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Downtown South (Sunrail/Amtrak, SODO, Orlando Health, Lymmo, Orange/Michigan Avenues)


SuperMan11MS

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46 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Fun fact: that Curry Ford W-D started out as an A&P (I soooo miss Jane Parker Cheese Bread!) It replaced the W-D in Dover Center at CF and Crystal Lake.

That part I knew. You could tell by the original facade that it had once been an A&P. Red brick, pointed apex in the center of the fascia, shingled hip style roof.

a&p+1970+pleasantfamilyshopping.jpg

Though it probaly isn't, this pic ^, this could actually have been the Curry Ford WD as this, minus the cupola on the roof, is exactly what the front of the store looked like all the way up to about two or three years ago, prior to remodelling.

This is the store just after the recent remodel began...

74987756815be01cd24561acad2c25099bbd67e7

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46 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

There aren't currently any LIDL in Florida. I know it has been mentioned as happening but nothing yet.

Earlier today, I Googled "Lidl locations near me" and it returned three. Went back and Googled it again after reading your above reply, and saw that it gave me location info for the area's three Aldi's.

Computers.

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21 hours ago, Jernigan said:

 

6D5957B7-E8F8-42E8-B3F6-C21615A5BE3F.jpeg

So, I drove south on Orange past Pineloch to check out the construction site of that big project.  Nothing to take a photo of- yet... Dusk.  I did a U-ey just past there and as I approached Pineloch, wow, what a change!  The ABC was lit up and right smack on that sidewalk.  I lost track of where I was for a second.  Total transformation.  When this plaza with Earthfare gets built with the out parcel businesses fronting Orange, this will be really awesome (not partially awesome).

17 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Hey, they're both German. That counts, right?

LOL!  Prejudicial Google search engine on German discount grocers (unless they are now owned by the same company).

16 hours ago, cwetteland said:

What is the construction 1/2 block south of Gore at Lake of the Woods?

Dunno.  I have the same question.

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On 2/18/2018 at 12:26 AM, JFW657 said:

Kinda sad. Winn Dixie has been around forever. I've been shopping at the Curry Ford Rd store near Bumby for over thirty years. I don't do my main shopping there, but it's so close to my house that it's convenient for when I just have to pick up a couple of things and don't want to drive all the way to Publix or WNM. I hope that WD isn't one of the ones getting shut down.

That Curry Ford Winn-Dixie is an absolute craphole.

I've seen photos of Soviet-era grocery stores in central Moscow that were cleaner and had a better selection.

The deli is a ptomaine factory. The bakery is a sad joke. One would have to be certifiably insane to actually buy anything from that open sewer of a Mississippi Delta fish camp they call a seafood department. And the prices are no better than Publix.  

At least they don't charge extra for the indifferent-at-best service.

Good riddance.

Edited by Camillo Sitte
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36 minutes ago, Camillo Sitte said:

That Curry Ford Winn-Dixie is an absolute craphole.

I've seen photos of Soviet-era grocery stores in central Moscow that were cleaner and had a better selection.

The deli is a ptomaine factory. The bakery is a sad joke. One would have to be certifiably insane to actually buy anything from that open sewer of a Mississippi Delta fish camp they call a seafood department. And the prices are no better than Publix.  

At least they don't charge extra for the indifferent-at-best service.

Good riddance.

Why all the absurd, angry hyperbole? Did one of the cashiers forget to deduct your 50¢ off coupon once? Maybe they didn't smile enough or exchange pleasantries with you? Or possibly the register didn't ring up the sale price of an item which you didn't notice till you got home and you've never gotten over it?

While I'll admit it might not be quite up to the standards of Publix as far as everything looking new and shiny and sparkling is concerned, and occasionally, some employee might not be as chipper as they could be, it's nowhere even close to the way you described it. I've always found it to be clean enough, the employees friendly enough and the items I've gotten from the deli (mostly fried chicken) have always been perfectly good.

What you described sounds more like the store at Colonial and Bumby. That place fit the definition of "craphole". 

If the Curry Ford store was anything close to the way you described it, I wouldn't set foot in it and neither would most of the many other decent people from around that area of town who also shop there.

You obviously have some other issues.

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1 hour ago, JFW657 said:

You obviously have some other issues.

Disagreeing with you    "angry".  My only "issue" is that the store is a complete $h!thole.

The ceilings are stained from multitudes of leaks over the decades. The shelving is falling apart. The antiquated lighting buzzes and the stained and yellowed forty-year-old linoleum  has an additional layer of yellowing on top of the first layer of yellow.

