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Briefs

Talk of the bay: Tourism chief stomps all over walking report

By Times wires
Published December 8, 2007

So, what do those Washington think-tankers know with their dumb old statistics? Stung by a Brookings Institution report this week that ranked Tampa Bay dead last among 30 metro areas for "walkability," Pinellas tourism chief D.T. Minich fired back Friday. He touted a survey by the Web site RunThePlanet.com that ranked the city of Dunedin as America's most walkable small city. While Brookings relied on transit statistics and demographics, the Web site took input from real visitors, he said in a news release headlined "Dunedin's Top Ranking Debunks Brookings Institution Study." Just don't go wandering too far outside city limits.

Winn-Dixie will stock fresh looks
Those tired-looking Winn-Dixie Stores in the Tampa Bay area, many of which have not been spruced up in more than a decade, are getting facelifts priced as high as $2-million each. The new look is meant to be a turning point in the Jacksonville's grocer's "We're Getting Better All The Time" mode since emerging from bankruptcy a year ago. The first 100 stores are slated for a makeover in 2008, including seven of 64 Winn-Dixies in the Tampa Bay area. The first one in Apollo Beach was recently completed with stores in Palm River, Tarpon Springs, Inverness and Madeira Beach coming next. The new look emphasizes fresh perishables and floral, gives natural/organic foods their own aisle and includes public restrooms. "These bathrooms are like you'd find in a hotel, not a grocer store," said Peter Lynch, the chain's chief executive who was in Tampa on Friday.

[Last modified December 7, 2007, 22:42:53]