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Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 30 Jan 2008 00:12
by Groceteria
Hi all,

I'm hoping to add an Atlanta page to the site sometime soon, and I wanted to solicit a very general history of chain operations there. It would be great if someone were interested in actually writing one for me, but I'm not going to hold my breath. That said, this topic might be a great place for anyone who wants to contribute to post what you can.

I'm looking for general stuff, time frames of what chains operated when, newsworthy events of the past, mentions and/or photos of any particularly cool stores, etc.

Feel free to jump in and share what you have.

Thanks,
David

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 04 Feb 2008 12:58
by krogerclerk
I wish I knew where I saw a picture of the the 1920's A&P warehouse in Atlanta, that at least confirms A&P being a major player in Atlanta by the mid-20's. There was a series of photographs of A&P warehouses including Jacksonville and New Orleans from the same era. The A&P era ended in 1999.

Some sources cite Kroger as entering Atlanta in 1932 while others state 1938. I know most southeastern Piggly Wiggly's came under Kroger ownership in the 30's and that Atlanta, Nashville, and Memphis divisions were basically rooted in Piggly Wiggly. It's likely Kroger had begun a southward expansion under its own name when Piggly Wiggly cemented its southern presence. Kroger operated Piggly Wiggly's lasted until the early 1950's when the conversion of area stores to Kroger was completed. Piggly Wiggly figured prominently enough to be mentioned as the store Miss Daisy always shopped in "Driving Miss Daisy". Kroger lost alot of ground in the 50's and 60's to Colonial and Alterman's, only regaining its lead in the 1980's.

Rogers Grocery was the Atlanta predecessor to Colonial, Big Star et al. Since you have detail info regarding Pender's/Roger's merger and the evolution of the chain in Atlanta is in line with your info, I want elaborate there. Colonial was the leading supermarket in the region in the 1950's and 60's, and second runner up through most of the 70's. Under Grand Union ownership in the 80's, Big Star greatly declined, but continued to operate some high volume units despite the decline. The last two dozen or so stores were sold to A&P in 1992 on the heel of Publix and Harris-Teeter expanding to the area.
The Big Star banner was resurrected and eventually supplanted Colonial with a brief use of Richway Foods on locations operated in tandem with Richway locations.

Alterman's and Big Apple seem to be a post-War phenomana. Big Apple was the first operator of larger suburban style supermarkets in the 1950's which lead to it growing considerably during the 50's and 60's and becoming the leading chain by the 70s's. Food Giant originated in the early 70's as the discount no stamps operation and most Big Apples converted to Food Giant and S&W Green Stamp use was discontinued. Alterman's along with Colonial briefly operated Kmart Foods in the Southeast. In 1979, SuperValu acquired the wholesale operation of Alterman's while in a partnership with Delhaize acquired the retail operation. Eventually SuperValu's CUB Foods format was introduced around 1984, with the intent to supplant Big Apple/Food Giant as the operations banner. The last Food Giants were sold to Big Star in 1989 and CUB expanded to over a dozen locations by the time the partnership was dissolved in 2001 and CUB Foods was shuttered. Delhaize reorganized its US retail operations, acquiring Hannaford and focusing on Food Lion for the Southeast.

Winn-Dixie actually expanded to Atlanta after the merger of Winn & Lovett with Dixie Home Stores and the acquisition of Georgia-based King Supermarkets. Dixie Home had stores as close as Athens and Gainesville when it merged with Winn & Lovett. King's presence was around Columbus. Atlanta represented a gap which Winn-Dixie filled during the 60's and 70's becoming the second place operator by the 80 and into the mid-90's. Florida rival Publix's expansion to Atlanta would signal the chains decline, accelerated by problems throughout its Southern base and a conservative corporate culture that eschewed change. A conversion to Save Rite in the early 00's did nothing to reverse the decline and Atlanta became Winn-Dixie history with W-D's 2005 bankruptcy.

