Mass Market News

More than 100 people lined up to shop at the long-awaited Publix grocery store at new Latitude Landings shopping center Thursday. Many residents were residents of the neighboring Latitude Margaritaville and danced to Jimmy Buffett music as they entered the brand-new store. DAYTONA BEACH — The Publix grocery store at the new Latitude Landings shopping center here opened its doors at 7 a.m. Thursday to a throng of excited customers dancing to songs such as Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Only the music wasn’t provided by the store. It came courtesy of shopper Karen Goodwin, a resident of the Buffett-themed Latitude Margaritaville 55-and-older community next door who showed up with a playlist blaring from her portable boom box. “We decided to come a little early and make a party of it,” said Goodwin, who arrived at 5:30 a.m. with neighbors Susan Canty and Lisa Morris. “We were waiting and dancing the whole time,” she said. Latitude Landings, which is set to add more shops and restaurants in the coming months, is the first retail development to open in the fast-growing LPGA area west of Interstate 95. The growth comes despite concerns by area residents of the increasing traffic congestion along LPGA Boulevard, which remains just two lanes west of the interstate. The chief reason: a still yet-to-be-resolved question of where the funding will come from to widen the two-lane Tomoka River Bridge located just east of the entrances to both Latitude Margaritaville and Latitude Landings. 1/8 Hide caption This is a view of the deli area in the new Publix grocery store at Latitude Landings as seen from the grocery store’s mezzanine level on opening day, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. [News-Journal/Clayton Park] But those concerns weren’t on the minds of shoppers at the new Publix on Thursday morning. Pamela Davis, a longtime resident of the LPGA International community on the south side of LPGA Boulevard, said she was thrilled to finally have a grocery store on her side of I-95. “I’ve been waiting 13 years for a grocery store to come here. I am so excited,” she […]

Source: www.news-journalonline.com