Urban Jacksonville

winn dixie: bad lighting, bad colors, smell bad, packaging on “WD” brand products is generic and off-putting, and, worst of all, THE WAY THEY ORGANIZE THEIR AISLES IS UNBELIEVABLY INCOMPETENT AND INEFFICIENT (seriously the one i sometimes have to go to has two snack aisles– one for some kinds of chips and pretzels and another aisle for different chips, crackers, etc.– who the hell thought of that one?!?). New slogan: “WD, kind of like your redneck next door neighbor who has all the same stuff as you, but its somehow less clean and not as nice”?

Publix graphic design isn’t all that great. Their product branding is good but actual design not great.

I think Winn Dixie could easily out do Publix, just by changing perception of it’s stores. Publix does well in enviornmental design but still leaves room for improvement. Winn Dixie capitalizing on that fact and it could shift the tide. However, it would also need a better marketing/advertising campaign.

People buy the stupid little pilgram salt/pepper shakers at Publix. Sign of a great advertising campaign (even if i personally can’t stand the commercial, it is effective). Winn Dixie should learn from that.

Like most things, its all about perception, rather than facts.

I have tried to shop at Publix at various times through the years. I personally can’t afford it. My grocery bill is much higher at Publix. That is why I stay with Winn-Dixie.

It’s just food, people. It’s not like we’re paying to go to Disney World or something – it’s just groceries. Grocery shopping is just a necessary evil part of life. Therefore, I wouldn’t care if they painted the building purple.

I guess it’s all a matter of what you’re used to. I’ve had times in years past when I’ve had $20 to buy groceries for 4 people for a week. When you’re in that kind of situation, “hipness” is the last thing on your mind. But if you’ve always been a “money is no object” type of person, I guess you can be selective.

I do agree that Winn-Dixie could look cleaner and I think they’ve done a good job of working on that. And their personnel is about as friendly as cardboard. But those people act that way because they’re being paid minimum wage – which keeps my grocery costs down.

Again, I think a lot of the WD bashing is a “bandwagon” thing. Your neighbor says WD is bad, so you say WD is bad, and then your other neighbor hears you say it, etc. etc. It’s “cool” right now to be down on WD.

Last but not least, I have friends from Ukraine. When they first moved here 18 years ago, they walked into a WD. As you know, the first thing you see when you walk into the store is the produce section. They were so overwhelmed by the size of the selection of food, the availability of it, and the fact that it was fresh, that they literally ran out of the store, sat on the front curb, and cried. They were used to standing in line to buy old bruised apples and a loaf of bread out of a warehouse. When you know people like that – and hear their stories – suddenly it’s a little easier not to be so picky.

I am currently VERY fortunate that saving $20 off of my grocery bill does not make or break my ability to eat for a week or a month. I also was fortunate not to have been born in a third world country, so I feel it’s ok to be picky. It’s ok for the picky scale to be relative to a person’s life experience. Therefore, I have to agree with the post.

WD bashing isn’t a new trend. It’s been going on for a long, long time (10 years plus for me). For whatever reason, their stores just downright offend some people’s sensibilities. IMO- WD is just nasty. It smells like warm garbage inside and the smell smacks you upside the head as soon as you enter the doors. The clerks are exceptionally unhelpful and frankly, unless you have one of those little club cards to realize the savings- it is much more expensive to shop there. Twice I have lived across the street from one and I ended up driving to the Publix down the road. I have tried off and on to shop at WD and nothing much changes. In the past I have shopped the store on Univ/San Jose, Beach/Parental Home, Orange Park and US 17/Timuquana. Each time it’s disappointing and I only go back to a store begrudgingly.

I wouldn’t be that thrilled over a WD downtown either. Unless it was a concept store and they actually executed the aesthetic of a theme, say like “Market Place”, vs. just putting the words on their sign and placing some bamboo baskets here and there.

I am one of those “money is no object” kind of people…when it comes to my food. I like a huge variety available in order to cook everything from Lowcountry American to Thai. I like the employees to smile and engage.

My wife has tried to get me to Super Target, Super Wal-Mart, etc…and I just get aggravated. Don’t know where stuff is, the brands are strange to me, etc. I have found a great Publix at the Roosevelt Square location and I am just set in my ways.

I’ve used WD at times and they are making progress. The store is cleaner, the produce looks pretty good and the employees aren’t too bad. So it’s not really a “hate WD” thing with me. More of a “I’m happy where I am”…

Your friends’ reaction to WD just made me more thankful that we live in a country that has such a huge selection to choose from.

