Tallahassee #8 - Tallahassee, FL

 

Tallahassee #8

Sing Food Store | Sing Fast Food Mall

2849 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, FL 32301

Scroll Down for my More Than Convenience post on Winn-Dixie #86

    Welcome back to Florida's Capital City!  As I was debating which store to write about next, I realized that I had not posted about a Tallahassee Sing in nearly a year.  My last post covering Amoco's post-acquisition Sing Stores in Tallahassee will come up a bit later, but first let's take a look at a different station and another one of Sing Oil Company's failed ventures into a new industry.

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - October 29, 1981 - "Hungry? You'll find it all at the mall."

    We may think a food court, or the modern equivalent of a food hall, as commonplace and something that has existed forever; however, that wasn't the case back in the mid-1970's.  Fast food had begun to take hold in American society, but the concept of having multiple fast food restaurants in one spot wouldn't really catch on until the mall boom of the 1980's (this article does a good job of describing the Governor's Square Mall food court when it opened in 1979, in addition to the article I pulled the photo above from).  Furthermore, having hot food options available at a gas station was nearly unheard of.

    The year was 1975, and Sing Oil was continuing to expand their convenience store footprint throughout Georgia and North Florida.  Having opened twenty-or-so gas and store combos over the last decade, the chain decided it was time to start brainstorming ideas for the next innovation.  What better place to try a new concept than Sing's bread-and-butter market of Tallahassee?

    We've already explored Sing's later failed attempts at running a warehouse-style discount grocery store, and their move to open a full True-Value hardware franchise inside a convenience store, but today we will take a look at one of the most ill-fated undertakings of all: the Sing Fast Food Mall.

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - June 1, 1975 - Sing Fast Food Mall Now Open

    This "revolutionary concept in eating out" allowed customers to "sit in our bright, colorful booths, or our garden gazebo, or our mod T.V. room . . . where you will be a part of food service for the future at a time when you need it most – today!"  As far as I can tell, the Fast Food Mall opened alongside Tallahassee #8 on Thursday, May 29, 1975, but the first mention I found was in an ad on the following Sunday, June 1.  Before I get too deep into the subject, I want to fast forward a bit and explain more about my research process on the subject.

    When I interviewed Tom Perry back in 2020, I asked him about the Fast Food Mall as I had heard rumors about the concept.  I specifically remember him not wanting to dwell on the subject despite my continuous inquiries.  It didn't take long before I dropped the subject and determined the company likely lost money on the venture.  I knew I may not be able to get much information from him, but I knew I'd eventually be able to find it somewhere else.

    Shortly after I discovered Newspapers.com in late-2021, I began to dig for any information I could find on the boondoggle.  I ended up finding a lot, but one specific piece was especially intriguing: 

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - March 7, 1976 - Winners of "Addy" awards announced

    It was an article from March 1976 announcing the winners at a local advertising banquet, specifically mentioning Pruitt, Davis & Cuneo Advertising Agency as the winner for a complete coordinated campaign (local).  Moreover, the firm was awarded this honor for its work promoting the Sing Fast Food Mall.  Well, that second point explains why my keyword search returned this article, but the first one caught my attention because I know somebody named Al Cuneo who works in the Tallahassee advertising industry.  I knew I had to pursue my contact and see if what he knew about the Sing Fast Food Mall!

    Wouldn't you know, Al promptly responded back to me saying he did work on the campaign and that he would love to sit down and chat about it.  Not only will we get to take a look at one of Sing's failed business ventures, but we'll also get to hear about it from the person who was an integral part of it!  You may also remember me mentioning Al back in 2022 where I stated he designed an ad for the Tallahassee #10 hardware store – that happened to be when I started researching the subject, but it took this long for me to get around to writing about it!

    I asked Al how he got involved with Sing, and he said he initially worked with Dallas Strickland for Mandarin Construction in Jacksonville.  (I know Dallas Strickland was in charge of Sing's real estate, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mandarin Construction was responsible for the many housing developments we learned about last time in the Jacksonville #3 post.)  He said that he never did any jobs directly for Sing Oil Company, but rather did everything through the development company overseen by Mr. Strickland.  I personally think that's an odd arrangement, but I've learned how complicated some of Sing's internal corporation structures were.  If I had access to the Jacksonville Times-Union, I wouldn't be surprised to find more graphics created by the design firm.

