Asian Supermarket | Former Winn-Dixie #480 - Columbus, GA
Asian SuperMarketplace
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| Courtesy Charles Burgess |
Former Winn-Dixie #480
Olde Town Shopping Center
5750 Milgen Road
Columbus, GA 31907
Hey y'all, welcome back to ColGa! Last time on the S.O.B., we discussed the thrilling history of the Columbus Sing #5 followed by a look (or three) around what used to be known as Winn-Dixie #443 across the road. I'll admit that I had a bit more fun than normal traveling to the Winn-Dixie clearance sales because it isn't every day that I can buy noodles & beer for half-off; they knew I'd love that. That store was quite the neat nut, and my granola stockpile from the day really helps to explain the car I was driving.
Okay, that's enough puns about what I bagged on that trip (or not) – instead of pouring salt on the wound of what you missed out on, let's pop a cork of champagne and celebrate a piece of Winn-Dixie which remains in The Fountain City.
This particular store, former #480, has received a freshened up outlook on Life ever since Winn-Dixie closed in 2018: the only problem is that it no longer smells as fresh. Do you want to find out why? If so, let's dive head-first into some background information.
One thing that I've learned during my research is that Winn-Dixie was on a big expansion kick in Columbus during the 1980's. Both the Vista Square and Hamilton Square stores opened in 1980, followed by Fountain Park in 1983, Olde Town on November 8, 1984, and Reese Crossing in 1985.
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| The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Newspapers.com) - November 9, 1984 |
What is also shocking to me is that half of these stores survived until the 2018 bankruptcy, while the other two were replaced once (or twice) by the time the 2005 bankruptcy rolled around. Regardless, there is no doubt that The Beef People went on a spending spree during the 1990's to replace or expand stores that were hardly 10-years old, and all four of these locations fell victim to that farce.
Thanks to a snapshot from Columbus: Georgia's Fall Line 'Trading Town', we can see how Olde Town Shopping Center looked when it was first constructed. It is especially interesting, although not surprising, to see that this store differed from the rendering in the newspaper ad.
This 30,000 sq ft "superstore," constructed by local firm Freeman & Associates, used a familiar exterior design featuring the notched pillars and the centered transom windows, just like #1905 in Fort Payne. This photo also showcases the other original tenants to the plaza, including Columbus Tape & Video, Knight Kastle, and what I believe is a Revco pharmacy off in the distance.
In addition to store #480, Winn-Dixie opened store #483 on Gentian Boulevard on January 31, 1985. That store appeared to be identical to Olde Town, with Revco pharmacy in tow, and replaced an older location at Peachtree Mall.
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| The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Newspapers.com) - June 13, 1995 |
10-years in, #480 would end up replacing its sibling when news of Publix #562 moving into the area began to swirl. Winn-Dixie determined it could no longer coast along with the modern 55,000 sq ft Publix being smack-dab in between these two aged 33,000 sq ft grocery stores.
The Beef People also announced they would enlarge the Olde Town and Fountain Park stores later in 1995 to better compete with Publix' arrival.
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| Muscogee County Property Records |
Likewise, in late-1995 or early-1996, Winn-Dixie took over the old Revco space and expanded this store into a Marketplace concept. The grocery store would again undergo a light remodel around 2007 to update the logo on the exterior and repaint the interior.
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| Muscogee County Property Records |
This location was eventually marked for closure in March 2018 as part of Southeastern Grocers' broader bankruptcy. If you are curious about how the space looked during its final days, I'd encourage you to check out American Retail History's coverage of the liquidation sale here, here, and here.
The now 43,000 sq ft supermarket sat vacant for just over three years before new plans began to take shape.
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| Muscogee County Property Records |
A new Asian supermarket announced it would take over the entire space in early-2021 and began to spruce up the place by repainting the parking lot and polishing some of the interior finishes.
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| Muscogee County Property Records |
On December 1, 2021, the former Winn-Dixie began its second incarnation with the grand opening of Asian Supermarket.
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| The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Newspapers.com) - December 8, 2021 |
The Ledger article above mentions that the property was purchased in September 2020, and, "came with no blueprints, records or information on the power supply." The new owners replaced all of the interior lighting with LEDs, repainted everything in the store, and installed new power service to support the five-space food court. It's no surprise that a closed, bankrupt supermarket didn't include any plans.
The store's owner, Cherry Zou, also mentioned that, "If you see a dish at any of the Asian restaurants in town that you want to try making at home . . . make note of the name, bring it by Asian Supermarket and ask an associate for help. Odds are, they'll be able to help you find each ingredient." That is an interesting service that I haven't thought of before, but a neat idea for a place like Columbus which may not be familiar with many Asian dishes.
The article also points out that this is the company's second location: the first being in a former J.C. Penny in Opelika, Alabama.
Now that we know all about this store's past as a Winn-Dixie, let's take a look at its present.
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| Courtesy Charles Burgess |
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I visited this store back in 2022, but I didn't take a single photo of the building's exterior, and neither did the Sing Oil Sidekick on his trip. I had to ask my friend, Charles, if I could snag one of his photos since I knew he visited last month.