I'll end for now, leaving Ingles' and Publix for another post as the two most recent and successful new entrants along with Harris-Teeter and Bruno's/Food Max entry and exit. Also, some discussion about exurban locations of Food Lion and BiLo and regional operators Ogletree's, Quality Foods and Wayfield Foods.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 04 Feb 2008 16:28
by rich
A few years ago, the AJC had a picture of the first Kroger in Atlanta, dated 1932. It was on Virginia Avenue and is probably the current Thai restaurant that's on the corner of Virginia & Highland.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 04 Feb 2008 19:43
by dooneyt63
I believe the A&P warehouse pictures are on the A&P History Yahoo Group site.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 06 Feb 2008 05:31
by buckhead
krogerclerk wrote:...
Colonial was the leading supermarket in the region in the 1950's and 60's, and second runner up through most of the 70's. Under Grand Union ownership in the 80's, Big Star greatly declined, but continued to operate some high volume units despite the decline. The last two dozen or so stores were sold to A&P in 1992 on the heel of Publix and Harris-Teeter expanding to the area.
The Big Star banner was resurrected and eventually supplanted Colonial with a brief use of Richway Foods on locations operated in tandem with Richway locations.
IIRC, the last remaining Colonial locations in Atlanta proper were the flagship store at Lenox Square and the location on West Paces Ferry Road, across from Sears. The latter location also had the area redemption center for Gold Bond (Holden S(?) Red) trading stamps adjacent to it. Once the chain had otherwise largely converted to the revived Big Star name, these last few Colonial locations, quit giving trading stamps, and became Big Star in everything but name. Expansion at Lenox Square took the Colonial location there. The West Paces location eventually shut down; it was rather small. The Richway Foods locations used that name for several years, but eventually took on the Big Star name. Not all area Richway stores had food operations. In some stores the food section was "buried" within the store, while later the stores were more or less configured as attached but separate retailers adjacent to the Richway. And one side note, once the Colonial name disappeared in Atlanta, it was NOT gone for good, for in later years the company opened a new, upscale grocery store under the Colonial Foods name. I think there was only one location, on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. They used an italicized lower case logotype based on the letters "c" and "f" not totally unlike the old rooster logo. I do not know what became of the location. At one point I thought it was acquired by Ogletree's. In any event I don't think it was adjacent to the Richway in Sandy Springs. It may have been in the same center where Service Merchandise and later Whole Foods was to be found.

krogerclerk wrote: Alterman's and Big Apple seem to be a post-War phenomana. Big Apple was the first operator of larger suburban style supermarkets in the 1950's which lead to it growing considerably during the 50's and 60's and becoming the leading chain by the 70s's. Food Giant originated in the early 70's as the discount no stamps operation and most Big Apples converted to Food Giant and S&W Green Stamp use was discontinued. Alterman's along with Colonial briefly operated Kmart Foods in the Southeast. In 1979, SuperValu acquired the wholesale operation of Alterman's while in a partnership with Delhaize acquired the retail operation. Eventually SuperValu's CUB Foods format was introduced around 1984, with the intent to supplant Big Apple/Food Giant as the operations banner. The last Food Giants were sold to Big Star in 1989 and CUB expanded to over a dozen locations by the time the partnership was dissolved in 2001 and CUB Foods was shuttered. Delhaize reorganized its US retail operations, acquiring Hannaford and focusing on Food Lion for the Southeast.
Alterman Brothers did indeed become a player after the Second World War. They developed many of the suburban shopping centers in Atlanta, and anchored them with food (and later drug) stores that they operated and wholesaled to. Big Apple had an S&H Green Stamps franchise in Atlanta and most of its territory, except for Middle Georgia (and maybe some other areas) where it offered King Korn. The Food Giant name DID appear in many Atlanta area K-mart food stores. Prior to converting these stores to the Food Giant name, at least some of the K-mart Foods were operated by Alterman around the late 60's and maybe into the first years of the following decade, but I'm not sure how long that arrangement existed. The K-mart on Clairmont Road at I-85 comes to mind in this regard. During the 80's Big Apple reappeared as a warehouse roods concept. Stores included one on Cobb Parkway (near Cumberland Mall), Snellville, and Gray Highway in Macon among others.

Thriftown and Big Buy operated numberous smaller stores around Atlanta, and beyond, at least to Monroe and Athens in the East. The stores appear to have been independents for the most part which probably functioned as some sort of buyers' cooperative. They offered common advertising, promotional programs, Holden S Red trading stamps in many locations, etc. For the most part these stores were located in smaller towns or less properous neighborhoods. Often times there moved in to fill the void left by a departing major, such as A&P. Typically they carried Shur Fine and related brands as their house brand. They were a tertiary player for a decade or so in the 70s, and maybe earlier, but eventually faded until just a few examples of each remain today.