    Cuneo went on to describe how he used Linotype to develop the ads and used phototype with X-Acto knives and rubber cement to set the type.  From there, he would then photograph the graphics and opaque out the glue lines on the negatives.  I'm not sure I've entirely wrapped my head around this process, but I know it is much more complicated what I can do in Photoshop today!

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - July 26, 1975; Sept. 20, 1975; Oct. 6, 1975; Feb. 11, 1976 - Various Sing Fast Food Mall advertisements

    As we can see here, it was meticulous work to ensure every glyph was properly aligned and every glue line was obscured before the final ad went into production.  I'm not sure if all four of the above ads were designed by Cuneo, but I'm confident the three on the right are works of his.  Out of all of the research I've done on Sing Oil Company, the Fast Food Mall is hands down the most heavily advertised subject I've come across.  It seemed like I came across weekly efforts by the chain to promote the concept in The Democrat, meaning they likely spent a lot of money on other media as well.

    In addition to newspaper ads, Al also said he wrote a jingle for local radio ads and TV commercials.  He had no idea where a copy of this could be found, but he said it contained his vocals backed by a banjo – "Dinner for a dollar fast food mall".  I can only imagine what this sounded like!

    Since I've gone into so much detail regarding the ad campaign, you are probably wondering what the Fast Food Mall actually served.  Thanks to all of the ads, we know the mall included five restaurants: Chick 'N Seafare, Henderson's, Big Top, Piccalo's Pizza, and Yellow Submarine.  With the exception of Henderson's (which has operated a Thomasville, GA location since 1949), I'm inclined to say that the restaurant concepts were created especially for the Fast Food Mall and weren't chains of any sort.  I will say that Sing made a decent attempt at offering a variety of restaurants, including: a deli, a pizzeria, a hot dog and ice cream stand, a hamburger restaurant, and a fish and chicken shop.

    While all five of these eateries operated under one roof, Al Cuneo claimed that one their biggest faults was the fact that they operated independent kitchens.  "The staffing costs for that many kitchens couldn’t justify keeping it open with how few people ate there," stated Cuneo.  With the limited menu each restaurant sold, everything should have been consolidated to one kitchen rather than five.  Furthermore, Cuneo went on to say, "It failed because the food wasn’t very good." 

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - July 6, 1975 - Tune in tomorrow for lunch soap operas

    While some may say the quality of the food was sub-par and the execution was inefficient, Sing also tried to lure in customers with entertainment.  The article above describes how many local women would venture into the Fast Food Mall for lunch and a soap opera.  If I were reading the above article in a paper today, I would think it was dripping with satire; however, I don't think that was the tone Susan Lykes was aiming for back in 1975.  "The Sing Fast Food Mall is their salvation, or maybe their degeneration, depending on your soap opera point of view," writes Lykes.  "It was standing room only at the Sing during [The Young and Restless] half hour show one day last week.  All chairs (about 45 of them but it was too dark to get a good count) were taken by women."  

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - October 14, 1976 - Sing Fast Food Mall Equipment Sale

     The "7-foot color screen" appears to have captivated the attention of many in Tallahassee, but it must not have been enough to keep the Yellow Submarine from sinking.  Even Star Trek, family food, disco music, dancin', and games weren't enough as the venture would close its doors and liquidate just over a year after it opened.

    Al Cuneo went on to say that the building was used for a new restaurant, The Wreck Hall, where "we cut a bumper off a Buick, and I remember the logo being in Chrome lettering.  I think it went into the fast-food mall before it closed but I don’t remember."  I couldn't find any information regarding this restaurant during a brief search on Newspapers.com, but his vivid recollections seem to be worth noting.

    Ultimately, Al said that "They didn’t like it – that was rare for Sing to have an idea not do well.  They failed quick, closed it and moved on.  (That was the positive on the company.  They didn’t try to let the concept drag on and bleed cash)."  Some may say that Sing should have waited a bit longer for the food court trend to catch on, but something can be said for their self-awareness to ditch the concept.  I'd love to hear what other people's thoughts are in the comments!