“Your friends’ reaction to WD just made me more thankful that we live in a country that has such a huge selection to choose from”

You are so right about that. One other story. The husband part of this Ukrainian couple was asked several years ago to play “tour guide” for a couple of Russian sailors who were visiting our city (you may remember a few years ago when a Russian ship docked here). One of the first places he took them was to a Wal-Mart store. They asked my friend if the store was a “propaganda front” by the U.S. government. They thought there was no way possible that there could really be stores like that – so big with so many products that people could just freely go shop in anytime they wanted. They thought it was a store that had been “manufactured” by the government just for their visit to try to impress them. My friend explained to them that it was real and that it actually was the place where “poor” Americans shopped. Lol! We laughed so much about that- but it was really sad! We are a very spoiled, very blessed people – and I think we take it for granted way too much.

i don’t think people are being spoiled by expecting that the place that they shop for food be clean. this seems like a reasonable request to make. sure, in lots of countries, food itself would be a welcome change, but we don’t live in one of those countries. if faced with the choice of a clean, well lit store with good brands and lots of boutique items or a small, dim store with dirty floors and terrible selection, i’ll pick publix every time.

Filth, stench and decay are valid reasons for avoiding WD. Not having designer labels on their shitty generic goods is not. Have you ever tried some of publix brand foods? Some is decent but a lot of it is just pure boxed hate. I shop at Target and Publix for the same reasons, the people and the selection. They carry stuff that their competitors don’t and their staff tends to be friendlier or at least not so miserable. Maybe I’m a dour person but I don’t think I’ve ever had fun or excitement at either place. Better service? Yeah, but I’ve never come out of the store thinking fondly about my purchases of soap and coat hangers.

When I was young, a grocery store was a grocery store. They pretty much competed on price and that was about it. Some stores gave “Greenbax” stamps away, but that was basically a gimick. All the advertising mentioned Low Prices or some variation of that.

Frankly, I never have thought of going to the Grocery store as been akin to going to a spa. Sorry, grocery shopping is a chore, not a pleasure. Plus some people see their choice of grocer as a status symbol. That is a major turn off for me.

I buy some items from Publix, because I can only find them there. Everything else I buy from Bi-Lo or WalMart. If I’m going to spend 20-30% more for ‘fancy’, I’ll just put that money into my OWN real estate, not someone else’s.

I’ve not shopped regularly at Winn-Dixie in years – I’m a Roosevelt Publix girl as well – but I do have fond memories of the Oceanway location from my childhood/adolescence… Lots of babies in nothing but diapers, which is just plain gross. Of course, that is more the fault of the customer base than the company, though I imagine they have some sort of no shirt, no shoes policies that applies to toddlers as well as adults and could be better enforced.

My favorite thing though, was how you could watch the love triangles amongst the high schooler employees evolve from week to week. One week your aisle 2 cashier and bag boy would never actually speak or make eye contact with you because they were so engrossed with each other, or with their counterparts in neighboring aisle 3. And then the next week all of the girls would be trash talking aisle 2 bag boy because he got caught making out in the break room with aisle 7 cashier. By the next week they were all flirting again, and would have formed new couples a week later. You seriously could follow the drama if you paid close enough attention. Like your very own neighborhood teenage soap opera.

Young love at the WD. I miss that. Attentive and polite service staff with their shirts tucked in is just not the same.

The marketplace today seems to have forgotten the old adage “the customer is always right.”
Credit card companys,cell phone syndicates, cable TV hucksters..ect, they treat the average consumer like crap.

Everywhere people turn they are treated like commodities. Like they dont even deserve to spend there money on certain products, like they should be be grateful to the bussiness for being allowed to spend thier money on a particular product or service.
When you walk into Publix you are greeted with appreciation. You realize that the entire corporate structure is built around maintaining your loyalty.
It refreshing.
I understand i sound like a shill, maybe i am. I really enjoy my lunch break and nine time out of ten its at a Publix deli.
I believe the folks at Publix are sincere.
Test them sometimes. Ask a manager for a special product that you cant find in stock. (look behind the custoimer service counter and you will find small amoutts of specially requested items bought in small quantities to accomodate individual reqest) Ask any worker for help. Ask anything. Folks at publix will try and accomodate you.

my fridge and pantry is stocked full of publix generic goods. havent found any that dissappoint.
i especially enjoy the frozen ravioli.
my grocery bill is very managable. (produce from the local produce mart helps)

Winn Dixie smells like rancid grease.
ask someone at winn dixie for something extra….they look as if they want to spit on you.

good lord! …this isnt on the internets is it?
spell much?

Okay, so it occurs to me that this whole thing started because Joey posted something about the potential for a Publix, Wal-Mart (I’m with you Joey – hell no) or WD going into the first floor of the Library Condo project. So let’s think about this. What’s the cheapest rent for someone living downtown right now, meaning 11E, The Carling, WA Knight or The Metropolitan. Pushing a grand a month, right? So will this store’s market really be people who are comparison shopping to save $.20 on milk? I doubt it. And I assume it’s the same for those at Parks at Cathedral and any of the luxury condos going up on the Southbank. Yes, Springfield has an incredibly broad income range in its residents, but don’t you think the people shopping at the WD and that scary place at 7th and Hubbard (I can’t remember what it’s called – I bought spagetti sauce there once and couldn’t bring myself to eat it) are going to continue to shop at WD and the scary place no matter what goes into the Library Condos? I know this thread is just discussing supermarket quality, but I wanted to revisit what got it started in the first place. If it has to be a chain, then I think that a QUALITY grocery is what downtown needs to complement its growth. If someone puts a Whole Foods or Harris Teeter in a building next door to my apartment which I pay $1,000-$2,000 in rent per month, I’m gonna shop there. If you put a dirty store with bad service staff in, I’m gonna be pissed that I pay $1,000-$2,000 in rent and still have to shop at a dirty grocery, which I could have done before. Until we get some workforce and affordable housing downtown, I don’t think we need to be worrying about appeasing people who need to budget for groceries. Do you all disagree?