Besides the health code violation of a deli and the joke of a meat department, the quality and selection of the produce is an embarrassment.  I'm convinced that the reason the store's manager positions that park bench to block the west side entry doors during operating hours [what are codes anyway?] is because even they are embarrassed by their store and hope that blocking one of the entrances will discourage people  from coming in and seeing just how bad it is.

That place was past its sell-by date two decades ago. There is a reason why the Winn-Dixie chain and brand is on a death watch and that store is a perfect example of why.

Tear it down and put something useful in its place.

 

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4 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Disagreeing with you    "angry".  My only "issue" is that the store is a complete $h!thole.

The ceilings are stained from multitudes of leaks over the decades. The shelving is falling apart. The antiquated lighting buzzes and the stained and yellowed forty-year-old linoleum  has an additional layer of yellowing on top of the first layer of yellow.

Besides the health code violation of a deli and the joke of a meat department, the quality and selection of the produce is an embarrassment.  I'm convinced that the reason the store's manager positions that park bench to block the west side entry doors during operating hours [what are codes anyway?] is because even they are embarrassed by their store and hope that blocking one of the entrances will discourage people  from coming in and seeing just how bad it is.

That place was past its sell-by date two decades ago. There is a reason why the Winn-Dixie chain and brand is on a death watch and that store is a perfect example of why.

Tear it down and put something useful in its place.

Certainly it's not the greatest place, I acknowledge that. Yes, it's an older building with some age issues. But it's also nowhere near as bad as you describe it. I've been in there late at night close to closing time on many occasions and have seen the overnight floor cleaning crew setting up to do the floors, so I know they keep them clean.

That time of day, about 30 minutes prior to closing, is also the only times I've ever seen the west side entrance closed off. That's probably done for some security reasons, something I've seen other stores do.

Again, on this particular subject, you come across as being very angry and bitter about something. I hope you're able to somehow work through whatever it is. :)

5 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

Winn Dixie didn't earn the "Dirty Dixie" nickname by having the best reputation... I don't think I've ever been to the CF location, but every WD seemed to have the same old, depressing, run-down ambiance. The remodeled WD's were a huge improvement, albeit too late.

You're right about that. Some of them are/were real dumps.

The store we're talking about here is not one of them though. For such an old building, they do a pretty good job of keeping it clean and a reasonably pleasant place to shop in. 

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Alright.  I hate Winn Dixie with a passion.  I've been more disappointed that they don't so much as care to replace burnt out light bulbs in the Curry Ford store and loved the renovations they've put out in some of the stores lately.   I immediately thought about what I said on Friday when I heard they're going bankrupt.  This issue is that space NEEDS a grocery store that's not a Dollar General.   Its not an affluent enough neighborhood to support anything fancy (Trader Joe's/Fresh Market) so that tiny Winn Dixie fit the bill I seriously doubt Publix is going to bring anything that resembles the College Park Publix there, but something needs to be there to support the neighborhood.  As much as I hate it, I'm not going to be happy if it closes.  It kind of reminds me of the last years of Albertson's here.  Now its just dead Safeway walking.

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26 minutes ago, codypet said:

Alright.  I hate Winn Dixie with a passion.  I've been more disappointed that they don't so much as care to replace burnt out light bulbs in the Curry Ford store and loved the renovations they've put out in some of the stores lately.   I immediately thought about what I said on Friday when I heard they're going bankrupt.  This issue is that space NEEDS a grocery store that's not a Dollar General.   Its not an affluent enough neighborhood to support anything fancy (Trader Joe's/Fresh Market) so that tiny Winn Dixie fit the bill I seriously doubt Publix is going to bring anything that resembles the College Park Publix there, but something needs to be there to support the neighborhood.  As much as I hate it, I'm not going to be happy if it closes.  It kind of reminds me of the last years of Albertson's here.  Now its just dead Safeway walking.

What about an Aldi? 

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34 minutes ago, bqknight said:

What about an Aldi? 

That would be cool afaic, but I think the building is considerably bigger than the typical Aldi's occupies. They'd probably have to divide it up and have two tenants. 

I'm actually hoping for an Aldi's in the former Bealls Outlet in Market At Southside. 

As I mentioned earlier, I contacted the Aldi's real estate acquisition guy and the representative of the real estate agency that handles the property, hoping one of them might contact the other and get something going.

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3 hours ago, codypet said:

This issue is that space NEEDS a grocery store that's not a Dollar General.   Its not an affluent enough neighborhood to support anything fancy...

Actually, that Curry Ford Winn-Dixie is just a few blocks away from  four of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city of Orlando; Bel Air Shores, Lancaster Park, Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee.