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - May 29, 1975 - Tallahassee #8 Grand Opening

    As for some history on the station itself, I feel like nothing can top the drama of the Fast Food Mall!  The store, initially managed by Pete Cuddy, held its grand opening on May 29, 1975, and was open 7-days a week (which seems pretty surprising for the mid-1970's).  

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - June 14, 1977 - 'Fillerup': Tallahasseeans discover self-service

      Other than the typical robbery, Tallahassee #8 was mentioned a few times in The Tallahassee Democrat over the years.  While you can read all of the articles I've discovered on this page, the notable ones include a piece from 1977 highlighting the challenges of customers swapping to self-service gas pumps.  Jim Christopher, station manager of Tallahassee #8, is quoted as saying, "'My night-man once saw a man drive away with the nozzle from the pump still in his car. Gas went everywhere,' . . . But that doesn't happen too often, he said. People are learning how to turn the pump on and off and control the gas flow."  He goes on to say that the biggest problem is people not paying for the gas.  The article is an interesting read, as another man stated, "I don't think no ladies should pump their gas. For one thing, it makes you smell like gasoline."  Oh, my how times have changed!

    The station is mentioned again in a 1988 legal notice for applying for a sign variance.  I'd assume this is when the station rebranded to the ca. 1984 yellow-and-blue logo, which is interesting considering it was likely rebranded again to the Amoco torch-and-oval only a few years later.  

    Over the course of this station's life, it has also operated as Amoco-Sing #5062 and Circle K #2705169.  You may remember how Amoco renumbered the Tallahassee Sing Stores during the 1990's as they integrated the Amoco brand with the familiar Sing name in the Tallahassee market.

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - March 25, 2021 - 2 arrested in shooting that killed bystander

    The final article I wanted to mention was one from March 2021, which mentions a 53-year-old bystander who was killed by a stray bullet and a woman who was injured.  The "hail of bullets" occurred shortly before 11 AM as a result of a fight between two men in the parking lot.  This seems odd to me considering the store appears to be in a safe area, but I suppose anywhere can turn into a crime scene this day in time.  I primarily wanted to include the picture above to show the positioning of the Fast Food Mall (the building off in the distance) relative to the gas pumps.  These may be newer Wayne MPDs, but their orientation is the same as Sing used in 1975.

    Now that we know a bit about this store's past, let's take a look at its present state (or at least how it looked when I visited back in December 2021). 

    The Tallahassee Sing Store is located east of downtown on Apalachee Parkway just inside Capital Circle.  For those who don't know, the Parkway is one of the main East-West thoroughfares in the area as it carries US Highway 27 from the east all the way to the steps of the Florida State Capitol in downtown, where they highway then turns north toward Bainbridge, GA.  

    The corridor has long been one of the primary commercial districts in the area, with Walmart, Target, Publix, Albertsons, and the Governor's Square Mall all lining the road for many decades.  You probably remember seeing photos of the nearby Publix #113 close back in 2006 which provides a better idea of how this area looked back when the Sing opened in 1975.

    Due to the inclusion of the Fast Food Mall, the layout of this "campus" is really odd for a convenience store in 2023.  As seen in my photos above, the store doesn't actually face Apalachee Parkway, the gas canopy, or any road or notable thing for that matter; instead, it is situated perpendicularly to the highway overlooking the large parking lot.  Behind me is the old Fast Food Mall in a separate building which looks along this grass planter toward the gas canopy and Parkway off in the distance.

    The exterior of the store may look like an average Circle K to most, but it still sports the original columns which date back to its construction as a Sing.  I also wouldn't be surprised if the original shingle structure could still be found behind the red and orange panels.

    Inside the store, we see a similar sight to what we've found inside the other Tallahassee Circle K's:  a thoroughly remodeled space.  Here, we are looking toward the right wall of the store with the drink coolers lining the back right corner and coffee running along the front wall.