Piggly Wiggly has been represented several times in Atlanta. As already mentioned, most of the stores from the 30's, 40's, and 50's were eventually controlled by and absorbed into The Kroger Company. On the southern and eastern sides of the Metro area at least, Piggly Wiggly Southern operated some stores that opened in the late 70's and into the 80's and 90's. Some locations were taken over from previous operators, such as Big Apple/Food giant in Monroe, and Big Star in Athens. Some were totally new builds, including one adjacent to Richway in Athens.. I'm sure there were others. Today, there are several Piggly Wiggly stores in the closer in parts of Atlanta, such as East Point, Decatur, and Forrest Park which are more or less independent operations. C&S Wholesale also operates several stores under the Piggly Wiggly name in the areas surrounding Atlanta. Many of these were previously Southern Family Markets and before that Bi-Lo. South of town toward Middle Georgia some are remnants or resurrected locations from Piggly Wiggly Southern via the Bruno's/Bi-Lo/Ahold acquisitions and spinoffs. To the north of the city is/was yet at least one other cluster of Piggly Wiggly stores that appear to have shared supply channels with others in Northwest Georgia and East Tennessee.

IGA also has had stores in Atlanta over the years, typically standalone single-store operations. One location on Clairmont Road south of I-85, which had been a Food Giant, and later a Piggly Wiggly (in the 80's or 90's) comes to mind. An operator out of Gainesville, Gene Tyner's, had at least one store on Buford Highway south of Clairmont Road. They also had stores in Winder and elsewhere over the years. Some of the stores carried the name Gene Tyner's Foodliner, and during that era were probably affiliated with IGA. Current IGA units include those in Decatur, Norcross, and on Clairmont Road and Moreland Avenue among others.

Other minor players included Foodland, Supervalu (supplied and signed) stores, Jewel T, and a few more.

