Winter Garden/Ocoee/Oakland Projects

[spenser1058]

6 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Okay.

Spenser, you seem to know everything or a whole hec of a lot.

When taking I guess Plant street westbound past West Oaks Mall heading towards Winter Garden...I'm not sure of the road now...about ten years back...when you looked south beyond the tree line there was what appeared to be a power station or factory and the vertical portions of it looks like stainless steel or steel and looked very sci-fi; you didn't see that every day.  like a refinery or something- may in and around Ocoee in that inbetween area.

Do you know what I'm referring to?

The only thing I can think of would be a former oj concentrate can plant that has been controversially repurposed to recycling.

[jrs2]

7 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

The only thing I can think of would be a former oj concentrate can plant that has been controversially repurposed to recycling.

I just remember seeing it from a distance and it looked so bizarre; the towers were shiny and stuff...

[spenser1058]

The diversity of the Garden Theatre’s cast in a production of “Beauty and the Beast” had impact all the way to NYC:

Local hit ‘Beauty and the Beast’ catches Disney Theatrical’s eye
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/os-et-disney-beauty-and-beast-garden-theatre-20220811-2yevfibl3bd2tp3ugzs6mtfrsy-story.html

From The Sentinel 

Although it ruffled some old-school feathers, it’s a quality WG’s been working on in a lot of ways. Plant St. may look like Mayberry but the leaders and residents are making a commitment to be inclusive of everyone in this town I’m proud to call home these days.
 

Edited August 14, 2022 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

All the things they should have done with Parramore but never bothered with (there were developers’ pockets to be filled!) are getting underway in East Winter Garden:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/revitalization-network-meeting-planned-for-east-winter-garden

From The West Orange Times Observer 

 

[AmIReal]

On 8/26/2022 at 5:37 PM, spenser1058 said:

All the things they should have done with Parramore but never bothered with (there were developers’ pockets to be filled!) are getting underway in East Winter Garden:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/revitalization-network-meeting-planned-for-east-winter-garden

From The West Orange Times Observer 

 

Orlando already did this same exercise (asset mapping, etc) with this exact same group (Polis Institute) for the Parramore area about 3 years ago.

But I do agree that Parramore has been poorly treated/ managed. It obviously had a wealth and power problem for a long time. Previous administrations ignored it and over generations the residents left, and it was taken over by local investors/ landlords with no interest in improving anything.  Home ownership is in the low single digits in much of the neighborhood.

Things have gotten better in the past few years. New SFH have been built for the 1st time in decades. The larger scale projects, such as CV, will add people on the street which will bring new businesses (service providers). The Terry Ave connection will tie CV to Church St and beyond.  Tackling the homeless population is key- I have no idea how they will pull that off, but it has to be done or all the infrastructure work will be for naught.

[spenser1058]

Ready for more dead folks in Gotha? Let OC know:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/orange-county-to-discuss-woodlawn-cemetery-expansion-in-gotha
 

From The West Orange Times Observer 

Meeting is tonight at 6pm at Gotha Middle

Woodlawn’s an amazing place that goes back to 1926. Although the funeral home in front, which wasn’t added until 1976, is just as boring as ‘70’s architecture tends to be, if you go into the actual cemetery there are some amazing structures going back to the early days of the park.

Edited August 31, 2022 by spenser1058

[prahaboheme]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Ready for more dead folks in Gotha? Let OC know:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/orange-county-to-discuss-woodlawn-cemetery-expansion-in-gotha
 

From The West Orange Times Observer 

Meeting is tonight at 6pm at Gotha Middle

Woodlawn’s an amazing place that goes back to 1926. Although the funeral home in front, which wasn’t added until 1976, is just as boring as ‘70’s architecture tends to be, if you go into the actual cemetery there are some amazing structures going back to the early days of the park.

I doubt you’ll be shocked that I find this 99% better than what is being built in Orlando right now.

[jgardnerucf]

I hope they put up fencing around the entire perimeter, because you know why...

[spenser1058]

8 minutes ago, jgardnerucf said:

I hope they put up fencing around the entire perimeter, because you know why...

Don’t let them get out! We don’t want zombies in West Orange! I kid, but I must be respectful- I have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles and who knows who else all resting peacefully at Woodlawn. It’s where our tribe goes. One of my grandfathers tended graves out there for about 35 years and I worked there for a couple of summers.

