Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

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cjd
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Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by cjd »

So my local Publix which dated back to 1962, was demolished and rebuilt in 2016. In doing so, they also demolished a vacant storefront to the left of the building and expanded into it. To the right of the building, was Bank of America, which was a corner storefront. That bank closed down last year. It was gutted and subdivided into a nail salon at the right and the left most section next to Publix was left vacant. Until last week. I happened to notice Publix has put a liquor store there. The design of the storefront looks a little odd for Publix, it doesn't have automatic doors. This location never had a liquor store before, but I wonder if Publix had wanted to add one here, but didn't have room, so when this adjacent area became available, they decided to rent it? Or maybe they already knew when they rebuilt the store that the bank was going to close, so they waited until now to add a liquor store .

It would be interesting to know the history of that side of the plaza. The bank looked like it probably dated back to the late 1980s from the styling inside. I was told originally there was a drug store with a lunch counter in that area. Which I'm not sure because I do remember an Eckerd Drug store originally being between Publix and the bank. But that drug store moved to a separate new building, and the old one was gutted and Publix expanded into it when they did a major remodel in 1999. I don't see how Eckerd would have operated alongside another drug store if there was in fact one there.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting Publix didn't include a liquor store when they rebuilt the store until now. But perhaps they were looking to maximize space and figured they would have adjacent space after the bank closed.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by rwsandiego »

cjd wrote: November 4th, 2018, 5:41 am So my local Publix which dated back to 1962, was demolished and rebuilt in 2016. In doing so, they also demolished a vacant storefront to the left of the building and expanded into it. To the right of the building, was Bank of America, which was a corner storefront. That bank closed down last year. It was gutted and subdivided into a nail salon at the right and the left most section next to Publix was left vacant. Until last week. I happened to notice Publix has put a liquor store there. The design of the storefront looks a little odd for Publix, it doesn't have automatic doors. This location never had a liquor store before, but I wonder if Publix had wanted to add one here, but didn't have room, so when this adjacent area became available, they decided to rent it? Or maybe they already knew when they rebuilt the store that the bank was going to close, so they waited until now to add a liquor store .

It would be interesting to know the history of that side of the plaza. The bank looked like it probably dated back to the late 1980s from the styling inside. I was told originally there was a drug store with a lunch counter in that area. Which I'm not sure because I do remember an Eckerd Drug store originally being between Publix and the bank. But that drug store moved to a separate new building, and the old one was gutted and Publix expanded into it when they did a major remodel in 1999. I don't see how Eckerd would have operated alongside another drug store if there was in fact one there.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting Publix didn't include a liquor store when they rebuilt the store until now. But perhaps they were looking to maximize space and figured they would have adjacent space after the bank closed.
I'll preface this by saying I work for a large regional bank (not BofA). Before a bank can close or relocate a brach they are required to get approval from various regulatory agencies, mainly to ensure they are not engaging in redlining. It can be a lengthy process, so it is not improbable that Publix knew the bank had applied to close or relocate the brach.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by cjd »

That makes sense. B of A also closed their large downtown two story location with separate drive thru teller during the recession. They also are not as convenient as other banks as far as hours and services.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by architect »

rwsandiego wrote: November 4th, 2018, 5:48 am
cjd wrote: November 4th, 2018, 5:41 am So my local Publix which dated back to 1962, was demolished and rebuilt in 2016. In doing so, they also demolished a vacant storefront to the left of the building and expanded into it. To the right of the building, was Bank of America, which was a corner storefront. That bank closed down last year. It was gutted and subdivided into a nail salon at the right and the left most section next to Publix was left vacant. Until last week. I happened to notice Publix has put a liquor store there. The design of the storefront looks a little odd for Publix, it doesn't have automatic doors. This location never had a liquor store before, but I wonder if Publix had wanted to add one here, but didn't have room, so when this adjacent area became available, they decided to rent it? Or maybe they already knew when they rebuilt the store that the bank was going to close, so they waited until now to add a liquor store .

It would be interesting to know the history of that side of the plaza. The bank looked like it probably dated back to the late 1980s from the styling inside. I was told originally there was a drug store with a lunch counter in that area. Which I'm not sure because I do remember an Eckerd Drug store originally being between Publix and the bank. But that drug store moved to a separate new building, and the old one was gutted and Publix expanded into it when they did a major remodel in 1999. I don't see how Eckerd would have operated alongside another drug store if there was in fact one there.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting Publix didn't include a liquor store when they rebuilt the store until now. But perhaps they were looking to maximize space and figured they would have adjacent space after the bank closed.
I'll preface this by saying I work for a large regional bank (not BofA). Before a bank can close or relocate a brach they are required to get approval from various regulatory agencies, mainly to ensure they are not engaging in redlining. It can be a lengthy process, so it is not improbable that Publix knew the bank had applied to close or relocate the brach.
There is a very good chance that this was a factor. In addition, the owner of the plaza might have anticipated BOA leaving (lease coming to an end, etc.) and offered the space to Publix as a way to get a stable tenant into the space. During Publix's store expansion and renovation, the plaza owner likely informed Publix of this anticipated closure so that they could make lans for using this space as a liquor store vs. taking space from the grocery facility itself.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by BillyGr »

