50% off everything at closing Sweetbay stores | News

Tampa, Florida -- Sweetbay Supermarkets announced earlier this month it will be closing 33 under-performing stores, including the store in St. Petersburg's Midtown.

See Also: Sweetbay closure in Midtown hard on community

Starting Wednesday, all merchandise will be marked down by 50% to clear out inventory. Sweetbay tells 10 News the markdowns include wine and liquor, but NOT beer.

About 2,000 employees are impacted by the closures. Shipments to the closing stores were stopped the day of the announcement. They will remain open until inventory is gone or by mid-February -- whichever happens sooner.

On Tuesday night, St Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster met with Sweetbay executives in Gainesville in an attempt to save the Midtown location.

While Sweetbay says it still plans to close the store, they are going to work with the city to find another grocer.

Sweetbay released this statement: 

"We had a great meeting Tuesday evening with Mayor Foster to discuss the importance of Midtown. We look forward to working together with Mayor Foster to quickly find a grocer that can help meet the needs of this community."

"As previously announced, we routinely evaluate the stores in our portfolio based on a number of performance criteria. Thirty three stores did not meet the current criteria and we will be closing those stores on or before Feb 13. Midtown is one of those closing stores."

"For seven years now, it has been a pleasure to serve the Midtown community and we will certainly miss being a part of this area."

On Wednesday afternoon, we found shoppers leaving the store with grocery carts full of diapers and food.

There are reports of long lines of people waiting outside liquor stores.

Stores Closing:

Sarasota/Bradenton:

5201 33rd Street East
Bradenton

8750 State Road 70 East
Bradenton

501 N. Beneva Rd, Ste #180
Sarasota

3410 US Hwy 301
Ellenton

Pinellas/Pasco:

1861 North Highland Avenue

Clearwater

1681 Main Street
Dunedin

8833 Mitchell Blvd.
New Port Richey

6095 9th Avenue North
(between 66th St N and Tyrone Blvd N)
St. Petersburg

955 62nd Avenue South
St. Petersburg

1794 22nd Street South
St. Petersburg

4665 66th Street North
Kenneth City

7580 49th Street North
Pinellas Park

7431 S.R. 54
New Port Richey

3400 E. Lake Rd
Palm Harbor

9017 S.R. 52
Hudson

1943 US Alt 19 North
Tarpon Springs

Ft Myers/Naples:

2482 Immokalee Road
Naples

5926 Premier Way
Naples

4015 Santa Barbara Blvd
Naples

10175 Tamiami Trail
Punta Gorda

Tampa:

2333 W. Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa

5050 10th Ave East (Columbus Plaza)
Tampa

4519 Gunn Highway
Tampa

5320 Ehrlich Road
Tampa

17605 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Tampa

10617 Sheldon Road
Tampa

Homosassa:

4500 S. Suncoast Boulevard
Homosassa

Plant City/Lakeland:

6220 North Highway 98
Lakeland

507 S. Wheeler Street
Plant City

Spring Hill:

11160 Spring Hill Drive
Spring Hill

Zephyrhills:

7325 Gall Boulevard
Zephryhills

Clermont:

1718 E. Highway 50
Clermont

1714 US Hwy 27; Suite 12
Clermont

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