Edited September 1, 2022 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

Major upgrades are coming to Health Central Park, a nursing home and rehabilitation facility on N. Dillard St in WG (on the site of the former WOMH):

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/healthcare-district-grants-dollar10m-to-health-central-park-expansion

From The West Orange Times Observer 
 

[jgardnerucf]

Whoop dee doo.      That area is behind more than an fanny pickin turnips in Oakland.

[spenser1058]

Daniels Road Business Park is coming to the Fowler Groves area of WG (which some of us like to call “faux” WG, but I digress; after all, their taxes help support the “real” WG north of Story Rd.)

Anyway, they are saying it will include a national grocer new to the market. Unless @HankStronghas convinced Kroger to finally do bricks-and-mortar locally, I’m guessing this may be amazon Fresh #2.

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/daniels-road-business-park-will-include-grocery-store-retailers

From The West Orange Times Observer 
 

[HankStrong]

Maybe I did?

[AmIReal]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:00 PM, spenser1058 said:

Daniels Road Business Park is coming to the Fowler Groves area of WG (which some of us like to call “faux” WG, but I digress; after all, their taxes help support the “real” WG north of Story Rd.)

Anyway, they are saying it will include a national grocer new to the market. Unless @HankStronghas convinced Kroger to finally do bricks-and-mortar locally, I’m guessing this may be amazon Fresh #2.

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/daniels-road-business-park-will-include-grocery-store-retailers

From The West Orange Times Observer 
 

The 2nd Amazon Fresh has already been confirmed- Colonial Shoppes at Bear Lake shopping center at 3030 E. Semoran Blvd./State Road 436 .

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/09/21/apopka-amazon-fresh-grocery-orlando-apopka-florida.html

I've heard rumors of up to 10 units in CF so you may still be right.

[spenser1058]

I guess since @HankStrongis  busy sharing the fine points of quotation marks with us (no doubt thanks to the superior education provided to him by THE Ohio State University), he hasn’t had time to convince 
 the descendants of Barney that we badly need a Kroger hereabouts.

Accordingly, the West Orange Times Observer tells us the new grocery store at the Daniels Road Business Park will indeed be an amazon Fresh:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/heres-the-newest-grocery-store-coming-to-winter-garden

Someday, we’ll all get to go Krogering right here in town. Until then, we’ll just have to wait for our next Atlanta visit!

Everybody sing!

https://youtu.be/yRCUnTiJ88g

Edited October 13, 2022 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

On 10/13/2022 at 4:41 PM, spenser1058 said:

I guess since @HankStrongis  busy sharing the fine points of quotation marks with us (no doubt thanks to the superior education provided to him by THE Ohio State University), he hasn’t had time to convince 
 the descendants of Barney that we badly need a Kroger hereabouts.

Accordingly, the West Orange Times Observer tells us the new grocery store at the Daniels Road Business Park will indeed be an amazon Fresh:

https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/heres-the-newest-grocery-store-coming-to-winter-garden

Someday, we’ll all get to go Krogering right here in town. Until then, we’ll just have to wait for our next Atlanta visit!

Everybody sing!

https://youtu.be/yRCUnTiJ88g

Kroger just purchased Albertsons, but since they left Florida a decade ago that means nothing to us.   I agree that shopping at Publix is no longer a pleasure.  My reasons aren't political in nature.  Publix just is offering an inferior product now that they are only competing with big box stores and have no true oranges-to-oranges type of competitor in the region.

RIP Albertsons, Goodings, Winn-Dixie (mostly), Kash N' Karry, Lucky's, etc.

 

Quotation marks really only have three uses.

1.  A direct quote (e.g. Sir Mix-a-lot said, "I like big butts and I cannot lie!")
2.  A minor work from a major work such as a poem, song, or book chapter (e.g. I am a fan of the song "Sir Duke" from the album Songs in the Key of Life.)
3.  A completely sarcastic, contrary, or caustic atypical meaning known as scare quotes or written air quotes (e.g. I look at the Kardashians and I am floored by their "mental aptitude" and "superior intelligence" every time they speak.)

A classic read: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Unnecessary-Quotation-Marks-Celebration/dp/0811876454

 

 

 

We have bold, italics, and underline for denoting emphasis.

