Hourglass District

[JFW657]

17 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

I'm just an old Souhern bubba whose native cuisine is Morrison's so I have no idea which of these might be best but there's also Publix Sabor and Sedano's (which is based in south Florida.) 

So, if the demographics support it, there's a few options for Hispanic-oriented grocers.

I did try Xtra (from Puerto Rico) back in the '80s. That store on 436 (University Park Plaza?) was the first superstore in town (other than the ill-fated Grand Way at Parkwood Plaza in the early '60's), predating Super Target and the Walmart Supercenters. I didn't recognize many of the brands so I only went once and it didn't stay in the market very long.

Meanwhile, I just go to Black Bean Cafe when I'm thinking Cuban.

I remember the Xtra up on Semoran near University. I shopped there  a few times. I liked their bulk stuff. 

Re: the Mariner's Village WD, there's already a Sedano's pretty close by in the old Albertsons at CF & Semoran. The thing that makes me think that Fresco y Más might have a leg up on the others, is that it's owned by the same company that owns WD, the former tenant in that building.

I'm guessing that would be a natural transition in that they already have an existing business relationship with the owner, would've been able to negotiate terms before anyone outside even knew that WD was closing and the store fixtures and food cases which they already own anyway, are already in place.

Seems like a no-brainer to me, but then again, there could be plenty of reasons why it might not be them at all.

I'm just guessing like everyone else.

[spenser1058]

That makes sense, although when SE Grocers changed the Pine Hills Rd W-D to Harvey's (a lower price version), they apparently just rebranded without much of a closure.

I briefly shopped at the W-D in Mariners' Village between moves. At the time, it was fairly new and (,for a W-D) spotless, with awesome customer service and a good produce selection.

As it turned out, that store had a woman for a store manager and it all made sense. At the time, I wondered why a female in that position was still rare, given that even today women still do more grocery shopping than men. The glass ceiling is just stupid anyway but especially so in that case.

[aent]

On 5/21/2018 at 8:11 PM, orlandoguy said:

Now that I have to boycott Publix, this is probably as good as it's going to get in Curry Ford West. Thanks for the update!

I guess I have to start my counter protests and start exclusively going to Publix...

[codypet]

On 5/22/2018 at 4:07 PM, JFW657 said:

I remember the Xtra up on Semoran near University. I shopped there  a few times. I liked their bulk stuff. 

Re: the Mariner's Village WD, there's already a Sedano's pretty close by in the old Albertsons at CF & Semoran. The thing that makes me think that Fresco y Más might have a leg up on the others, is that it's owned by the same company that owns WD, the former tenant in that building.

I'm guessing that would be a natural transition in that they already have an existing business relationship with the owner, would've been able to negotiate terms before anyone outside even knew that WD was closing and the store fixtures and food cases which they already own anyway, are already in place.

Seems like a no-brainer to me, but then again, there could be plenty of reasons why it might not be them at all.

I'm just guessing like everyone else.

Fresco y Mas is going at Curry Ford and Goldenrod.  They just announced it as a conversion not a full blown closure.  Harvey's in Pine Hill which was recently converted is now closed.   I think Mariner's Village is just going to close and they'll have to scramble to find a replacement for both Winn-Dixie and soon Walgreen's.  

[JFW657]

42 minutes ago, codypet said:

Fresco y Mas is going at Curry Ford and Goldenrod.  They just announced it as a conversion not a full blown closure.  Harvey's in Pine Hill which was recently converted is now closed.   I think Mariner's Village is just going to close and they'll have to scramble to find a replacement for both Winn-Dixie and soon Walgreen's.  

You're probably right about that. I was thinking they might be looking to do another one. 

I did see a post on Nextdoor Kaley/Bumby by someone who heard the manager of the WD was contacted by a Puerto Rican grocery chain called Willer's. They were interested in hiring the WD employees to staff a new store there. There's already one in Kissimmee.

WILLER’S SUPERMARKET SEEKS TO BECOME A CHAIN OF PUERTO RICAN STORES IN CENTRAL FLORIDA 

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by JFW657

[spenser1058]

Southeastern Grocers emerges from bankruptcy (yet again) and says it will speed up remodels of Winn-Dixies and other brands. You  may be excused for not holding your breath in anticipation things will work out this time.

http://bit.ly/2L7eJ8j

From the Sentinel

[JFW657]

They're doing a lot of rearranging at our Hourglass WD.

[Mark Baratelli]

On 5/20/2018 at 12:39 PM, popsiclebrandon said:

Mark, I know you do a lot of stories on health code violations so when they try to BS you in the future they don't get local and state inspections. The Orange Co DOH only does institutions like schools. Our UCF store gets inspected by them because we are on the land of an educational institution. Restaurants are certified by DBPR and they do all health inspections. They don't have a local vs state inspector. You get the local inspector based on geography.
It sounds like these people had no idea how to run a restaurant and just throw a bunch of BS excuses out that most people won't know aren't true.

I do wonder why this is even a restaurant if you can't wash dishes there. Feels like a complete miss by the developers.