    Heading a bit further in, we see Circle K's "Froster" machine (no Sing ICEEs here) along with a small "tech center", a display of personal care products, and candy.  We've all been to convenience stores so none of this should come as a surprise.

    Back in the back right corner, we see the sign for the store's beer cave, along with the rest of the drink coolers and some more snacks. 

    Spinning around, we see the rest of the snacks, followed by the fountain drink machines and the "Fresh Food Fast" station.  You may notice how I haven't thrown many sarcastic or critical comments in this tour, and that's largely because there isn't much to criticize about this store!  Yes, it may be boring, but it goes to show how well cared-for many of the Tallahassee Sing Stores are.  I'd be hard pressed to tell you that the store in this photo was almost 50-years old.  

    That goes to show how profitable this location still is, as it was consistently in Sing's top 10 highest volume stores and #3 for their Tallahassee locations (following Tallahassee #7, the company's #1 store overall, and Tallahassee #10).

    I'd imagine that this store likely looked like Thomaston or LaGrange #2 at some point during its life, but most of that was wiped away by Circle K over the last two decades.  I will say that the door we see above is reminiscent to the one I saw in both of those stores adjacent to the drink alcove.  It appears to lead to some storage / back office space in the center rear of the store which is likely the same configuration Sing used for the space.

    Looking up the middle aisle (toward Apalachee Parkway) from the right wall of the store, we can see this store's selection of candy, with the roller food off in the distance.

    Likewise, the front aisle of the store features coffee and breakfast snacks.  I don't drink coffee, but I'd take Circle K's fresh-ground bean coffee any day over the Lofty Joe AFB saw in Jacksonville.

    The left side of the store dedicates ample room to the cashier counter, "Polar Pop" drink machines, roller food, hot sandwiches, and other various and sundry specials.  This store (obviously) didn't open with a deli due to its proximity to the Fast Food Mall, but Sing could've tried to squeeze one in during the late-1980's.

    Circle K also had a random island of candy and a few soft drinks blocking a clear view of the hot food area.  I'm not a fan of things like this added to make the layout choppier, but I suppose they want to capitalize on impulse buys and had some extra room to work with.

    Back outside, we'll head across the parking lot for a quick look at the old Fast Food Mall.  The space has since held a variety of other tenants including a Sing training center, a Benjamin Moore paint store, and more recently, the Faith Healing and Anointing Center.  I'm also inclined to say the architecture is mostly original to 1975.

    They must have since changed their mind, but the Faith Healing Center once featured a picture of fist holding a set of keys rising out of a volcano, surrounded by lightning, a cross, and a dove on the window on the left.  Notably, that graphic disappeared by the time I made it two-years later.  At least the building isn't boarded up like it was in 2017!

    Looking back across the parking lot, we see the back of the fuel canopy and another angle of the abnormally large parking lot.  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Sing drew the crowds they were expecting at the Fast Food Mall.  At least the station itself proved profitable!

I think this would make a nice stock photo, don't you?

    This station is one of the only former Sings in Tallahassee which never sold Shell gasoline.  From roughly 2008 until 2022, most, if not all, of the other Tallahassee Sing Stores (all of which were operated by Circle K) sold Shell gas after the convenience store chain dropped their alliance with Union 76 (which itself was a product of Circle K being a subsidiary of Conoco-Phillips for a time).  However, within the last year, it appears that all of the Tallahassee-area Circle K stores have dropped the Shell brand and swapped over to Circle K private-label fuels.  I wouldn't be surprised if this stemmed from Couche-Tard (Circle K's parent) acquiring CST Holdings back in 2016.  I've mentioned this acquisition before, as CST owned the South Georgia / North Florida regional Flash Foods brand of convenience stores.

    You may be asking, "How does this relate to the brand of gas sold at these stores in Tallahassee?" and the answer is that one of Flash Foods' biggest strengths was its ownership of the Fuel South Express fuel distribution company, based out of their hometown of Waycross, GA.  Now that Couche-Tard owns a fleshed-out fuel distribution network in the region, it is probably much more profitable to operate stores which sell their own brand of gas.  Additionally, they've also begun to roll out "Easy Pay" which offers drivers the ability to save 10¢ a gallon on Circle K gas compared to paying with a credit card.  I personally think that a Circle K gas card linked directly to my checking account is a terrible idea (and I will willingly pay an extra 10¢ for the added fraud protection my credit card offers), but this is a free country and some people are comfortable handing over that information in favor of a discount.