[spenser1058]

3 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Kroger just purchased Albertsons, but since they left Florida a decade ago that means nothing to us.   I agree that shopping at Publix is no longer a pleasure.  My reasons aren't political in nature.  Publix just is offering an inferior product now that they are only competing with big box stores and have no true oranges-to-oranges type of competitor in the region.

RIP Albertsons, Goodings, Winn-Dixie (mostly), Kash N' Karry, Lucky's, etc.

 

Quotation marks really only have three uses.

1.  A direct quote (e.g. Sir Mix-a-lot said, "I like big butts and I cannot lie!")
2.  A minor work from a major work such as a poem, song, or book chapter (e.g. I am a fan of the song "Sir Duke" from the album Songs in the Key of Life.)
3.  A completely sarcastic, contrary, or caustic atypical meaning known as scare quotes or written air quotes (e.g. I look at the Kardashians and I am floored by their "mental aptitude" and "superior intelligence" every time they speak.)

A classic read: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Unnecessary-Quotation-Marks-Celebration/dp/0811876454

 

 

 

Kroger is indeed looking to buy Albertsons but the deal is unlikely to pass FTC scrutiny. Particularly out west, it would be starkly anticompetitive and given current inflation worries, especially for food, someone in Cincinnati was so worried about Walmart they forgot to leave the building and look at the current political environment (food inflation is running hotter than just about every category but housing at the moment).

[codypet]

Would the Albertson's acquisition include Safeway?  Because if so, yea.   That's a non-starter. 

[spenser1058]

7 minutes ago, codypet said:

Would the Albertson's acquisition include Safeway?  Because if so, yea.   That's a non-starter. 

Yes, they own Safeway. I still remember the buzz years back when Safeway came to town scoping out various Publii  with an eye on buying the Lakeland chain after Mr. George passed. Supposedly, the conclusion was that it was too expensive.

It wasn’t too long after that Safeway got swallowed up by Albertsons.

The Marina Safeway in SFO will always live on in the Tales of the City epic as the cruisiest supermarket on the planet..

Let’s all sing: “Albertsons, it’s somebody else’s store!”

Edited October 17, 2022 by spenser1058

[codypet]

Well remember after many of Albertson's locations were bought by Publix the lone Altamonte Albertson's got rebranded to Safeway.  It too later was bought by Publix.

[spenser1058]

5 minutes ago, codypet said:

Well remember after many of Albertson's locations were bought by Publix the lone Altamonte Albertson's got rebranded to Safeway.  It too later was bought by Publix.

Florida - “Where Major Grocery Chains Go To Die”

[spenser1058]

Let’s hop in the way back machine when Skaggs -Albertson was new to Florida. Hereabouts, it was the first chain to be open 24/7.

This was the mid-70’s and ATMs were relatively new as was direct deposit for most employees.

The debit card we know today wasn’t yet a thing - it was mostly used to access ATMs and as ID to cash a check at your bank.

From that convergence of technology came an unusual experience: Disney cast members were paid on Thursday and if they happened to bank with Sun locally they would be able to access their pay at 12:01am via SunBank 24.

As a result, the place to find cast members after midnight on Thursday was “Skaggs” (as we then called it) to buy groceries after they hit the ATM at Sun Bank.

Edited October 17, 2022 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Kroger is indeed looking to buy Albertsons but the deal is unlikely to pass FTC scrutiny. Particularly out west, it would be starkly anticompetitive and given current inflation worries, especially for food, someone in Cincinnati was so worried about Walmart they forgot to leave the building and look at the current political environment (food inflation is running hotter than just about every category but housing at the moment).

Much like the airline issues, they did agree to purchase Albertsons.  This included how for how much they are paying and what would happen to each company in the merger.  That part is done.  Whether the sale is completed and the merger is legally allowed to take place is another deal altogether.

[spenser1058]

22 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Much like the airline issues, they did agree to purchase Albertsons.  This included how for how much they are paying and what would happen to each company in the merger.  That part is done.  Whether the sale is completed and the merger is legally allowed to take place is another deal altogether.

For the sake of your prices on Kroger delivery, we’ll have to hope it gets approved. I think I read Kroger has to pay Albertsons $600 mil if the deal doesn’t pass antitrust muster.

[codypet]

I mean Speedway bought Hess only for 7-11 to buy Speedway a few years later and I think 7-11 just had to discharge 200 stores are something like that?  I mean Circle K and Wawa and others are out there but still I was surprised that merger was approved  too.