Publix: The Return of Wavy Pastels

Publix #830

Conway Crossing

4501 Hoffner Avenue

Orlando, FL 32812-2305

Celebrate April Fools' Day with The Sing Oil Blog!

Editorial Note: Before we jump into this post, I'd like to comment that most of it is based on real facts, except for the parts which are completely made up.  As far as I'm aware, Publix is not planning to bring back Wavy Pastels, and they never had a décor package called "Deco Coral".  The actual Wavy Pastels construction documents (including the wall finishes, tile patterns, and shed roof sections) came from former Publix #350's remodel plans; meanwhile, the cover page and interior elevations are modified versions of Publix #830's Bamboo remodel materials.  Most everything on Publix #672 is factual.  Happy April Fools' Day!

Howdy folks!  I had originally planned to cover a different store today until I came across some news that I couldn't sit on: Wavy Pastels is not dead!  Yeah, yeah, I know I already covered former Publix #520 last year, but this time it is an active Publix where we will find the package.

You heard me right – I found evidence that Publix is planning to bring back Wavy Pastels.

First things first:  I need to thank Ryan B. for vectorizing my "When Publix Waves Goodbye" logo.  You may remember that the old one looked a bit dingy, so I' glad to have a much brighter and cleaner looking graphic.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Wavy Pastels was Publix's package used from April 26, 1990 (with stores #391 and #392), until sometime in 2004 (GeorgiaPubDude found this video which shows #126 opened with the package in May of that year). 

Courtesy The Miami Herald - Store Unknown (but a 65N Publix, nonetheless)

Most stores continued to operate with the look until remodels began to roll out in the early-2000's.  From there, locations boasting the package slowly dwindled until the presumed final one, store #98, closed in 2013 for demolition.  Publix is known for minimizing outright store closures, meaning we don't have the plethora of rogue independents sporting the design like we have seen with several Winn-Dixies (the exception being the aforementioned Nam Dae Mun).  Any traces of Wavy Pastels inspire intrigue, but a revival by Publix itself is on a whole 'nother level; let's see what I'm talking about.

While I was doing a routine search through some public construction documents, I came across one mentioning a décor I had never heard of: Deco Coral.  I paused and asked myself, "what in the world could that be?"

Store #830 - 2002 - Deco Coral Remodel (2023) - Cover Page

The plans appeared to show a revision date of January 10, 2023, so whatever this is, it was something all new.  Was this the sign that nEvergreen is about to be replaced?  I was captivated.

I kept on scrolling through the document until I came across the following interior elevations:

Store #830 - 2002 - Deco Coral Remodel (2023) - East Interior Elevation

To say that I was flabbergasted at what I saw is an understatement – I was speechless.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Those interior elevations showed none other than Wavy Pastels department signs!!! (You may need to zoom into the image a bit to see them.)

Store #830 - 2002 - Deco Coral Remodel (2023) - North Interior Elevation

Wait, does that mean that Wavy Pastels' real name is actually Deco Coral?!  Where in the world did that come from?!?!

Store #830 - 2002 - Deco Coral Remodel (2023) - West Interior Elevation

I initially had no clue why Publix would bring back a previously retired décor, but then I though back to last August.

Courtesy Publix via GIPHY

Shortly after I published my post covering Publix #33 (Georgia's oldest Publix) last year, the company launched a nostalgic marketing campaign on social media showcasing all sorts of old photographs and '90s-themed graphics.  I initially thought this was just a project for some summer interns at the company, but then began to think it may actually lead to something after reading several subtle hints of more things to come.  Anyway, I forgot about the escapade until I came across the plans for #830 earlier this week.

I ended up doing some more digging, and although the plans didn't show anything else obviously named "Deco Coral", I did find the paint and tile colors used for the apparent throwback package:

It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the wall colors were fairly limited since Wavy Pastels (or shall I say, Deco Coral) mostly uses white with green or teal awnings.

In addition to the colors, I also came across a tile pattern sample . . .

. . . and section designs for the "shed roofs" used throughout the store.

They are even show details for installing track lights similar to those originally used!