cjd wrote: November 4th, 2018, 5:41 am So my local Publix which dated back to 1962, was demolished and rebuilt in 2016. In doing so, they also demolished a vacant storefront to the left of the building and expanded into it. To the right of the building, was Bank of America, which was a corner storefront. That bank closed down last year. It was gutted and subdivided into a nail salon at the right and the left most section next to Publix was left vacant. Until last week. I happened to notice Publix has put a liquor store there. The design of the storefront looks a little odd for Publix, it doesn't have automatic doors. This location never had a liquor store before, but I wonder if Publix had wanted to add one here, but didn't have room, so when this adjacent area became available, they decided to rent it? Or maybe they already knew when they rebuilt the store that the bank was going to close, so they waited until now to add a liquor store .

It would be interesting to know the history of that side of the plaza. The bank looked like it probably dated back to the late 1980s from the styling inside. I was told originally there was a drug store with a lunch counter in that area. Which I'm not sure because I do remember an Eckerd Drug store originally being between Publix and the bank. But that drug store moved to a separate new building, and the old one was gutted and Publix expanded into it when they did a major remodel in 1999. I don't see how Eckerd would have operated alongside another drug store if there was in fact one there.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting Publix didn't include a liquor store when they rebuilt the store until now. But perhaps they were looking to maximize space and figured they would have adjacent space after the bank closed.
Eckerd did have a partnership with Publix at one point (dating back to fairly early on in the history of this Eckerd drugstores company).

Perhaps the bank area was part of a store that was closed off at some point (maybe when the lunch counter business was discontinued)?
As hard as it seems with today's sized drugstores, some of the earlier drug stores had lunch/ice cream counters that took up quite a chunk of their store space, so one could see them subdividing off some space (or even moving to a smaller spot) if/when they got rid of the counter.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by cjd »

BillyGr wrote: November 4th, 2018, 4:30 pmPerhaps the bank area was part of a store that was closed off at some point (maybe when the lunch counter business was discontinued)?
As hard as it seems with today's sized drugstores, some of the earlier drug stores had lunch/ice cream counters that took up quite a chunk of their store space, so one could see them subdividing off some space (or even moving to a smaller spot) if/when they got rid of the counter.
That does make sense. My mom seems to remember eating breakfast there 35 or so years ago and thought it was a Walgreens store with the lunch counter, But it doesn't make sense for an Eckerd to be next to a Walgreens, plus as far as I know Walgreens didn't move into this area until the early 2000s.

It makes sense to me that Eckerd could have subdivided the space when the counter closed. It does seem that the bank was rather large to only be a lunch counter and kitchen, but then again I'm trying to picture it in my mind and I don't think the space is particularly wide.

I'm pretty sure the location Eckerd was in before Publix took it over was their original location. It had the typical brown terrazzo floors from Eckerd plus the huge round vents and 60s fluorescent lighting, so I'm sure it had been there since the beginning. This was 20 years ago since I had been in there but I do seem to recollect that it was a somewhat narrow store, which lends credence to them subdividing.

Also the parts mentioned above about Publix knowing about BofA moving out makes sense, I don't recall reading about a liquor store coming, and none of the renderings showed it, but maybe they chose not to announce it at the time of the rebuild.
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Re: Publix adding liquor store next to existing store

Post by cjd »

I just noticed this same thing happen in the town to the south of me. In this case it was a little different. The existing Publix in that shopping center was replaced by a new build one at the north end of the strip mall. The Bealls Outlet that was the last space in the strip mall relocated to the former Publix space and then the rest of the strip mall was rearranged to fill the vacated Bealls Outlet. Part of that former Bealls space is now a Publix Liquor, over a year since the new Publix opened.

It's a little interesting here because the way it goes is liquor store, then an open space with a one way road which leads into Publix' drive through Pharmacy, and then the new Publix itself.

With the store in my town being rebuilt between two existing buildings, there was no way to add a drive through.

The Publix on the north end of town which was a former Albertsons had a drive through pharmacy added on the south end, but not when Publix first moved in, I don't believe. The initial "remodel" was mainly a paint job reusing some of Albertsons plaza decor even. The more thorough remodel (adding new decor, refrigeration and flooring) came later and was when the drive through was added.
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