Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

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Edric Floyd
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Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by Edric Floyd »

Macon Georgia Grocery history as I know so far. And it is a long and detailed history.

Over the past 50 years, the primary chains to operate in the Macon/Warner Robins area were: Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Food Lion, A&P, Colonial/Big Star, FoodMax and Red Apple. Long time independent (neighborhood) groceries include Bateman & Wade, Rocky Creek Foods, C&J and Macon Food Fair.

Newer chains include Publix, Save-a-lot and 7 (count them...SEVEN) Wal-Mart Supercenters. and Southern Family Markets operating under the names "Southern Family Market" and "Piggly Wiggly".

I should count that there are two Ingles stores just outside and North of Macon and two Harvey's stores south of Macon.

WINN-DIXIE HISTORY (incomplete)

Winn Dixie had stores in the Macon, Warner Robins , Milledgeville and Dublin areas but was never a leader in the city of Macon itself. I do have some knowledge of former WD locations.

MACON
In the 1960's there were Winn-Dixie stores located on Vineville Avenue and in the 3300 block of Napier Avenue in Macon. this would be on opposite sides of the train tracks but only a mile apart. These stores were small and neither building exists today. The Napier Ave location has to be where a current Family Dollar, former CVS pharmacy sits today. The land was vacant for some time before CVS built their short-lived store 10 years ago.

Confirmed former Winn-Dixie locations are:
Riverside Drive at Wimbish road (now fitness club)
Eisenhower Parkway, Bloomfield Village (later Books-A-Million and now Ashley Furnature store)
Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue Westgate Mall, Mall demolished

There was a Winn-Dixie TABLE SUPPLY store across the street from the old Westgate mall location that is now occupied by a Piggly Wiggly (Former FoodMax)

Winn-Dixie in Warner Robins, Georgia. Original location was in Houston Mall on the corner of North Houston Rd and Watson Blvd. (Prounced HOUSE-ton, not like the city in Texas). Houston Mall was built in 1971, Winn-Dixie was in a detached part of the mall. This building is now an office funature store. The supermarket opened a replacement "marketplace" store 1 mile west on Watson Blvd in a shopping center with a Wal-mart in 1987. The Wal-mart moved to a new Supercenter in 2000 and the Winn-Dixie markerplace closed in September, 2001.

Winn-Dixie in Bonaire, Georgia/South Warner Robins: Located at Georgia HWY 96 and Houston Lake Road. A Marketplace location opened in 1998 and was the ONLY supermarket within 5 miles serving a rapidly growing area of Houston County. Only in the fall of 2005 did this location get a competitor. A new Publix 2 miles west at Georgia HWY 96 and Lake Joy Road. This location also used to have a bank branch inside. THIS WINN-DIXIE IS STILL OPEN as a Winn-Dixie! Having survived the massive cut of over 60 stores being closed in 2005.

Winn-Dixie Milledgeville, Ga store was in 3 locations Originally known locations were ALL on North Columbia Street (US-441) in buildings now occupied by Farmer's Furnature (1970's vintage), Big Lots (1980's vintage) and in a shopping center together with a Wal-Mart (1990s Marketplace design). The Wal-Mart (of course) moved to a new Supercenter in 2004. The Milledgeville Winn-Dixie was closed in 2005.

Winn-Dixie Dublin, Georgia, Vetrans Blvd (US-80) near the VA Hospital. Shares a shopping center with Wal-mart. And Dublin is the only town yet to have a Wal-mart Supercenter, which may be why this Winn-Dixie Marketplace is still open as a Winn-Dixie. The closest WD's left in Georgia are 50 miles away in Bonaire, and an additional 50 miles away in Americus.

The Bonaire/Warner Robins and Dublin Winn dixie stores are the Northernmost locations remaining in the chain. They are also the only WD stores that did not have a super Wal-mart less than a mile away They are so far from any other store that one wonders how long will they survive.

Winn Dixie Eastman, Georgia, closed in mid 1990's, is now a rent to own store.

Central Georgia Winn dixie stores that closed in 2005
Sandersville (1970's vintage right to the end last October)
McRae (1970's vintage updated to Marketplace decor in 1990's)

Winn-Dixie is still operating in Americus, Cordele, Albany and Columbus.
krogerclerk
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Post by krogerclerk »

I've always been curious if the 1980's Winn-Dixie was the site of the scene in "Fried Green Tomatoes" where Kathy Bates in her Towanda moment "accidently" hits the VW that hogged the space she waiting for 6 times? I recall the Milledgeville location having Spanish Mission architecture and "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed in nearby Juliette, GA.
Edric Floyd
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Post by Edric Floyd »

krogerclerk wrote:I've always been curious if the 1980's Winn-Dixie was the site of the scene in "Fried Green Tomatoes" where Kathy Bates in her Towanda moment "accidently" hits the VW that hogged the space she waiting for 6 times? I recall the Milledgeville location having Spanish Mission architecture and "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed in nearby Juliette, GA.
I don't know exactly which Winn-Dixie was used in the film but it was not the one in Milledgeville. I happen to work frequently in the area and the former Winn-Dixie locations in Milledgeville before the final location that closed last fall look nothing like the one in the movie.