Update - I called National Real Estate to ask if the new F&D pizza place will be on city service and they confirmed it will. Real dishes for everyone! 

[codypet]

11 hours ago, JFW657 said:

They're doing a lot of rearranging at our Hourglass WD.

I was in there last night.  They have rearranged the store a lot, I don't know know if its permanent or not, but it looks like all the aisles aside from the perimeter and freezer aisles have been moved.  Under aisle 2 you can see tan tile flooring which appears to be the flooring before the current floors.  They're going to have to replace all the flooring in this store because there's no way it can stay the way it is now.  It appears to be getting painted red which means is should somewhat resemble this layout.  I wish they had the money to give us this.

 

10 hours ago, Mark Baratelli said:

Update - I called National Real Estate to ask if the new F&D pizza place will be on city service and they confirmed it will. Real dishes for everyone! 

Foxtail's trailer is backed up to the old convenience store entrance.   Looks like they're getting started there.  My wife couldn't be happier about it.

[Jernigan]

[jrs2]

You know, Foxtail in Winter Park on Orange Avenue is freakin' awesome.  That space buildout is so like something you'd see out west, it's sick.

[sunshine]

I do not find their coffee anything more special than Starbucks even though it is way pricier. Linnage Coffee has better store design. The space buildout is like something you would see in Kobenhavn.

[popsiclebrandon]

Not going to comment on them as a company but Wes is an awesome architect. He has done coffee shops for us and Credo as well. He did the Mills 50 bus stops that light up and stuff plus a bunch of other stuff like the Cameo/Snap space re-do. Check out Process Architecture, love working with them.

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, sunshine said:

I do not find their coffee anything more special than Starbucks even though it is way pricier. Linnage Coffee has better store design. The space buildout is like something you would see in Kobenhavn.

Sounds like the kind of place I'd visit once just to check it out then never go to again.

If I want a cup of coffee I'll go to Wawa and pay a buck.

[spenser1058]

11 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Sounds like the kind of place I'd visit once just to check it out then never go to again.

If I want a cup of coffee I'll go to Wawa and pay a buck.

I miss good old Folgers at the Grants in Colonial Plaza with the ceiling fans spinning and the conveyor bringing the orders out on top and sending the bustubs back on the bottom while Mavis refilled my cup and called me "hon."

[codypet]

Results from the Curry Ford Road study are in.  Now if you excuse me I need to go for a run thanks to a particularly unflattering photo of me in the study.

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/orlando-fl-demonstration-project-curry-ford-road/

[Jernigan]

What a terrible article.   

[sunshine]

Looks like a high school book report. Someone could have write that out without doinng any actual research.

[NJBlake]

It is a bit frustrating, since there is hard data in there if you look hard enough that supports the aims of the study. 

 

[Jernigan]

[codypet]

Oh wow.  I didn't know that station is coming down.  My wide can't wait for Foxtail to open in August and I can't wait for Winn Dixie to finish.  I was hoping they'd give it the modernized concept.   They better finish the floors though.  I'd rather not drive all the way to Publix if I could help it.  Hell I'd love to bike there if I wasn't taking my life into my hands.

[JFW657]

4 hours ago, codypet said:

Oh wow.  I didn't know that station is coming down.  My wide can't wait for Foxtail to open in August and I can't wait for Winn Dixie to finish.  I was hoping they'd give it the modernized concept.   They better finish the floors though.  I'd rather not drive all the way to Publix if I could help it.  Hell I'd love to bike there if I wasn't taking my life into my hands.

Could they just be replacing the underground tanks?

W/D has done some floor tile replacement. They've got all the areas done where they needed to move fixtures to do it. Don't know if they're going to do the entire floor, but it is looking better. Don't know if I like the red and white motif in the facade, though. Kinda liked the muted colors better.

[sunshine]

The entire stretch needs landscaping help.

[codypet]

10 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Could they just be replacing the underground tanks?

W/D has done some floor tile replacement. They've got all the areas done where they needed to move fixtures to do it. Don't know if they're going to do the entire floor, but it is looking better. Don't know if I like the red and white motif in the facade, though. Kinda liked the muted colors better.

I would agree with you about the facade.  It now screams corporate identity rather than small neighborhood W/D.  Its better than the A&P brick they had back in the mid 2000's.  I feel like they'll have to do the entire floor at this point.  If you look under the shelves you can see the old tiles.  If I was to wager a guess, they're going to replace the shelves and ceiling tiles last, and are waiting to do the floors until that's ready.  A cashier said that they weren't going to redo the whole store, but at this point I feel like they're doing everything except the BOH.

Edited July 12, 2018 by codypet

[Camillo Sitte]

14 hours ago, JFW657 said:

W/D has done some floor tile replacement. They've got all the areas done where they needed to move fixtures to do it. Don't know if they're going to do the entire floor, but it is looking better. Don't know if I like the red and white motif in the facade, though. Kinda liked the muted colors better.

It's still a dump.

Cheap lipstick on a fat, old, pig.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by Camillo Sitte