Weekley Homes just sold the last of 6 houses they built on the site of the old Church of the Nazarene property three blocks away on Walnut, priced between $650K and $1.2M. And $1M+ houses have been selling in Bel Air, Lancaster, and Lake Davis for years.

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And people in those neighborhoods don't walk to that Winn Dixie.  They're served by Market on Southside Publix and soon the new Earthfare.    South Lake Como and north side of the neighborhood behind Winn Dixie use that grocery store.  The neighborhood isn't dotted with Dollar Stores, a dumpy ABC, AutoZone and three check cashing places because its an affluent area.  Its not.  

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Ya, on that note, can we separate out this discussion?  I know there's an Hourglass District thread (I hate that name), do we have a Curry Ford/Conway more broad one?  It may only be 2 miles apart, but it's a entirely different neighborhood from Downtown South.

In fact I just checked... Walking to the downtown Publix is closer than the Curry Ford Winn Dixie for me, and I'm about as far on the edge of Wadeview as one can get.

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3 hours ago, codypet said:

And people in those neighborhoods don't walk to that Winn Dixie.  They're served by Market on Southside Publix and soon the new Earthfare.    South Lake Como and north side of the neighborhood behind Winn Dixie use that grocery store.  The neighborhood isn't dotted with Dollar Stores, a dumpy ABC, AutoZone and three check cashing places because its an affluent area.  Its not.  

That WD is used by residents of all the Hourglass neighborhoods, including Tanglewood, Porter Place and Ashbury Park.

And though they might not possess the snob appeal of Lancaster Park and Delaney Park, those neighborhoods are pretty upscale by anyone's standards. It also doesn't mean that they/we are content to grocery shop in a filthy pig sty as has been suggested. 

You can bet that the residents of those neighborhoods, who have kept that WD in business all these years, would not shop there if it was.

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3 hours ago, codypet said:

And people in those neighborhoods don't walk to that Winn Dixie.  They're served by Market on Southside Publix and soon the new Earthfare.    South Lake Como and north side of the neighborhood behind Winn Dixie use that grocery store.  The neighborhood isn't dotted with Dollar Stores, a dumpy ABC, AutoZone and three check cashing places because its an affluent area.  Its not.  

Really?

Huh. Because I live in one of the four neighborhoods that I mentioned and I [used to] shop there. I’ve even walked there a few times. And I know for a fact that many of my neighbors still shop there though like me they would prefer a more pleasant, higher quality experience. Now granted, my data set is about n20, so not exactly scientific.

If the Colonial and Paramount Publix stores can profitably coexist within a mile or so of each other, so too could the Markerplace Publix and a new store where the current Winn-Dixie is, replacing the old and slightly less decrepit store at Conway and Curry Ford. I assure you that my fellow Bel Air, Lancaster, and Davis residents would gladly go there rather than fighting Orange  and Michigan traffic to get to the Marketplace Publix or SoDo Target, etc.

I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon though. But it would be nice and I would love to be proven wrong.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, FLClarkKent said:

The most interesting thing about that store is that the strip center in which it's a part has really seen a resurgence during the past four or five years. Some good local restaurants (La Fiesta, JJ's, Theo's)  and good watering holes (Ocean Sun and Roque Pub). Hard to find  a parking spot in the evenings.

 

 

Yeah, it's certainly a bit better than it has been in recent years but the whole area needs a top-to-bottom redevelopment.  And not to hate, but I am  thoroughly unimpressed with what is happening at Curry Ford and Bumby. YMMV.

My friends and I saw Airplane! in the Conway Twin [where the Dollar Store is now], I got my learner's permit at the DMV which used to be located where Gabriel's Subs used to be before they moved.  One of my favorite restaurants was the original South Seas Seafood where you had to wait for an hour or more for a table, which used to be  next door to an Entenmann's which both used to be where the Walgreen's is today and before South Seas built their  giant flying saucer restaurant [and almost immediately went out of business], which is where the WaWa is now. My parents dropped off maybe twenty rolls of film a week for processing at the Eckerd's, which used to be next door to the Winn-Dixie. And in high school the Dino's pizza joint [hands-down best pizza in Orlando], located next to the DMV, was our daylight hours Al's or Peach Pit, depending on your age [Ronnies was reserved for group dates and after-dance chilling] .

I wish the area would have developed along the lines of Edgewater in College Park, but Curry Ford is too wide and too busy for that. I would not however be unhappy to see the area redeveloped along the lines of what is happening on Orange between Michigan and Gore.

Edited by Camillo Sitte
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