    That will wrap up my coverage of the Sing Store and Fast Food Mall, so let's take a look at some street and aerial views before heading on down the road to Winn-Dixie #86!

Street Views

Google Street View - March 2008

Google Street View - April 2013 

Google Street View - June 2022 

Aerial Views

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1970
Future site of Tallahassee #8 Sing Store (demolished building in center)

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1983
Tallahassee #8 Sing Store and former Fast Food Mall

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1990
Tallahassee #8 Sing Store and former Fast Food Mall

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 2022
Circle K / Former Tallahassee #8 Sing Store and Fast Food Mall

 

 

---

 

Post-Marketplace

    You might've heard of postmodernist architecture, but today on the Sing Oil Blog we're going to take a look at an example of postmarketplace architecture, or Winn-Dixie's odd conglomeration of styles used to dress up older Marketplace stores. 

Winn-Dixie #86

Magnolia Park Courtyard

111-39 South Magnolia Drive

Tallahassee, FL 32301

     During the height of its reign over the Tallahassee grocery market in the Fall of 1998, Winn-Dixie operated eight stores across The Capital City; however, it wasn't long before this number began its slow decline.  The first victim happened to be the West Tennessee Street store, which was cannibalized by the newly-opened West Tharpe location.  Anyhow, all of those stores are a conversation for another time.

    In 2023, that number has dwindled to one.  Anybody who is familiar with the Florida grocery market can guess who took up the slack (here's a hint, they currently operate 12 locations in Leon County, with plans underway for a 13th).  That being said, let's dive into the history of Tallahassee's first and final Winn-Dixie Marketplace.

    The Beef People have deep roots in Tallahassee, even deeper than the Big Green Publixaurus.  With all of that history, this location was bound to have replaced an existing store.

Courtesy Florida Memory - June 24, 1958 - New Winn-Dixie at Parkway Shopping Center

    Indeed, it did!  According to Henry H., the current Winn-Dixie #86 replaced a 1950's store over on Apalachee Parkway in the Parkway Shopping Center.  According to a note accompanying the picture, this location was "Winn-Dixie Stores' fourth supermarket in Tallahassee. The store, with an area of 15,100 square feet, is one of the largest and most modern in the chain of 500 Winn-Dixie Stores in the Southeastern United States."  The shopping center was also home to a Sears and a 16,500 sq. ft. Colonial Store – one of the largest supermarkets in the Big Bend at the time.

Courtesy Florida Memory - 1960 - Sunkist Lemon display at the Apalachee Parkway Winn Dixie

    We may not know what condition the store was in by the time Winn-Dixie decided to move in the late-1980's, but we do know it presented shoppers with a lot of lemons back in 1960!  Anybody up for some lemonade?

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - February 18, 1987 - Magnolia Park ahead of plan

    Speaking of the replacement, Winn-Dixie #86 broke ground, ironically, in 1986 at the corner of Magnolia Drive and Park Avenue as part of the new Magnolia Park Courtyard shopping center.  I saw several articles mentioning people being upset about developers filling in the valley which once defined the lot, while others were discouraged by the number of trees which were cut down.  It seems like every new development comes with its fair share of contention.

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - May 23, 1987 - Fisherman's Wharf coming to your new Winn-Dixie Marketplace

  Although this was Tallahassee's first Marketplace, the region's first store with that title, Winn-Dixie #57, opened several years prior in Thomasville, GA.  Just to draw a few connections, Thomasville received a Marketplace before the larger municipality of Tallahassee did, and a Publix before Columbus, Macon, or Augusta, GA did; doesn't that seem a bit odd?

    Furthermore, the nearby Valdosta Marketplace happened to be the first ever store to dawn such a title.  It opened in 1984 and paved the way for the radical new Winn-Dixie we've all become familiar with.  Thanks to Henry H. for this tidbit of info!