IMDB.com lists the cities where Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed...Juliette,Fayetteville, Senoia and Zebulon, GA and Orlando FL.


Orlando was probably used for in-studio filming. And the WD in the movie looks like many of the shopping centers in the Orlando area around the time the movie was filmed (1991). I doubt if Senoia, GA being a small town even had a Winn-Dixie. I know for a fact that Zebulon never had a Winn-Dixie nor a shopping center that looked like the one in the movie. I am not that familiar with Fayetteville, GA but being a suburb of Atlanta, it could be either Fayetteville or Orlando where the Winn-Dixie scene was filmed. Juliette is so tiny it does not even have a post office. But the Whistle Stop Cafe actually exists and it is hard to ever get a seat for all the tourists!!

Not to promote anything but I do have a collection of photos of Juliette, Ga where the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed. You can see them at this URL http://www.edricfloyd.com/wsc.html
kturnerga

Clarificaton on Macon GA Winn Dixies

Post by kturnerga »

Hello
Mr. Floyd mentioned the Winn-Dixies in Macon that were in the Westgate Mall and in Bloomfield Village. The Bloomfield Village location had no Winn-Dixie though the shopping center near the old Zayre's had one operational until the early Eighties. Westgate Mall may have had a Winn-Dixie but my parents remember a Big Apple then a Piggly Wiggly.

I do remember there was a Winn-Dixie on Broadway in the early Seventies where Macon Discount Builders Outlet is today.

Finally the Piggly Wiggly on Rocky Creek Road on the northwest corner moved across the street in 1985. I was in high school in 1984 when the dirt was being turned for that locale.

Now if just one more grocery store would close in Macon I'd have plennnty of discounted canned goods in my pantry when they clearance them :)

Can we say a year's worth of cobblers and soup!

KAT
Edric Floyd
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Re: Clarificaton on Macon GA Winn Dixies

Post by Edric Floyd »

kturnerga wrote:Hello
Mr. Floyd mentioned the Winn-Dixies in Macon that were in the Westgate Mall and in Bloomfield Village. The Bloomfield Village location had no Winn-Dixie though the shopping center near the old Zayre's had one operational until the early Eighties. Westgate Mall may have had a Winn-Dixie but my parents remember a Big Apple then a Piggly Wiggly.

I do remember there was a Winn-Dixie on Broadway in the early Seventies where Macon Discount Builders Outlet is today.

Finally the Piggly Wiggly on Rocky Creek Road on the northwest corner moved across the street in 1985. I was in high school in 1984 when the dirt was being turned for that locale.

Now if just one more grocery store would close in Macon I'd have plennnty of discounted canned goods in my pantry when they clearance them :)

Can we say a year's worth of cobblers and soup!

KAT
I have only lived here since 1994 and visited a few times during a few years prior to that. Winn-Dixie was gone from Macon by the time I moved to the area. My posting was based on old phone books I read from the library and from friends who grew up here.

I was told that the current Ashley furnature store was a Winn Dixie. It was Books A Million when I moved here and Piggly Wiggly was just up the hill from Bloomfield Village. I remember when that PW closed in 1998 and it has remained vacant ever since but recently I noticed a crew working inside the building. I wonder if a new business will finally move into that space. Also, could it be another supermarket even with the Wal-Mart and newer Kroger nearby.

I was told that the Piggly Wiggly (near Westgate) was actually in the space where the current Dollar tree (former Big Lots)-old Zayre shopping center. You can still tell remnants of the old Zayre building on the end next to where Fred's is today which was Heilig-Myers furnature when I moved here.

The old Westgate mall was in the process of being demolished when I moved to the area, that's when they built the current shopping center. But the recently closed Piggly Wiggly (former FoodMax) across the street was a Table Supply market (owned by Winn Dixie). And Foodmax from 1990 until 2005 and less than a year as a Piggly Wiggly. It closed last month.

Thanks for the clarifications, especially on The Rocky Creek Piggly Wiggly which I was told by a few it had opened in 1980.

BTW, I just had a business appointment with the store that just moved into the old PW space on the NW corner of Rocky Creek. (I do business inspections for bank and insurance companies). I never been inside the building when it was a Family Dollar. I looked for hints of the old supermarket and noticed the "managers office" that was a raised podium with a window to see over the store. It looked like it was original to the building.

