First I would like Trader Joe's. If that is not posible I would like a Fresh Market over on this side of town.

I mean "possible". :)

Would think that Sav-A-Lot would be a real contender there as Aldi and WalMart have cornered the "market" for well-priced food in that part of town....Sweetbays are a bit larger than Sav-A-Lots yet they could probably sub-divide it.....

Preferably, these stores would be replaced with stores capable of being supported by their neighborhoods. Clearly, Sweetbay was incapable of building the kind of store and marketing that would survive in these sites.

How about a major food bank, to help out other food banks, and perhaps, a bigger homeless shelter ran by 2 societys that allready run things like this, to better help the homeless in our city,,,,god knows they could use the help, and the city would get more funding for such a place

Whole Foods are Trader Joes would be a good one! Not sure that those south side ones would make it though.

Sweetbay is having trouble throughout Florida, not just on the south side of St Pete....they are overpriced and boring!

Whole Foods!

Whatever goes into the vacated locations should be amenable to those living within the area. Perhaps it would be best to ask the local residents just what their greatest of desires are for supplimenting their specific locale..

How about a large version of a Suplus Food Store such as John Swanson has in Gulfport? There you get more bang for your buck and save everytime you shop.

Just a point. The "Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Fresh Market" craze is what killed SweetBay. Not every market needs to be a gentrified, "upscale," organic-based, trendy market with an on-site bakery, pharmacy, fresh fish dropped off every morning, and massive deli-counter. If you visit most big cities, there are hundreds of just-plain-groceries stores (canned goods, fresh-produce-minus-ten-kinds-of-mushrooms-and-endive) that are doing just fine. Perhaps cut the space in half, move the Tax Collector's Office from across the plaza intgo the extra space, and put in a decent, old-fashioned, but larger, "grocery store." I was flabbergasted to see that Sweetbay was donating 200,000 pounds of food regularly to food pantries. Clearly, they were/are trying to sell a bunch of stuff that nobody wants to buy--and inflating the rest of their price to make up for it.

Save-a-Lot would work well in any of these locations, both for size and price. Pinellas Point is well-served by two Publix's, so a lower-priced option would be a good addition. The same applies to the Tyrone Gardens location, as it would be a lower-priced option to Winn Dixie. Stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are most likely to build downtown or along the 4th Street N corridor, just like Fresh Market. There are whispers that both are looking downtown.

While stationed in San Antonio, TX, I lived within walking distance to both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Bringing in a Trader Joe's in that location would be a great fit. The prices are nearly always lower than their competitors and their food is healthy and appealing. They would also draw additional traffic into the area. The only drawback would be than many food staples are not offered in the larger packaging that larger families want for convenience. A Whole Foods would not be a good fit because their higher prices would defeat the purpose of an affordable grocer in the midtown area.

Having been born and raised in St. Petersburg, I feel that have a fairly decent feel for the layout and market demand in this city. As far as the midtown location is concerned, it's probably going to be quite a while before (if ever) another full-scale grocery store will occupy that location due to the high crime rate in that particular area. Being a local contractor, I have frequently passed by that store at almost all times of the day and the parking lot was usually packed. This tells me one thing: If a store isn't having issues filling the parking lot, there must be too much merchandise walking out the door without being paid for. Any future investors will certainly be able to figure this out also. BAD AREA... PERIOD.

Now, about the 9th Avenue North location; It seems to me that this would be of prime interest to Walmart for one of their grocery stores. It would place them in direct competition with the nearby Winn-Dixie and Publix stores. I believe this could be a win-win situation for both the neighborhood and Walmart.

Ted Bell

As a recent community resident of St. Petersburg, Florida and a whoilesale food market professional, I would like to see a Whole Foods Market or similiar brand frest food market developed at the former Sweetbay Supermarket site in Midtown. As an advocate for locally grown fresh produce and healthy food products, I would like the Mid-town community to come together again to direct the State Representative Darryl Rouson, Mayor Bill Foster, City Councilman Karl Nurse and local NAACP, Urban League and other urban agriculture advocates like me to develop a working task force with a short definitive deliverables to explore all the options and opportunities for a new food market. Rather than allow the current physical plant landlord and the city land owner to dictate the future at this site, the community needs to tell them what the community wants and willing to pay for in terms of affordable healthy fresh food and healthy food products. I think knowing what you want the community in unity can now approach Whole Foods, Walmarts and other with a clear agenda as to getting the best choice and right fit for this community food market economic development opportunity.

Coy M. LaSister
Executive Director
Assisted Living Community Gardens, Inc.
St. Petersburg, Florida