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - June 10, 1987 - A new twist for Winn-Dixie

    The new 45,000 sq. ft. store officially opened its doors during the first week of June 1987, along with the adjacent 33,000 sq. ft. courtyard shopping center.  The store's interior likely featured the "Ultimate Supermarket" look, also known as Chrome Marketplace, similar to the store AFB toured in Jacksonville a few weeks ago.  Due to the rain, I didn't pay much attention to the courtyard, but it is probably one of the strangest supermarket shopping centers I have come across.

    In attempt to match the "inverted check" design of the Winn-Dixie, the Jacksonville developer John W. O'Connor thought it was a good idea to mirror the façade in front of the adjacent "two-story New Orleans-style retail and office complex," which featured retail shops on the first level and offices on the second.  The façade has since been altered (I'm not sure if I'd say improved, though) to remove the large concrete-covered slab to try to reveal the obscured courtyard.

    As one of the largest supermarkets in Tallahassee at the time, the store featured a plethora of amenities for shoppers, including: "a pharmacy, a flower shop, and lots of stuff for your house, car, and yard," according to a 1987 article.  This store happened to open a week after Publix #137, which seemed lackluster in comparison.  "When the crowd had thinned and the samples were put away, I could see more clearly that this is pretty much like the other Publix stores in town. . . It's just that except for an expanded cheese section, there isn't anything new and exciting about the new Publix," stated Lorrie Guttman in the 1987 article mentioned above.  In comparison, the majority of the article was dedicated to the Winn-Dixie and its other bells and whistles including the cheese shop, good selection of wines, "natural foods" section, and new features for the Capital City like bulk foods and sodas on tap to fill reusable bottles.  It appears that Guttman's review is generally favorable, with her only major complaint being a comment about missing "the trees that were leveled to make way for you."

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - January 21, 1999 - Winn-Dixie is celebrating

    Our last piece of history concerns this store's extensive 1998-1999 remodel.  At this time, Winn-Dixie expanded to add a liquor store and an entire dairy wing over on the left side of the building.  This is also likely when the store's "inverted check" façade fell to make way for what we see today.  Part of me wishes the unique design could have remained on the store, but alas, progress must occur.

     This supermarket happens to be next door to the former Amoco-Sing #5059, which was the funky post-merger station Amoco opened in cooperation with McDonald's.  McDonald's has since relocated to a new restaurant across Magnolia Drive, but these two would have coexisted for nearly two-decades.

    I've tried to focus my efforts on photographing the dwindling number of Winn-Dixie stores to still retain a flavor of a 1990's Marketplace package, and this store isn't really an exception.  Following Winn-Dixie's first round of bankruptcy, the company sought to reinvent itself with bright, newly remodeled stores; it was "Getting Better All The Time," wasn't it?  All was well and good until The Beef People seeming came up short on their remodel budgets.  That leaves us with the eclectic mix of stores we find today and the Marketplace remnants which continue to shine through in the final Tallahassee store.

    Contrary to what we saw above, the front right corner looks largely presentable.  New flooring, bright lighting, and a muted color palette make this side of the store look like it is only stuck in 2006, rather than 1996.  I do, however, think they could have done a better job with their BOGO merchandising.

    The produce was also well-stocked, and none of it caught my attention as being horribly out of date.

    Looking back toward the sales floor, we can start go get a better idea about how big this store actually is.  It appears to have received a sizable reconfiguration of its service departments in 1998 when it remodeled to the Marketplace package.

    Looking back toward the door, we see the iconic inverted tray ceiling (I'm sure there is a better way to describe it) over the register lines. 

    The store also received a small natural foods section adjacent to the produce department, which will likely be dispersed into the rest of the salesfloor once this store remodels to Winn-Win.

    Looking back toward the door, we see a small section of nuts and other healthy snacks serving as a buffer for the produce department.

    Publix isn't the only one who fills excess space with water, it seems!  Here we see a pallet drop of Zephyrhills water dividing the Wine Center from the deli / bakery.  We can also see the blue seafood department off in the distance.