One thing I have never known and I want to ask is what supermarket sat in the shopping center with Roses? Was that ever a Big Star and also what market was located with the Roses on Shurling Drive?

The only other big Star I could confirm was across from Macon Mall (current big lots)

And from what I remember listed in the phone books, there was a Winn Dixie on Broadway and on Napier Ave and Vineville Ave. All of which was either torn down or is not recognizable as a former market.

I am going to eventually take more time to research this in detail. I think the Napier Ave Winn Dixie was where the current Family Dollar is located at Log Cabin Dr.
kturnerga

The Big Star on Pio Nono near Roses

Post by kturnerga »

Edric:
I'm having to use the old storage drive in my skull. But dont' feel bad; I had a guy at work who was so goofy that he thought there was not only a Winn-Dixie at Westgate but that it was converted into the Westgate Wal-Mart (hey I worked there in '90 and '92-9).

There was indeed a Big Star in the Roses shopping center (South Plaza). A library and Radio Shack were in the complex along with Eckerd's Drugs. Big Star closed sometime in the late Seventies. I always thought the Big Star was boring, too sterile, and rarely had any other brand than their brand (Cobis Products if I remember well made their canned goods).

Another Big Star was in Bloomfield Village where Big Lots resides. A smaller one was across from Fire Station 12 on Bloomfield Road.

One more thing; a year and a half prior to the Piggly Wiggly moving from the NW corner of Rocky Creek and Pio Nono I saw a rat scurry through a ceiling tile near the Dairy area at the front of the store. The office was a raised console in the middle of the front end though there could have been other offices.

I forgot to mention that there was an A and P on the corner of Houston Avenue close to Bruce School. It burned around 1972 and a Red and White rebuilt in its place.

Swing by georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com for more on Georgia retailers. This guy mentions the old Richway stores. mallsofamerica.blogspot.com has a funky video in their August section. It shows the old mall near Chicago which has been abandoned for 26 years.


KT
EDEW
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Re: Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by EDEW »

Warner robins does indeed have a long grocery history, for a town only sixty+ years old, every major chain (past and present) have resided here at some point. here is a brief run down with some corrections to prior posts.

1940's
The only major grocer in warner robins was big apple (alterman) with a store on the corner of North Davis Drive and Ignico in 1946. most other grocers were private, the most popular being ran by the watson family (Watson Boulevard).

1950's
Major chains started to infiltrate the area beginning in 1956 with the opening of the city's first A&P at 603 Watson Boulevard (currently a bait and tackle shop).In 1957, Piggly Wiggly Southern Inc of Vidalia, Ga would build a new store as well on Davis Dr, only 1 block down from Big Apple, whose first store burned down in 1950, and was relocated to the new Northgate Plaza shopping center. But the big news of the following yearwould be that near the corner of Watson Boulevard and Houston Road a shopping center was completed that would become Warner Robins' Largest and most modern, The Williams Plaza (now known as International Square), which would not only house W.T Grant and Belk-Matthews, but would also include a second big apple location as well as a newcomer to the area known as Kwik Chek. (currently Winn Dixie)

1960's
There would be lots of retail activity in this decade, But only one new chain grocer would emerge around 1964. Colonial Stores Inc, would build a new store on the corner of watson and houston road directly across from the Williams Plaza, (12000 sq ft). A&P, on the eastern end of Watson Boulevard, found themselves in position to where they underestimated the growth of this city, and their store on 603 Watson could not accomodate the amount of volume, nor offer convenient parking for it's customers, so this location would close in early 1966, but would re-emerge in may 1968 in a brand new location on the NW corner of Watson and Houston Road in the then-new shopping center called the Houston Mall.

1970's
By 1970, construction of the houston mall was 90% complete, and Several of the stores from the Williams Plaza ( W.T Grant in 1968, Sears Roebuck and Belk Matthews in 1970) had already moved to the new enclosed mall. Kwik Chek also had several changes, The official name had Changed to Winn-Dixie, and the willams plaza store was relocated to the north outparcel of the houston mall, while A&P was connected to the main building with no mall access. Colonial Stores would close their 1880 Watson blvd location in 1973?. But in 1975 would re-emerge a few miles down the road in the New K-mart shopping center labeled as Big Star.
Piggly Wiggly would also accompany a new discount store: Zayre, in a new shopping center on Houston Road just a few miles north of the Houston Mall. In 1975, A&P, buy now in it's WEO designation, would leave the houston mall location to relocate a few blocks up at the corner of Houston Rd and Green Street, as well as undergoing a major name change, from A&P WEO to The Family Mart.

