Dunedin Sweetbay Closing
The closing is among several shutdowns scheduled in Pinellas County.
A Dunedin Sweetbay Supermarket, at 1681 Main St., is among 33 under performing stores in Florida scheduled to close in Feburary, the grocer's parent company announced Wednesday.
Around 2,000 people will lose their jobs in Florida as a result of the closings, according to TBO.
"They are simply underperforming stores," said Sweetbay spokeswoman Nicole LeBeau. "Some of them, the leases were coming up, and just based on the sales of the stores they were selected."
The Delhaize Group, which owns Sweetbay, made the announcement Wednesday as it released its 2012 annual report.
Here is the list of Pinellas County stores:
- 1861 N Highland Ave., Clearwater
- 6095 Ninth Ave. N, St. Petersburg
- 955 62nd Ave. S, St. Petersburg
- 1794 22nd St. S, St. Petersburg
- 4665 66th St. N, Kenneth City
- 7580 49th St. N, Pinellas Park
- 3400 E. Lake Road, Palm Harbor
- 1943 U.S. Alt. 19 N, Tarpon Springs
Christine Tsotsos
9:30 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
I'm disappointed. This Sweetbay always has customers in it when I go. I love the produce section especially the fresh greens...head and shoulders better than Publix in that regard. Publix produce is wayyyyyy overpriced and their greens in bags can't compare to the fresh greens sold at Sweetbay.
Carey C
9:35 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Totally agree. *sigh*
DLC
9:30 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
The reason these stores are "underperforming" is that their prices are so high.
Same with Publix. The only way to food shop around here is to buy what is on sale from each store and stock up with BOGO free.
Sorry these people are losing their jobs.
21st Floor
12:53 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
I guess these smart owners don't think much about west St. Petersburg, Leaves us without any Sweetbay. Might as well close the rest of them here, won't be worth your advertising dollars for a couple stores. And not many people are going to drive miles to go to another one here. Yeah, Save A Lot and ALDI.............
Kathleen Kimpel, PhD
2:12 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Please, please, please Trader Joe's come here!
Carey C
9:35 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wouldn't that be fantastic!?!?
Kathy Childers
7:13 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
I heard Kroger was coming.
KimW
9:35 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Trader Joe's would be AWESOME!
Carey C
9:35 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Oh man. I'm so sad. I just moved to this area from MA 6 months ago and was thrilled to find Hannafords (my all time favorite grocery store) had a subsidiary. Now... what? Publix and pay more? So bummed...
MaryJo
10:28 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Bummer; I really like Sweetbay because they carry several vegan items I can't find anywhere else.
Katie Dolac
10:30 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
MaryJo, it may please you to know that Whole Foods is coming to the area soon?
http://dunedin.patch.com/articles/whole-foods-location-plans-are-moving-forward-countryside-mall-says-dd720786
Christine Tsotsos
8:53 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
Katie, the green produce available at Sweetbay was so vibrant and reasonably priced. My guess is Whole Foods will be like Publix, jacking up prices just because the bunch of kale is in "Whole Foods". I'll just have to rely on Tommy's produce, Dunedin Produce on Patricia and the Green Market. Hopefully this space will cater to the health conscious citizens in Dunedin.
Katie Dolac
9:26 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
I can't speak on the price of produce — but if you're looking for speciality items (i.e., vegan, gluten free, etc.), Whole Foods is like an oversized Richard's Foodporium, like the one next to Serendipity Cafe, and it's got about all the speciality products a shopper could imagine.
Rhonda Wetmore
1:07 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
When Dunedin allowed the Walmart Market to open across the street from Sweetbay, it killed their business immediately. I have shopped at Sweetbay on Main for many years mainly due to the employees. The employees at this store are always very friendly and helpful, something that is hard to come by at the other big chain groceries in Dunedin. It was so sad to see the decline of this store and to see many of the employees laid off, it was only a matter of time before it was slated for closure. This is what happens when we allow "huge" cutthroat competitors to open up across the street. I will sorely miss this store and will now take most of my business to the Dunedin Green Market, Richards and Natures Food Patch in Clearwater. I avoid the other "big chain" stores as much as I can.
Dennis Shaw
11:12 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
No suprise. I saw this coming for quite a while. They could not compete with Wall Mart's prices. I shopped there every week in the beginning, but with a family of five to feed, I realized how much I could save elsewhere.
Bob Turner
2:11 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
They couldn't compete with Walmart's prices or Publix' customer service. Ironically, Walmart is located in a location that was once a Kash & Karry and was closed to enable enlargement and remodeling of the Main St. Kash & Karry into the present day Sweetbay.