In the end, I still didn't find an answer for the Deco Coral mystery.  I decided to follow up with a quick internet search for "Sherwin Williams Deco Coral" (considering both Classy Market 1.0 - Kiwi and Classy Market 2.0 - Invigorate were named after Sherwin Williams paint colors) and came across a listing for the former paint color.  Bingo.

Former Publix #520 - Secondary dairy department signage

Since Publix makes all of the department signs offsite, they unfortunately don't publish any of that paint information in the construction documents, but the Deco Coral color appears to match the hue used for both the secondary department signs and possibly the seafood sign.

What's even better is that I found an article where the first two stores to receive the circa 1990 Deco Coral Environment Package were described as "Art Deco delights".  It seems like Publix loved dropping subtle hints about the package's official name all along!

We may not know exactly what "Wavy Pastels 2.0"/Deco Coral will look like once it is installed or how widespread it will be, but I highly doubt it will replace Evergreen.  Rather, I'm inclined to say the package will be an "attraction" of sorts only used in select stores.  

Besides the fact that Publix is seemingly planning to revive a 30-year-old interior, I'm really confused as to why the picked #830: a store that originally opened with Metallic Marketplace!  I can't even begin to explain Publix's reasoning on this, other than the fact that the store is near the Orlando airport and Universal Studios, originally featured a "90's" look, and hasn't already been remodeled in the last five years.

Due to this quirk, I wanted to try and visualize the outcome of this remodel.  Publix #830 uses what I like to call the 44T prototype, so I dug through my photo backlog to see if I could find any similar stores. Today we'll take our "what if" to a different 44T, Publix #672, to try and give us an idea of how the Orlando store will look.

Publix #672

Sandy Plains Exchange

1860 Sandy Plains Road

Marietta, GA 30066-7833

Publix Waves Hello

Since this post was a bit last-minute and is mostly dedicated to the reemergence of the Deco Coral interior, I didn't bother to do much research on Publix #672.  I will say that it is only a few miles South on Sandy Plains Road from the former Sing Store I covered last August, and is therefore several more miles from the notorious GreenWise Market and Publix #33.  #672 opened just over seven years after the aforementioned store on April 29, 1999, in a standard 1990's shopping center nestled between Sandy Plains and Scufflegrit Roads.  The area remains an affluent suburb of the Atlanta Metro, and is only a short distance from the major Marietta / Highway 5 / Canton Road Connector exit off I-75.

It looks like this store has only undergone two major remodels: the first in 2009 when it transitioned from MM to Invigorate, and the second in 2015 when it received Sienna.  This store also had a SunTrust bank branch for a time, until the company closed the location in 2004.

Our first "what if" inside this store shows Plato the Publixarus dancing in front of our classic bakery signage.  Wouldn't that look cool?

We'll then jump over to the produce department and see the resurgence of teal which could chauffeur any shopper to the sunny beaches of Florida!

Next, we'll swim over to the seafood department to see how it would look with the classic colors . . .

. . . before we glance down the rear aisle toward the dairy and meat departments.  So much brighter than Evergreen!

Our final glimpse will be at the front of the store where we revisit the bakery and see the floral department and restrooms signage.

Here's to hoping that along with the signage, Publix also revives the late-90's era Plato costume, which I find much preferable to the newer version.

And with that, we'll jump back to reality and take a quick tour of the full store.  First up is the cart storage area with a look toward the notorious "entrance diamond" of a 44T.  We can also get a good look at the tile overlay Publix used with numerous pre-2016 Sienna remodels.

Heading over to the grand aisle, we see where the flooring transitions from the traditional terrazzo to an epoxy material in front of the bakery.  I still wonder if this is a sign that the store previously used grey tile in this part of the store.

It looks like the epoxy material extends down the entirety of aisle 1 and cuts off just before aisle 2 begins to the left.

Turning around, we see this store's floral nook which is nestled between the bakery and the pharmacy.  I believe the 44T was the first store type to place floral here, beginning the longstanding trend which continues in 45M stores to this day.

Here's a view from a different angle.

We'll also see a quick overview of the front speedway before continuing on.

Over at the deli, we see another Sienna tile overlay which seems to blend into the rest of the department signage quite well (that is, unless a store has Evergrey).

If you look to the left, you'll notice this store's original dropped ceiling and track lighting grid over the deli.  