the store at 7th and hubbard is “quality foods.” i can see it from the porch, and i always wonder about it. does anyone on here shop there? the chain link fence going around the parking lot isn’t exactly appealing, and i’ve never dared to enter it.

I just got back from WD. I went to speak to a manager about a situation. I was wanting a ham & a turkey from their deli for Thanksgiving Day (which I’ve done every year for the last few years). However, this year, you can’t order just the ham or turkey – you have to buy their entire dinner package which runs anywhere from $40 to $60. I spoke with a manager and explained that I was wanting just the meat. Won’t go into the boring details – but will say that I WILL be getting just a ham and just a turkey from WD again this year, at a very reasonable price. The manager was very pleasant, very helpful. The cashier was friendly and courteous. There were apparently corporate people in the front of the store. I was approached by a couple of different people and asked if I needed assistance, etc. I couldn’t have asked for better service. BTW, this was the WD at Lem Turner and Dunn Avenue.

I have never been a fan of WD while living in Atlanta and now Jax. I also had 2 Whole Foods next to me in Atlanta. I still needed a regular store then and now in Jax for my basics. I have been to the downtown WD for a number of times now and have had an good experience buying the basics. The only things lacking so far are my brand of dog food (Iams) and enough organic stuff. They do now carry organic milk (after I and others requested it). I even bought some filet mignon steak this past weekend and is was delicious on the grill.

I think downtown needs to give the soon-to-be renovated store a chance. Their fried chicken beats Publix hands down (my kids now request it on Sundays). It also is the only place downtown where you can park easily and buy a New York Times (the Landing can be a pain to just get in and out quickly).

I think something else should other than another WD should go into the old Library/Condo project. I think there should be room for both concepts. Something with good prepared foods/dinner entrees to go–like the old Avenues Market on Hendricks. That was a great store. It just didn’t get enough business for some reason.

“…the store at 7th and hubbard is “quality foods.” i can see it from the porch, and i always wonder about it. does anyone on here shop there?”

I went there once. It was interesting.

And by “interesting” I mean the way my mom says it, with lots and lots of unsaid meaning behind it.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Here’s something I posted in response to a post on the Historic Springfield Community Bulletin Board titled Winn Dixie Update

Winn-Dixie’s fatal flaw has been a lack of vision when it comes to the design of their stores. Other chains like Kash-N-Karry, Goodings, and Publix have all outpaced W/D by simply being more pleasant places to shop. It looks like someone may have taken a baseball bat and rapped on the thick skulls of W/D’s management and forced them to realize what it will take to bring them out of the terrible funk they’re in. It’s a lot like Jacksonville (although I’m not sure the bat has rapped hard enough on our leaders’ skulls).

There is one compelling reason for W/D to make this store a flagship — the national attention this store receives. When it comes to the basics (food, healthcare, housing), word-of-mouth travels much faster and with much more weight than any amount of televised or printed advertising could. If but for only two events per year – FL/GA Weekend and the Gator Bowl Game, this store should be something worth talking about; a positive to follow the name Winn-Dixie. The store can’t survive on football alone and W/D’s management must be sent a clear message from Springfield, Downtown, LaVilla, Durkeeville, and even Arlington — invest in this store, bring in some extra amenities (like the retail TheLakelander mentioned) and we will return the investment in purchased groceries and other goods/services if the streetfront retail is brought in.

Like it or not, TheLakelander is right. We will not be getting a new, big-box grocery store anywhere near the Historic District any time soon, especially if their potential competitors are barely staying afloat. Unlike St. John’s Town Center, nobody seems willing to make that kind of investment here. If W/D is willing to improve this store and bring the possibility of additional retail to the core then I stand behind it (I have lost count how many times I have heard people complain that the closest Blockbuster is three miles away — it’s only three stinkin’ miles and it isn’t like they’d walk to anything even if it were closer).

As far as FreshMarket, Whole Foods, etc.. What about a revamped Farmers’ Market? When I was a kid, we went to the Farmers’ Market on Beaver St. for fresh veggies; nearly all of what was there was locally grown by small farmers. Unfortunately, the Farmers’ Market has fallen into terrible neglect and disrepair (mostly because of lack of interest and location — it is seen as inconvenient and unsafe by many who might visit there). After the fountain unveiling, Dan Blanchard mentioned building a new, open-air marketplace in LaVilla; this would add to the thought of Downtown as a destination and bring the Farmers’ Market in out of the cold.