Ingle's, Bruno's/Foodmax/Food World, Ogletree's, Bi-Lo and Red's Market, and (Tri-County) Quality Foods information will be provided in future as I recall more.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 07 Feb 2008 23:18
by krogerclerk
buckhead wrote:IIRC, the last remaining Colonial locations in Atlanta proper were the flagship store at Lenox Square and the location on West Paces Ferry Road, across from Sears. The latter location also had the area redemption center for Gold Bond (Holden S(?) Red) trading stamps adjacent to it. Once the chain had otherwise largely converted to the revived Big Star name, these last few Colonial locations, quit giving trading stamps, and became Big Star in everything but name. Expansion at Lenox Square took the Colonial location there. The West Paces location eventually shut down; it was rather small. The Richway Foods locations used that name for several years, but eventually took on the Big Star name. Not all area Richway stores had food operations. In some stores the food section was "buried" within the store, while later the stores were more or less configured as attached but separate retailers adjacent to the Richway. And one side note, once the Colonial name disappeared in Atlanta, it was NOT gone for good, for in later years the company opened a new, upscale grocery store under the Colonial Foods name. I think there was only one location, on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. They used an italicized lower case logotype based on the letters "c" and "f" not totally unlike the old rooster logo. I do not know what became of the location. At one point I thought it was acquired by Ogletree's. In any event I don't think it was adjacent to the Richway in Sandy Springs. It may have been in the same center where Service Merchandise and later Whole Foods was to be found.
I vaguely recall hearing Colonial Foods was around as an upscale banner after the Big Star conversion, but never had the opportunity to venture into one. The former Ogletree's was on Sandy Springs Circle, across from the current Kroger, former Bruno's. The store has a colonial(as in A&P) appearance similar to a few Big Star/Colonial locations that were built in the mid-70's, but it would have been redundant to the Johnson Ferry Big Star. I don't recall if the Sandy Springs Big Star next to the old Richway on Johnson Ferry was ever a Richway Foods, but the Cobb Parkway at Windy Hill Richway had a Richway Foods/Big Star located in the back of the store, with its own checkouts and glass partitions separating it from the Richway.
buckhead wrote:Alterman Brothers did indeed become a player after the Second World War. They developed many of the suburban shopping centers in Atlanta, and anchored them with food (and later drug) stores that they operated and wholesaled to. Big Apple had an S&H Green Stamps franchise in Atlanta and most of its territory, except for Middle Georgia (and maybe some other areas) where it offered King Korn. The Food Giant name DID appear in many Atlanta area K-mart food stores. Prior to converting these stores to the Food Giant name, at least some of the K-mart Foods were operated by Alterman around the late 60's and maybe into the first years of the following decade, but I'm not sure how long that arrangement existed. The K-mart on Clairmont Road at I-85 comes to mind in this regard. During the 80's Big Apple reappeared as a warehouse roods concept. Stores included one on Cobb Parkway (near Cumberland Mall), Snellville, and Gray Highway in Macon among others.
Add Old National Highway in College Park to the Big Apple Food Warehouse locations. The format was new when Cub Foods was launched, and survived for a few years until 87 or so.
buckhead wrote:Thriftown and Big Buy operated numberous smaller stores around Atlanta, and beyond, at least to Monroe and Athens in the East. The stores appear to have been independents for the most part which probably functioned as some sort of buyers' cooperative. They offered common advertising, promotional programs, Holden S Red trading stamps in many locations, etc. For the most part these stores were located in smaller towns or less properous neighborhoods. Often times there moved in to fill the void left by a departing major, such as A&P. Typically they carried Shur Fine and related brands as their house brand. They were a tertiary player for a decade or so in the 70s, and maybe earlier, but eventually faded until just a few examples of each remain today.
I believe they were SuperValu supplied, as as you stated, located in a chains castoffs, particularly A&P, Big Apple/Food Giant and Colonial/Big Star. Canton and Ellijay were the northern reaches of the Thriftown while Bremen had Thriftown west toward Alabama and Villa Rica had a Big Buy, one of the last under the banner as recent as 88-89, prior to Ingles' and Winn-Dixie arriving in Villa Rica.
buckhead wrote:Piggly Wiggly has been represented several times in Atlanta. As already mentioned, most of the stores from the 30's, 40's, and 50's were eventually controlled by and absorbed into The Kroger Company. On the southern and eastern sides of the Metro area at least, Piggly Wiggly Southern operated some stores that opened in the late 70's and into the 80's and 90's. Some locations were taken over from previous operators, such as Big Apple/Food giant in Monroe, and Big Star in Athens. Some were totally new builds, including one adjacent to Richway in Athens.. I'm sure there were others. Today, there are several Piggly Wiggly stores in the closer in parts of Atlanta, such as East Point, Decatur, and Forrest Park which are more or less independent operations. C&S Wholesale also operates several stores under the Piggly Wiggly name in the areas surrounding Atlanta. Many of these were previously Southern Family Markets and before that Bi-Lo. South of town toward Middle Georgia some are remnants or resurrected locations from Piggly Wiggly Southern via the Bruno's/Bi-Lo/Ahold acquisitions and spinoffs. To the north of the city is/was yet at least one other cluster of Piggly Wiggly stores that appear to have shared supply channels with others in Northwest Georgia and East Tennessee.
Various Piggly Wiggly operators include Piggly Wiggly Rome and Piggly Wiggly Alabama along the western boundary, Piggly Wiggly Atlanta in older DeKalb, Fulton and Clayton suburbs and Piggly Wiggly Southern east and sout of the metro. The operator due north with locations in Jasper, Ellijay and Blue Ridge escapes me, but they recently changed ownership.
buckhead wrote:IGA also has had stores in Atlanta over the years, typically standalone single-store operations. One location on Clairmont Road south of I-85, which had been a Food Giant, and later a Piggly Wiggly (in the 80's or 90's) comes to mind. An operator out of Gainesville, Gene Tyner's, had at least one store on Buford Highway south of Clairmont Road. They also had stores in Winder and elsewhere over the years. Some of the stores carried the name Gene Tyner's Foodliner, and during that era were probably affiliated with IGA. Current IGA units include those in Decatur, Norcross, and on Clairmont Road and Moreland Avenue among others.

Other minor players included Foodland, Supervalu (supplied and signed) stores, Jewel T, and a few more.