Courtesy Jasmine M. (Foursquare) - Publix #801 - February 23, 2012

This track lighting grid previously extended over the salesfloor and landed at a suspended soffit (?) which outlined the grocery department.  Metallic Marketplace stores were very funky when they first opened, and even featured vertical corrugated metal between the deli's dropped ceiling and the store's ceiling.

Zuma Press (Alamy) - Publix #672 - August 27, 2011

Thanks to a comment below from GeorgiaPubDude, we can get a bit better perspective on the suspended soffit and gable accents which used to be present throughout this store.  Although the paint reflects this store's Invigorate days, the architectural features look mostly the same as they would ahve 10-years prior.  

The photo above was taken for a story regarding a mother taking care of her twin boys with autism and the challenges they face bringing their service dog inside various businesses. 

Continuing on, we'll head over to the produce department which looks very similar to the configuration of a modern 45M.  We can also see the Sienna tile overlay for the department off in the distance which features a mosaic of brown, orange, yellow, and green tiles.

Publix really missed the mark with the banners they used back in 2022; it would've made much more sense for the one over aisle 5 to read "Fizzle" in order to match aisle 4's "Drizzle" and aisle 3's "Sizzle", don't you think?

Glancing down the rear actionway, we see this store's dairy department followed by the meat & seafood counters off in the distance.  Restrooms are found down the hallway to my right.

I definitely picked up on these signs when I was in the store (since I never seem to take such a well-framed photo of the seafood counter), but I'm not sure I fully realized which previous décor were from.  These happen to be leftovers from Invigorate / Classy Market 2.0 and the one of the abstract fish on the right is identical to the one I brought home from Publix #1331 (here's a closeup). They blend in surprisingly well with Sienna!

Zuma Press (Alamy) - Publix #672 - August 27, 2011

We'll take another trip back to 2011 to see the Schwenker family examining the lobster motel (which was fittingly placed just below the lobster graphic we saw above).  I'd like to point out how the green signs didn't match the Blueblood wall as well as they match Sienna's paint scheme.  I'll also not how this store didn't have a sushi counter back in 2011, which is likely why I didn't see a lobster tank during my visit (I guess they had to find room somewhere so it was time to evict the crustaceans).

You may have seen me mention Publix's recent house brand packaging update, and it seems like I decided to photograph this garbage bag display to showcase the changes.  If you'll notice the three rows of boxes in the middle of the top shelf show the new simplified "P" logo while the remaining items feature the outgoing packaging.

Interesting how Publix decided to paint the accent bars two different colors in the meat department.  In case you didn't know, these "bars" are another leftover from Metallic Marketplace and just had their original "shed roof" portion removed.

Publix #92 - 2002 - Bamboo

Very few stores still have the intact "shed roof", but I think the feature adds a nice ambiance to the space.  I really do wonder how these will look with Deco Coral!

The meat department also had its own tile overlay which is much more subdued than the other departments.

The remainder of the meat department and frozen foods round out aisle 16 and shuttle shoppers to the wine wonderland off in the distance.

I was just having a time with all of the classic Publix logos I was running into in this store!  Here we see a nice photo I captured of the "Pork" shelf divider . . .

. . . followed by the chicken shelf divider.  I don't come across either of these too often.

Another thing I don't come across very often is a Sienna aisle sign missing its number.  I can think of several times I've seen the circles fall off the older-style signs, but I feel like it would be difficult to accidentally knock the number off a sign like this!  Regardless, you'd be surprised at how often I come across some sort of aisle sign mishap.

I'll close out this post with a look at the old customer service area.  Other than the lower ceiling, it's really hard to tell what this portion of the store was originally used for.  We can also see some of Publix's Georgia state bags hanging on the rack in the distance, just in front of the coin star machine.

So, what are your thoughts on this store, and on the revival of Deco Coral / Wavy Pastels?  Do you think this rollout will be widespread, or concentrated to store #830 and maybe one or two other locations?  I'm personally excited to see what comes from this and will be actively planning a trip to Orlando once I hear the remodel is complete!

Since I got thrown off by this unexpected curve ball, I intend to resume my schedule with my next Sing Oil Saturday / MTC post on April 15th.

Until next time,

- The Sing Oil Blogger