Neighbors troubled at Publix's departure

The grocery chain orders the store closed because it wasn't making enough money, but its exit from the Coquina Key Plaza leaves a large section of the city without a large chain supermarket.

By SHARON BOND, WAVENEY ANN MOORE and LAURA HEINAUER

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 23, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- R. Robinson lives near the Publix grocery at Coquina Key Plaza and shops there three or four times a week. She was surprised when she heard it will close Saturday night. "Our parents brought us here shopping when we were young. We just continued shopping here," she said of herself and her grown siblings. "I've lived here all my life. I'm sad to hear it."

She will switch to the Publix at 5295 34th St. S.

The Coquina Key Publix at 4350 Sixth St. S opened in 1958 and has been a fixture in the southeast St. Petersburg neighborhood. Its closing, ordered by the grocery chain because the store is not making enough money, leaves a big gap in large chain groceries across a large cross-section of the city.

The area includes mixed race neighborhoods and residents with middle and upper incomes. It also has many lower-income residents who often have to shop in smaller, usually higher-priced markets because they don't have transportation to get to stores farther north or west or south.

Also nearby is the so-called Challenge zone, which after racial disturbances in 1996 is supposed to be getting more resources and efforts to improve the quality of life.

"It is always sad to see something lost on the south side," said Chris Born of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association.

"We lost Winn-Dixie and now the question is what are going to be our choices down here. . . . Even 10 years ago, that was a thriving shopping center."

Besides the Publix closing, Born said he also is concerned that Albertson's has changed its plans to renovate its 54th Avenue S store.

"I am kind of surprised. They have done the one down on 38th Avenue (N). I know they did a couple in Clearwater and then you are left wondering why this area is being excluded."

State Sen. Jim Sebesta, a St. Petersburg Republican, said he called Publix headquarters in Lakeland Friday morning to protest the closing. The Coquina Key store sits just outside his district. His protest didn't change Publix's plans but officials did tell him they were scouting for another spot in the same area on which to build a new store.

Clayton Hollis, vice president for public affairs at Publix, confirmed the company is looking but said he couldn't ensure that a new store would be built within a certain radius of the one closing.

The development company that owns the Coquina Key Plaza said a new grocery will replace Publix.

"There will be a new food store," said Jacob Attias, vice president at Ramdev USA Development Corp. in Canada. "It will be a nice food store, a well-known chain and it will fit there very well."

However, Attias would not divulge the name of the chain, saying the deal was not signed yet. He said there should be an announcement later this week.

Mayor David Fischer heard that a discount store in the Food Lion chain is moving into the Publix space. Food Lion officials in Salisbury, N.C., on Friday said no deal was signed for the St. Petersburg space.

A discount grocery is the last thing some Coquina Key residents want.

"I think to put a low-end grocery store in that place is a slap in the face," said Carol Sales, who has lived on Coquina Key for 20 years. "This is a vibrant community. This is a huge community. There are a lot of people here that don't want to go all the way to 34th Street.

"I think if they can build a gorgeous new store in the other parts of the city, they can build one down here," Mrs. Sales said. "It's something I don't understand at all. It makes me angry. Historically, we are treated as second-class citizens and what's sad is that shopping center will become a blight. What will happen next? Who will come in there? Will Eckerd follow suit?"

Residents in the southern half of the city are sensitive about not having shopping areas as new, modern or large as the northern side. The area also sometimes has a reputation for more crime. Some customers believe that reputation is the reason Publix is leaving, although Publix officials insist it was a business decision for the benefit of their shareholders, who are store employees.

In fact, the Coquina Key Plaza appears to be relatively safe in comparison to other St. Petersburg shopping centers that house Publix stores.

During the first six months of this year, the St. Petersburg Police Department reported receiving 33 calls from the shopping center. Among them were one call for armed robbery, four for shoplifters, three for forgery and one for fraud.

By contrast, the Northeast Shopping Center, which has a new, enlarged Publix and is near some of the wealthier neighborhoods, had 72 calls, the highest number. Four were for shoplifting, eight for fraud, six for forgery and two for grand theft.

Betty Monetti said the Coquina Key Publix is "our only store in the neighborhood." She lives on Coquina Key and has been shopping at Publix for 15 years.

"We always come here for everything we need," Monetti said. "We're here three to four times a week, if not more. It's going to be a big loss to the neighborhood."

William Cahill, who lives about a mile from the Publix, was angry about the corporate decision. He is legally blind and says he can walk, ride his bike or take the bus to Publix.

"We need this store," Cahill said. "We need it desperately."

Other grocery stores fairly near the Coquina Key Publix include Kash n' Karry at 955 62nd Ave. S and Albertsons at 3030 54th Ave. S.

The Publix departure is a hot topic at neighborhood landmark Munch's Sundries and Restaurant.

People are disappointed, said Larry Munch, whose parents opened the business in 1952.

"Actually, people I spoke with said for years they've been wanting it to expand like the one in the Northeast Shopping Center and they would do more shopping there. It was the mainstay in the neighborhood, and it still is, actually. We really all hate to see it go. It's within walking distance for people."

Clients at the Boley Center for Behavioral Health Care on Sixth Street S are close enough to walk to the Coquina Key Publix, according to Jackie Swanson, a rehabilitation specialist.

One evening last week, she and several Boley clients pulled up in their van to visit the store.

"It removes a convenience for those who don't want to take the bus," Swanson said. "Some of them can walk here."

Freda Caley moved to the Pinellas Point area in 1968. For her, the loss of Publix is just another sad sign of the decline of the once thriving shopping center.

"It really had everything," she said. "Publix was a friendly store with good employees and good service and next to it was a bakery and then a very good restaurant, where we used to go in the evenings with friends. There was Rutland's department store, then there was a doctor's office and a beauty shop, a barbershop and Goodwill had a large store there."

It has been several years since Mrs. Caley has shopped there, though.

"I wasn't comfortable there anymore," she said of Publix. "I couldn't find what I wanted and, of course, the lines didn't move. I remember one person in particular who boycotted the store who said the service is poor, and she lives on Coquina Key."

Before Publix opened, Munch's helped supply the neighborhood with milk, bread, school supplies and other items, he said, adding that the arrival of Publix forced his parents, Dean and Clariece Munch, to concentrate on the restaurant.

The shopping center became a vibrant community gathering place, Munch said, adding that he remembered when Publix used to sponsor carnivals with Ferris wheels and dunking tanks and watermelon-eating contests.

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