Ingle's, Bruno's/Foodmax/Food World, Ogletree's, Bi-Lo and Red's Market, and (Tri-County) Quality Foods information will be provided
in future as I recall more.
Ogletree's was the upscale local chain, most locations, Dunwoody Hall, Sandy Springs, Merchant's Festival Cobb and Sprayberry Crossing Cobb became Bruno's Finer Foods around the same time Bruno's was constructing FoodMax in the outer suburbs and about the sametime Bruno's acquired Piggly Wiggly Southern. Eventually the FoodMax stores in the Atlanta region were rebannered Bruno's as a cost-cutting/brand consolidation effort. Most locations were well received enough to offer Kroger and newly arrived Publix some competition, but like Harris-Teeter, couldn't carve out a niche in the longterm. Ingles' acquired all the stores, but re-sold several to Cub Foods and two to Kroger and shuttered a couple.

Ingles' itself has carved out a strong presence in North Georgia, particularly Northeast Georgia and a strong presence in the outer suburbs, enough to be the fourth largest food retailer after Kroger, Publix and Wal-Mart Supercenters today. Early Ingles' usually co-anchored with Wal-Mart and sometimes Kmart, originally with the chains stuck in the 70's store design, offbeat, funky yet somehow appealing use of gold, brown, orange and other earthtones. Few of these still operate as Ingles' as the chain has replaced its older locations often using the ex-Wal-Mart location, succeeding in face of the Wal-Mart Supercenter as a competitor.

Harris-Teeter arrived on the heels of Publix, which is likely one of the reasons the chain has joined the departed Atlanta grocers, operating from 92-01, selling its locations to Kroger. Harris-Teeter never could compete with Publix on price which also offered quality, service and larger stores. Harris-Teeter picked up several A&P's after the chain departed in 99, many of them former Colonial/Big Stars.

Publix by far represents the most successful new arrival to the region, opening its first two stores in 1992, and now operating over 120 metro locations, close to the count Kroger operates at the present. Publix has succeeded by sticking to many principles that would be considered old school-no loyalty card, full service, fresh foods with modern stores offering a fresh departments expected by most shoppers. The latest decor invokes the ambience of Panera Bread and Starbucks, evidencing their core customer is one that Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Super Target, The Fresh Market and many other alternative grocers target(no pun intended).

Aldi and Trader Joes are recent arrivals in the limited assortment niche, targeting opposite ends of the spectrum. Trader Joe's is cheap chic while Aldi's is simply cheap, making Atlanta one of a few, but growing number of markets that the two Albrecht banners operate.

Whole Foods entered the region later than many similar markets, and has taken over local based Harry's Farmer's Markets, . Greensboro, NC based The Fresh Market also has a presence catering to the same upscale shoppers. Earth Fare's closest location is Athens.

That's all I have for now, and may add more other posters jog memories and details.

P.S. Somehow the quotes from Buckhead are not separated. There was no intention to represent another's post as mine.

--

Moderator note: I've fixed the quotes in this post. FYI to all, each segment of quoted material must be surrounded by the tags, so there should be one that looks like this at the beginning of each segment quoted:

Code: Select all

[quote="username"]
And one like this at the end of each quoted segment:

Code: Select all

[/quote]
Sometimes the code gets a little hard to manage in the case of line-by-line quotes and responses. I find it's often easier just to quote one or two small segments and just make text references as needed for the rest (e.g. "Bubba mentioned the Kroger on Main Street.") just as a way to avoid all that nasty code...

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 14 Feb 2009 00:14
by buckhead
Here is a portion of an advertisement that originally appeared in The Atlanta Constitution, 2 April 1939, (reprinted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 July 2004) showing that Kroger operated/supplied the Piggly Wiggly stores with Kroger brand products at least at that point:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/271 ... ee29_b.jpg

I'm not sure when the conversions to the Kroger name actually began or completed, but at least at this point in time the Piggly Wiggly name was in use without mention of any actuall Kroger-branded stores in the same ad.

As a side note, this same photo has a rather tasty recipe for Brunswick stew, probably from the same section where the ad appeared.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 16 Feb 2009 13:15
by rich
A low profile operator that does well in inner city areas is Wayfield Foods, which operates stores South & East of Atlanta and on the West Side of the city. The locations look like Winn-Dixie and Food Giant castoffs. Their website includes a brief history of the chain http://www.wayfieldfoods.com/history.php

Publix's entrance into Atlanta was unique inasmuch as they were willing to go into inner city areas (as well suburbs), often as part of gentrification projects. They also went into unusual locations like the vertical mall across from Border's in Buckhead. Their one real failure was at Northeast Plaza, a location that is close to upscale and Latino customers, but which tended to get only Latinos. The shopping center--a very large strip from the 50s or 60s, had been renovated but has had trouble finding its niche.

