healthy-food-markets/mytown-marketplace/
DeleteSF-- I have to admit, he does bring up an interesting point. My local Dollar Tree has been carrying a large frozen section, and some higher-end dollar stores have actually been selling produce; plus Grocery Outlets and Ollies can open up in any space-- no matter the size.
DeleteDollar General has some stores they call Dollar General Markets, and those do appear (from their ads) to carry at least a limited selection of fresh items (produce, meats and such).
ReplyDeleteSo far, I think they have been testing those in areas closer to their home base of TN, but those would certainly be a good option in some of these towns if nothing else was available.
Not that they would replace everything in a market, but at least provide some options for quick needs and then people would (likely) be willing to make that hour or whatever trip once a month, say, to stock up in a location with more options.
I've heard of them. I haven't been to a DG in years. It's a great idea that DG is trying to go the 'fresh' route, but they should transition all their stores over to that model. They can compete with Aldi and other smaller grocers then.
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