West Volusia News

Volusia County has seen a series of “grocery store wars” take out multiple stores recently, which may be replaced with other more popular nationwide names like Aldi and Publix. 

“We follow residential growth,” Jim Gendreau, president of Tailwinds Development in Lake Mary, told News-Journal Online. “It’s hard to find sites in Seminole County. You go to Volusia County and get more bang for your buck and it’s not that far away (from Orlando).”

Industry projections expect solid growth in the number of grocery stores and supermarkets opening over the next few years. A report from the JLL firm, a commercial real estate service based in Chicago, shared that in 2018 two grocery stores opened for every one that closed. 

“I believe there will be another grocery store making an announcement soon (regarding plans to expand to Volusia County),” Gendreau said to the News-Journal Online. “I think with the growth and increasingly improving demographics in the Daytona market, it’s a certainty that we will see more boutique and high-quality grocers enter the market.” 

The Daytona Beach area is on the Trader Joes’ radar, which was confirmed by one of their representatives, the News-Journal Online said. DeLand’s Economic Development Manager Nick Conte Jr., said the West Volusia Regional Shopping center, where the Earth Fare failed to open, is already in talks of being taken over by numerous grocery chains.  

Publix still seems to be the public’s favorite across the state of Florida and with its launch of Green Wise. This gives it even more of an edge in the growth of the organic sector against stores like Phoenix, Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Markets, which has made their way to Florida as well.

“Florida continues to be a difficult market for new grocery stores to penetrate because of the incredible market share, brand loyalty and strength of Publix,” Justin Greider, senior vice president and Florida retail lead for JLL in Orlando, told the News-Journal Online. “As they roll their GreenWise concept out in the state, we expect there to be a potential for them to open one in the Daytona area.”