GTB Area Retail Blog

On this 8th anniversary of the GTB Area Retail Blog, we will be going on a tour of the South Tampa Village Inn. Village Inn 215 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL This is a 6,468 square foot restaurant with the following excerpt from  Old Tampa Photos : Village Inn Pancake House opened its first outlet in 1958 in Denver, Colorado, and in 1961 began franchising the brand. That same year, Dow Sherwood opened the first franchised store in Tampa at 215 N Dale Mabry Hwy. The 160-seat restaurant broke with tradition and offered no stools or service lunch counter style. All customers were seated at a table. They offered 19 varieties of pancakes and a selection of 7 different waffles. The part of the building facing Dale Mabry had an undulating roof line to protect the windows from the sun. The inside featured exposed ivory brick walls, wall-to-wall carpeting, and the ceiling was acoustic tile. Opened 24 hours a day, it quickly became a favorite for locals, especially late at night and around the...

Publix #2141 3050 19th Avenue NE, Apollo Beach, FL - Wolf Creek Commons Publix #2141 opened on August 13, 2026 (813 Day) , being the first of the new 50M-formatted stores in Hillsborough County and the first Publix with a mezzanine (partial second level) in Apollo Beach. Although the Publix website has a Ruskin, FL 33570 address and the Google Maps listing has an Apollo Beach, FL 33572 address, the shopping center is inside Apollo Beach area limits. Debuted with the opening of store 2117 (Thompson Nursery in Winter Haven) on June 18, 2026, the square footage of Publix's 50M stores is 50,325 square feet compared to 48,387 square feet for the existing 48M model, making it 1,938 square feet larger. The interior layout is similar to a 48M although with some noticeable changes. The first Publix in Apollo Beach was store 1113 , opened on December 9, 2004 and uses the 39M format. This is the new chainwide design of informational signage placed at the main doors. It is back to being tap...

Welcome to 2026 here on the GTB Area Retail Blog! To start off the new year (and for my first post in 7 months), here is a quick tour of Publix #1373 in the Tampa Palms area. Publix #1373 16041 Tampa Palms Blvd W, Tampa, FL - City Plaza at Tampa Palms This first-generation 54M model Publix supermarket (54,330 square feet) opened on August 12, 2010 and replaced Publix #344 (a 55,000 square foot "combination store") that opened on August 4, 1988 and closed in early 2010. If you don't know on what makes the 54M-1 stores different from the 54M-2, the 54M-1 is essentially a larger version of the 45M with the same layout. Publix Liquors #1373 was added next to the main store upon its opening. Store 1373 originally opened with the Bamboo Environment Package and received two remodels: Sienna in 2014 and Evergreen in 2021. The opening dates for both stores can be found below, the first is from Docketbird (Association for Disabled Americans v. Publix Super Markets) and the second ...