Colonial Stores in Florida
Posted: 31 Mar 2021 18:39
Colonial Stores has always been one of those chains that, while found all across the South, seemed to not want to touch Florida. But, they did have a presence, however limited.
Under the Colonial nameplate, they had a very limited presence, no more than 4 stores in Tallahassee. The first store to open was in 1949, and is a little conflicted. One newspaper source says it was the successor to a Rogers store, but permits indicate that the Colonial building was built from the ground up. This store would close quietly around 1965- when it disappears from ads, at least- and was later demolished around 2015. The site is now an empty lot, with the store's old parking lot in use as metered downtown parking. An ironic fate for a store which once advertised it's free parking. A store at 1847 W Tennessee St, in the Varsity Shopping Center, would open in July 1965. It appears to now be subsumed into a Target. There were two other stores in this area, at the Miracle Plaza Shopping Center and the Parkway Shopping Center. Miracle Plaza would quietly disappear from ads sometime in 1973, with Varsity and Parkway being the last two stores. The latest newspaper ad under the Colonial nameplate dates to March 26, 1975. The 1847 W Tennessee store would re-open as Big Star on April 9, 1975.
The Big Star Foods nameplate seems to have first hit Florida in 1971, with the opening of a Tampa store. 1972 saw three stores, one new built (1801 S Semoran) and two former Allied Food Stores (2153 W Colonial and 433 S Hwy 17-92) open in the Orlando area on November 12, 1972. The W Tennessee store would also relocate later, to 1964 W Tennessee. Finally, there were around 12 further locations in the Jacksonville area, but due to a lack of archived papers, I haven't been able to find addresses for any of those. I might dig through county records later, but I believe Duval County also has issues in that department. Here's the list of addresses I have found:
4501 66th St N, St Petersburg
9450 9th St N, St Petersburg
2905 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa
8203 N Florida Ave, Tampa
1600 W Brandon Blvd, Brandon
4124 14th St W, Bradenton
1005 US Hwy 19 S, New Port Richey*
~26996 US-19, Clearwater**
1000 Missouri Ave N, Largo
2153 W Colonial Dr, Orlando
1801 S Semoran Blvd, Orlando
433 S Hwy 17-92, Fern Park***
1847 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee
1964 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee
*Addresses in New Port Richey along US Hwy 19 *never* seem to resolve right. Any ideas with this one?
**This is the address for the Kmart it was next to and eventually absorbed by. Every mention just gave its address as "US-19 & SR 850".
***No evidence of Big Star or Kmart around here... BUT Lowes, built on the site of a 90s-closed Kmart, can be found at 6735 S Hwy 17-92. So I'd bet it was here and things got re-numbered at some point
8 stores on the "Suncoast" of Florida, 2 in St Petersburg, 2 in Tampa, and 1 each in Clearwater, Largo, Brandon, and Bradenton, would close on July 3, 1978 to be sold to Grand Union. One cited reason was that Colonial's nearest warehouse, in South Georgia, was simply too far out to profitably supply the stores. Three of the stores, 2905 N Dale Mabry, 8303 N Florida, and 1620 W Brandon, would all close on July 28, 1979 due to unprofitability. The last newspaper ad for the Orlando area stores was April 11, 1979. The next mention I can find after this is a fixtures sale ad in 1983, so either this seller sat on the fixtures for a few years, or Big Star completely stopped advertising in major papers such as The Orlando Sentinel after 1979.
12 stores- 8 in Jacksonville, 2 in Orange Park, and 1 each in Fernandina Beach and Lake City, would close and be sold to Pantry Pride in November 1981. The store at 3521 Thomasville Rd in Tallahassee would close on January 30, 1982. The W Tennessee location would follow on April 10, 1982.
My main goal now is to try and dig up the Jacksonville-area locations, and also check through the addresses to see if any remnants remain.
Under the Colonial nameplate, they had a very limited presence, no more than 4 stores in Tallahassee. The first store to open was in 1949, and is a little conflicted. One newspaper source says it was the successor to a Rogers store, but permits indicate that the Colonial building was built from the ground up. This store would close quietly around 1965- when it disappears from ads, at least- and was later demolished around 2015. The site is now an empty lot, with the store's old parking lot in use as metered downtown parking. An ironic fate for a store which once advertised it's free parking. A store at 1847 W Tennessee St, in the Varsity Shopping Center, would open in July 1965. It appears to now be subsumed into a Target. There were two other stores in this area, at the Miracle Plaza Shopping Center and the Parkway Shopping Center. Miracle Plaza would quietly disappear from ads sometime in 1973, with Varsity and Parkway being the last two stores. The latest newspaper ad under the Colonial nameplate dates to March 26, 1975. The 1847 W Tennessee store would re-open as Big Star on April 9, 1975.
The Big Star Foods nameplate seems to have first hit Florida in 1971, with the opening of a Tampa store. 1972 saw three stores, one new built (1801 S Semoran) and two former Allied Food Stores (2153 W Colonial and 433 S Hwy 17-92) open in the Orlando area on November 12, 1972. The W Tennessee store would also relocate later, to 1964 W Tennessee. Finally, there were around 12 further locations in the Jacksonville area, but due to a lack of archived papers, I haven't been able to find addresses for any of those. I might dig through county records later, but I believe Duval County also has issues in that department. Here's the list of addresses I have found:
4501 66th St N, St Petersburg
9450 9th St N, St Petersburg
2905 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa
8203 N Florida Ave, Tampa
1600 W Brandon Blvd, Brandon
4124 14th St W, Bradenton
1005 US Hwy 19 S, New Port Richey*
~26996 US-19, Clearwater**
1000 Missouri Ave N, Largo
2153 W Colonial Dr, Orlando
1801 S Semoran Blvd, Orlando
433 S Hwy 17-92, Fern Park***
1847 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee
1964 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee
*Addresses in New Port Richey along US Hwy 19 *never* seem to resolve right. Any ideas with this one?
**This is the address for the Kmart it was next to and eventually absorbed by. Every mention just gave its address as "US-19 & SR 850".
***No evidence of Big Star or Kmart around here... BUT Lowes, built on the site of a 90s-closed Kmart, can be found at 6735 S Hwy 17-92. So I'd bet it was here and things got re-numbered at some point
8 stores on the "Suncoast" of Florida, 2 in St Petersburg, 2 in Tampa, and 1 each in Clearwater, Largo, Brandon, and Bradenton, would close on July 3, 1978 to be sold to Grand Union. One cited reason was that Colonial's nearest warehouse, in South Georgia, was simply too far out to profitably supply the stores. Three of the stores, 2905 N Dale Mabry, 8303 N Florida, and 1620 W Brandon, would all close on July 28, 1979 due to unprofitability. The last newspaper ad for the Orlando area stores was April 11, 1979. The next mention I can find after this is a fixtures sale ad in 1983, so either this seller sat on the fixtures for a few years, or Big Star completely stopped advertising in major papers such as The Orlando Sentinel after 1979.
12 stores- 8 in Jacksonville, 2 in Orange Park, and 1 each in Fernandina Beach and Lake City, would close and be sold to Pantry Pride in November 1981. The store at 3521 Thomasville Rd in Tallahassee would close on January 30, 1982. The W Tennessee location would follow on April 10, 1982.
My main goal now is to try and dig up the Jacksonville-area locations, and also check through the addresses to see if any remnants remain.