1980's
Warner Robins was indeed growing and the 1980's would see development start to head to the south end of the city. In 1975, Watson Road (not boulevard) would be renamed Russell Parkway. This street ran in the same direction as Watson Boulevard, but was never connected at the main highway into warner robins, ( Ga 247). But that year, Russell Parkway would be connected to the main highway and would have a access gate to the Air Force Base created. This would also lay the foundation for a new grocer to emerge in the city : Kroger.
Kroger would open a location on Russell, as well as Piggly Wiggly opening a store a few blocks down.
Edric Floyd
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Re: Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by Edric Floyd »

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the clarifications!

You have answered many questions in one post that I had for the many years I have been on this site but was either too busy or too lazy to research myself.

I did spend a few hours in the Library looking through old "Daily Sun" newspapers and old phone books so I knew about some of the old locations. However I could not ever confirm Colonial/Big Star's presence in town until I saw an advertisement in a 1979 Rumble Middle School yearbook that was sponsored by the Big Star with the address very close to the K-Mart.

It is fairly easy to determine from the construction of the k-mart that they expanded into the old grocery space.

I have always supected that the Houston Mall had two supermarkets. I assumed the furnature store near the former sears was a grocery and I assumed the A&P was across the street in a former building that was Shaheen office supply for so many years. Thanks again for that clarification.

I knew the north end out parcel store was a Winn-Dixie as the interior STILL bears resemblence to the 1970's WD Decor.

I'll post more with current photos later.

Thanks again for your clarifications.
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Re: Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by jimbobga »

This will answer a question asked almost three years ago. While "Fried Green Tomatoes" was partially filmed in Senoia, GA, you're right...there was never a Winn-Dixie store in Senoia. The only grocery store in Senoia was [and still is] Crook's Marketplace. The parking lot scene in the movie was filmed in front of the Winn-Dixie on Bullsboro Drive [GA 34] in Newnan, GA. The store was located in Eastgate Shopping Center about a mile east of the downtown area, and the center also housed a Belk store. The Winn-Dixie store closed when a new slant-front Marketplace store opened about four miles east of Newnan at Thomas Crossroad.
EDEW
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Re: Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by EDEW »

In my previous post i did not talk about winn dixie. Winn Dixie locations in Middle Georgia :

Winn Dixie started in Macon on 1444 Broadway in downtown macon as kwik chek in the 1950's. Another location was added in the Parkland Shopping Center in the 1960's. The downtown location was converted to Winn Dixie in the mid 60's and the parkland (napier) location in 1970. that same year Winn Dixie also opened 2 new stores 2900 Riverside Dr and in the new zayre shopping center on eisenhower parkway under the current name.

Winn Dixie never has had a successful period in macon, they have always been behind Kroger, Piggly wiggly, Colonial and even Alterman's. The downtown location closed in the mid 70's, the three remaining would soldier on until 1981 when winn dixie retreated.

The Table Supply store you mentioned earlier only lasted for 6 years. (1986-1992) that is when pigglywiggly/food max took over

The Warner robins history is listed in a previous entry, But there was a Winn Dixie in Perry Ga on Sam Nunn Blvd (U.S. 341) until the late 1980's. It was partnered with K-Mart and closed in the late 1980's. Harveys took over the location and operated there until the late 90's when all of the plaza except for the old kmart (now sportsmans clearance center) was leveled for the Walmart Supercenter.
EDEW
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Re: Macon Georgia area History (Winn-Dixie)

Post by EDEW »

EDEW wrote: 24 Jun 2009 14:40 In my previous post i did not talk about winn dixie. Winn Dixie locations in Middle Georgia :

Winn Dixie started in Macon on 1444 Broadway in downtown macon as kwik chek in the 1950's. Another location was added in the Parkland Shopping Center in the 1960's. The downtown location was converted to Winn Dixie in the mid 60's and the parkland (napier) location in 1970. that same year Winn Dixie also opened 2 new stores 2900 Riverside Dr and in the new zayre shopping center on eisenhower parkway under the current name.

Winn Dixie, during their 1970 building spree; moved Colonial from their #2 sales volume behind Piggly Wiggly from 71 to 73. The first to put delicatessen and bakery depts in all their stores except the downtown location, which closed in 1975. the three remaining would soldier on until 1980, when Napier Avenue closed (believed to be due to Piggly Wiggly moving to a new store in Napier Square with expanded service depts in 1976) and then in then 1982 when winn dixie retreated Macon.

The Table Supply store you mentioned earlier only lasted for 6 years. (1986-1992) that is when pigglywiggly/food max took over

The Warner robins history is listed in a previous entry, But there was a Winn Dixie in Perry Ga on Sam Nunn Blvd (U.S. 341) until the late 1980's. It was partnered with K-Mart and closed in the late 1980's. Harveys took over the location and operated there until the late 90's when all of the plaza except for the old kmart (now sportsmans clearance center) was leveled for the Walmart Supercenter.
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