Tyrone Gardens' Eckerd shuts doors

Property managers say another retailer is discussing the site, but not a drugstore.

By LAURA HEINAUER

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 23, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd drugstore at Tyrone Gardens closed last week.

That might inconvenience many people in the Disston Heights and Eagle Crest neighborhoods, but property owners say negotiations are already taking place with a national retailer that will make people living there "very happy."

Lori Walker, director of property management at Maxwell Properties, said the half of the space formerly occupied by Eckerd will most likely be filled within six months by another retail store. Walker said she could not identify the retailer but it is not a drugstore.

"We still have a long way to go on negotiations, and these are good tenants so I don't want to mess it up," she said.

For several weeks, the Eckerd, 900 58th St. N, which occupied the space southwest of a 48,000-square-foot Winn-Dixie, had been reducing inventory. The pharmacy closed on June 15, and prescription files were moved to the Eckerd at 4901 Central Ave. The store closed on July 17, and during the past week, calls were forwarded to the Central Avenue location.

Because Eckerd still controls the space -- its lease is not up for several years -- it will also be involved in the negotiations with Maxwell Properties for the space in the front half of the property facing 58th Street, said leasing representative Sara Shambeck.

Both companies are seeking businesses to fill the rest of the space, whose entrance faces Ninth Avenue, she said.

Shambeck said the decision to close the Tyrone Gardens store follows a trend by Eckerd to move from in-line stores toward free-standing properties.

Ellie Cherven, who lives three blocks away from Tyrone Gardens, said she shopped at the store for years.

"I miss it," she said. "Years ago, they used to be a place where community around here would go to have breakfast. I used to bring my kids there. I really miss that."

The store's closure will not influence the decisions of the Tyrone Gardens Winn-Dixie, said company spokesman Mickey Clerc. The store expanded in 1999 and includes a bank, a floral department and a one-hour photo service but not a pharmacy.

"We don't have any immediate plans to put in a pharmacy at this time," he said. "We go though a continuous process of talking with corporate and store managers to try and assess the needs to the community, and we make our decisions based on that."

A redevelopment plan of the Tyrone Gardens shopping center is also in the works, Shambeck said. The proposed plan would add more lighting in the parking area and renovate the sign and building facade.

Shambeck said the property had been suffering before it was bought a year and a half ago by Maxwell Properties, which owns two other shopping centers in St. Petersburg. Since then, 17,000 square feet of space has been leased and negotiations are in progress for 12,000 more.

"If everything goes through, both the store and the redevelopment will bring a lot of traffic to the area," she said.

Until then, however, some people think the area will suffer.

"It's a bummer," said Mike Shaker. "It was very convenient not having to go to Tyrone to get shopping done."

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