    You might've noticed how we are no longer in the land of vinyl wood flooring and have moved onto standard vinyl tiles.  One thing I'd like to note:  do the tiles along the right side of the shot look off-white?

    Speaking of the deli, we'll take a quick look at the space allocated for it which sits along the right wall of the store.  I think most of the botanical accent panels are supposed to depict tropical plants, so could these show the outline of an oleander flower?

    Consequently, the bakery panels depict a bird of paradise flower.  Said department was tucked in the back right corner of the store and featured the same orange wall color as the deli.  Is it just me, or do both of these departments look sparse and lackluster? 

    I'm almost certain that both of these departments would have been in the front left corner of this store when it was built, only moving to their current locations during the expansive 1998 remodel.

    Next up, we'll get a nice overview of the rear actionway.  This part of the store is where the Marketplace roots of this location really start to shine – just look at that pink-trimmed coffin cooler!  The leaf panels for this department also happened to match the mystery plant we saw back in produce.

    Taking a look down our first grocery aisle, we'll see a selection of drinks along with some candy and seasonal products off in the distance.  It wouldn't be a classic Winn-Dixie without the split-aisle setup I love to hate!

    Now, for the real Marketplace fun!  Did somebody call the 1990's because I think they want their flooring back!  If the hideous coral and teal vinyl tiles weren't enough, we have a complimentary teal coffin cooler to go with it!  Oddly enough, the teal on those coffin coolers actually means they date back to the 1998 Marketplace install rather than one from the 1980's; those would have received wood-trimmed coolers like we can see here.

Winn-Dixie also loves to shove crap merchandise on top of their refrigerators, don't they?

    I don't know why Winn-Dixie thought they could "remodel" this store without touching those floor designs.  You would think since they went through the effort to re-tile the produce department, they could have at least installed some white vinyl in place of this mess!  It also couldn't be that hard to paint those teal freezer panels!

    Now that I've got that rant out of my system, let's continue on with our tour.  Similar to the freezer aisle, the blush-colored tile under the pink-trimmed coffin cooler dates back to this store's 1998 Marketplace remodel.

    Something I do find unique about Winn-Dixie's Garamond package aisle signs (other than the fact that some stores have tri-siders while others use these flat ones) is the placement of phrases like "home cooking" at the top of the sign.  This seems like a clever way to allow shoppers to quickly navigate the store, so long as the aisles don't get swapped around too much.  Aisle 2 read "beverages" which is fitting for the soft drinks but not so accurate for candy.

    I think my intent with this shot was to highlight the missing piece of the air diffuser in the ceiling – I think it should look like this instead.

    We'll take a better look at one of those coffin coolers before moving on.

    Anybody familiar with Winn-Dixie knows that dairy can often be found along the left wall of the store:  this location was no exception.  I also spotted another Marketplace relic which survived, the hanging "Restrooms" sign.

    The dairy department was located in an "alcove" of sorts where the wall in front of me was actually set back a sizable distance from the front of the store.  I'm sure this is likely a result of the 1990's expansion and would imagine the liquor store can be found through that wall.

    The dairy department also hosted three botanical panels we have seen before: the birds of paradise from the bakery, the singular leaf from seafood, and the two leaves from produce and meats.  

    This store topped out at 15 aisles, but I believe the double-wide freezer aisle may not be included in this count.

    We'll quickly turn the dairy corner and take one last look toward the back of the store down aisle 14.  Cereal fans, rejoice!

    Like I alluded to earlier, the dairy alcove only spanned the back half of the store with the front of it roughly lining up with the center actionway.  Cases of cold beer lined this front wall (even though the department sign stated "dairy") which connected the leftmost wall of the store to the HBA section.  As if this store wasn't enough of a hodge-podge, this didn't help.

    Turning that corner (the side of the beer cooler is now directly to my right) we find where aisle 13, again, doesn't lead us to the front of the store.  I'd imagine the liquor store was located behind the shelving displaying hosiery, but I also recall there being some sort of one-way mirrors, seemingly from a second story, above these gondolas.

    You can see the edge of one of those mirrors in the top right corner of this shot, but the primary focus was the old pharmacy counter which likely closed in 2016 (and had been in operation since the stores opening in 1987).  At least they did a decent job of patching and painting the walls; although, it is odd to see the two oleander panels all by themselves.