The Harry's stores were missed, in part because they were less expensive than Whole Foods. A&P's final locations were a mix of everything--a small 13K store in Decatur (later H-T & Kroger), old future stores like the one on Clairmont at North Decatur (later Publix), and Big Star locations (like the one on Ponce, which was demolished for the same sized Publix). They actually ran nice stores at the end, but they really didn't have a niche for themselves. Winn-Dixie converted its stores to its warehouse format before departing, which didn't do much to improve their standing, despite having much lower shelf prices. It didn't help that they had ripped out service departments w/o doing even cheap remodels to improve their appearance. Unlike most other markets, Winn-Dixie operated in Atlanta as discounter during the trading stamp era and never bothered to pick up S&H or Top Value stamps as they sometimes did in other places. Louisville was one market where they dropped S&H stamps back in the 60s and operated this way, as well.

I believe Colonial had some of their Galaxie Drug Stores in Atlanta. They built these adjacent to Colonial stores. The chain ran as a Rexall franchise from the late 60s into the 70s. The stores were concentrated in Georgia, with one in S Carolina. I think there were only a dozen or so.

The old Colonial distribution center is on Sylvan Road, not far from the Lakewood Freeway in SW Atlanta/East Point. It had Colonial signage up until a few years ago and was vacant. It now has been subdivided into smaller users. The building also served as Colonial's HQ. S&H Green Stamps had a regional DC next door. Before a descendant of the Sperrys (the S in S&H) bought what was left of S&H, their HQ was in Atlanta--first on Sylvan Road, then in a office park in Gwinnett County. Now it's in New England.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 16 Feb 2009 23:13
by buckhead
rich wrote: ... Winn-Dixie operated in Atlanta as discounter during the trading stamp era and never bothered to pick up S&H or Top Value stamps as they sometimes did in other places. Louisville was one market where they dropped S&H stamps back in the 60s and operated this way, as well.
Actually Winn-Dixie Atlanta Division stores DID offer trading stamps...at least in two different eras. During the 60s and maybe during the early 70s, they offered Top Value stamps (as did Kroger) in the division with a few stores offering S&H Green Stamps (e.g., Athens) instead of Top Value. When they did move into the discount mode they dropped the stamps, only to reintroduce Top Value around 1978 in the entire Atlanta Division, including Athens this time. I was not sure if you meant that they never offered stamps or just chose not to use them during their "discount" phase of the 70s.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 18 Feb 2009 01:00
by jimbobga
Two additional bits of information on theabove comment:

The website for Wayfield Foods does give a picture of all of their stores. While many of them were Winn-Dixies, it is interesting to note that the red brick Riverdale store was a Publix which was built around 1993. Publix opened stores in both Riverdale and Jonesboro, but left soon because of the high theft in the area. The red brick store looks nothing like a Publix, but the original Publix stores in Atlanta didn't have any particular "look" to them.

It is ironic that the Publix in Northeast Plaza was a failure because of its inability to draw from the nearby affluent neighborhoods in Buckhead but only attracted the Latin population. Just today on the Atlanta news, a story was done about the first "bi-lingual" Publix that had their grand opening in Gwinnett County today. The story mentioned that Publix had success with this concept in a few Florida locations, but that this was the first store of its type in Georgia. The original store had closed to basically install new signage, with the signs being reminiscent of that of Home Depot: big English, small Spanish on some signs, along with two equal-sized signs on the aisle markers.

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 18 Feb 2009 05:20
by buckhead
jimbobga wrote: ... Just today on the Atlanta news, a story was done about the first "bi-lingual" Publix that had their grand opening in Gwinnett County today. The story mentioned that Publix had success with this concept in a few Florida locations, but that this was the first store of its type in Georgia.
Is this one of the Publix Sabor stores that has opened?

Re: Atlanta History Solicited

Posted: 19 Feb 2009 02:46
by jimbobga
The news article did not tell if the name Publix Sabor had been used. IN the story, the reporter was standing in the parking lot with the store in the distance behind him. It was easy to see the Publix sign on the front, and some other, smaller back-lit signage, but the 'Sabor' term was not in large letters next to 'Publix.'