    Turning a bit more to the left, we see where the teal Marketplace flooring leads us back to the checklanes.

    But not before we stop to take a look at the personal care items on aisle 11!  I personally feel like they could've done without the lighted shelves and instead used that money on redoing the floors.

    This store also continued to rock its Marketplace-era teal conveyor belts, but who is surprised by that?  However, I think the primary focus of this shot was to capture one of the Fujitsu/Toshiba self-checkout machines this store had.  I forget if newer Winn-Dixies have opted for the NCR units Publix now uses, but the models used in this store are the same ones I often find in Kroger (and they make the same annoying noises too: "Place your BANANAS in the bag." "Place your item in the bagging area." "Undetected item in the bagging area.  Please remove all unscanned items to continue." just to name a few).

The Tallahassee Democrat (Newspapers.com) - August 27, 1998 - Playing grocery in a real self-checkout lane at Winn-Dixie

     On the topic of self-checkout machines, this Winn-Dixie first installed them way back in 1998 – and it wasn't even the first store in town to do so!  That title (at least as far as Winn-Dixie is concerned) goes to store #116 on Paul Russell Road which boasted the machines at its grand opening in 1998.  Unfortunately, that store closed back in 2017, only one year before the West Tharpe Street and North Monroe Street stores would follow the same fate.

    The self-checkout machines of yesteryear weren't quite the same as the ones we are accustomed to today.  As described in the article, customers would scan their items with the goal of getting a receipt.  They would then load their scanned groceries onto a conveyor belt leading to the bagging area. The store intended to employ personnel to bag the groceries, but nobody seemed to be present on the day this article's research was conducted.  "I hadn't proved to be a good bagger, since I put packets of yeast near the milk and got the yeast wet, " wrote Guttman.  "The whole procedure just seemed like too much work when I'm paying real money."  After bagging the groceries, customers would then walk over to a cashier, hand in the receipt, and pay for their items.  "The company is working on ways to streamline payment," was the response of Bill Tyjewski, marketing director for Winn-Dixie's Jacksonville division, when asked about the awkward nature of this process.  I'd be curious to learn how long this method was used before it was discontinued or swapped for the current machines.

    After fighting with the checkout machine, I made my way back out to the rainy parking lot toward my car.  By happenstance, I noticed several of these vintage "Return Carts Here" posts that Winn-Dixie seemingly loved to use at their 1980's stores.  This won't be the list time I find one during my adventures either . . .

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 1990

Winn-Dixie #86 shortly after completion

Tallahassee-Leon County GIS - 2022
Winn-Dixie #86 in its current, expanded state

    Finally, we'll take a look at two aerial views of the Magnolia Park Courtyard shopping center to compare the Winn-Dixie's original size to its current, expanded state.  At least it looks like numerous trees have grown back in place of the ones which were "leveled" to make way for the new store.

    To close out today's post, I figured I'd hop over to Governor's Square Mall and snap a quick shot of the old Sears anchor.  The location seems to have closed several years ago (and didn't leave behind any obvious traces or signage inside the mall) but the exterior still proudly bore the wordmark. I can't tell you the last time I was in a Sears, but I suppose I should be making some frantic plans if I do care to see an open one again. Consequently, I'm doubtful I will considering the closest one is either in Greensboro, North Carolina, or Orlando, Florida.  I still think I'll sleep just fine if I never do.

    I hope y'all enjoyed today's post and I didn't lose you with all of my deep dives into the depths of history!  I haven't decided yet, but I may take the next Sing Oil Saturday off to focus on shoring up some of my other pages, like my Publix store prototype guide.  Part of the reason this post was delayed by a day is due to me getting distracted by some fascinating construction and remodel plans I came across – stay tuned.  I suppose you'll either see me in two weeks or you won't!

Until then,

- The Sing Oil Blogger

Additional Resources: 

Tallahassee - Leon County GIS

Google Earth Pro

Google Maps

Green Company DB Listing

Parcel ID: 3104204280000

Leon County Property Records