Other than the dramatic looking clouds, I'd like to point out a few architectural features which tell the story of this former Winn-Dixie. The first is the slanted metal fa̤ade Рa trait which dates back to this store's 1984 construction and Winn-Dixie's design language from the '70s and '80s. Next, I'll point out the wider columns on either end of the store which join the slanted fa̤ade at a small protrusion; these were a key design feature of pre-Marketplace stores, and we can see in the B&W photo how this location originally had four. Based on how much this store was expanded during its Marketplace remodel, I'm surprised to see that Winn-Dixie recreated the feature on the left side of the new space. Lastly, look at how this supermarket received an identical exterior upgrade as #443. It looks much blander having just a solid color of stucco.
The reason for the bland outside, of course, is because this store never remodeled away from its Marketplace interior. Just like its Columbus siblings #443 and #482, Winn-Dixie #480 received new exterior signage after the 2005 bankruptcy but only received a light interior refresh.
Speaking of a refresh, on his visit shortly after the grand opening, the Sing Oil Sidekick was kindly greeted by a cashier before being offered a sample of three different kinds of aloe drinks when he entered the store. He neglected to try any.
He did, however, notice that the checkout cubes were unchanged from the Winn-Dixie days and were likely first installed during the Marketplace "refresh".
The hallmarks of these Marketplace "image remodels," as I've mentioned before, included new tile throughout most of the store along with freshly painted walls and department signage.
The hallmarks of this Asian-oriented produce department included red bananas, dragon fruit, guava, daikon radish, and Napa cabbage. There was also still a decent selection of "traditional" produce such as apples, oranges, bell peppers, and bananas. One interesting detail here is how the Asian Supermarket renovation crew painted white over the beige color around the "Harvest Fresh Fruits & Vegetables" lettering but left some hints of the old Winn-Dixie paint peeking through.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
I don't know who C L is, but he uploaded some great photos of this store from March 2018 to Google Maps, and I would hate for them to get lost to time. Google makes it hard enough to find old business listings as it is.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - BI-LO #5103 - March 2018 |
C L seems to photograph a number of other stores and specifically target locations that are about to close or change hands. This store's closure was first reported on March 16, 2018, so there seems to be no coincidence that C L showed up that same month. I have to say that he has some great coverage of the short time in 2021 when Food Lion operated former BI-LO stores with their old interiors still in place, along with the calm just before the 2018 Southeastern Grocers bankruptcy closure round. Think about if he didn't take the shot above from the one-and-only Transformational BI-LO store in Martinez, GA!
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| What do you do with a sugar cane? |
Rather than the flashy Deco Rose, The Beef People used a subtle cream for the perimeter band of the store to pair with the San Jose Blue Laser text. The walls, however, do look much blander now that they are painted white.
Turning to the right, we see the few odds and ends that occupy the old florist counter, along with a random shelf of food coloring in the old seasonal department.
The rest of that shelf was full of other spicy promotional (?) items including a Tajin glass rimmer and some wasabi paste.
Despite the sign on the wall reading "Wine & Spirits," the old beer coolers along the wall are now filled with Asian food items that I don't even know how to explain.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
At least we don't have to look far to see that the old wine shelving was still in use here: the wine section was still labeled as such but had very different products inside. Move over Bordeaux, make way for Honolulu.
I'll just say that our deal of the day is duck egg with baby duck inside! Funny enough, The Ledger-Enquirer wrote an article last year about the variety of products the new store offers and also included a photo of these fertilized eggs. I'd say they were quite the sight. If they were $33 per carton in 2022, I'd hate to see how expensive they are with the way egg prices have been in 2025!
Stepping further across the checkered deli flooring, we find a wide selection of international spices reminiscent of City Farmers Market or Nam Dae Mun.
The biggest difference between #480 and its siblings like Macon-Dixie and Auburn-Dixie is that it never received the deli/bakery department consolidation in the back right corner.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
This place really did look much warmer and more inviting as a Winn-Dixie, didn't it! You could feel free to pull up a chair and stay awhile.
Turning to the right, we find a nice example of one of the surviving Marketplace signs. It seems that the only modification Asian Supermarket made was to cover up the old "meatball" logo with a graphic that reads "Asian Supermarket Columbus, GA."
Upon closer inspection, we can see where Winn-Dixie painted over the "America's Supermarket" text in the middle of the sign during the interior refresh.
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| Winn-Dixie #535 - Pensacola, FL - April 2022 |
As a refresh of our own, we'll take a look at how the "cold beer" sign originally appeared (save for the "dairy products" text). I believe the sign in Columbus originally advertised "luncheon meats" before the painted sign was installed overtop the 3-dimensional lettering.
Continuing on, we find the Delicatessen signage and neon just as WD had left it, despite the space being used for a vastly expanded seafood department. The deli sign was also painted black during Winn-Dixie's last remodel, but if you zoom into the image, you can see a tinge of the original mauve paint on the masking for the neon letters.
From Goat Whole in a Publix coffin cooler to Goat Fish in a Coleman ice chest, I find all sorts of baa-dly underrepresented meats in Asian supermarkets!
I know for a fact that the crawfish in this crate were still alive because they were moving around in my "live" photo. I'd presume the blue crabs were still crawling too, just a bit slower. How long can these crustaceans cling on without water? The Beef People have officially ceded their throne to The (Live) Seafood People.
Moo-ving toward the meat department, we begin to see where things have changed. Asian Supermarket most notably removed all of Winn-Dixie's upright meat cases along the back wall and replaced them with giant bags of rice. This happened sometime between my trip and the Sing Oil Sidekick's because you can still see the empty fixtures in a few of his photos.
The meat counter also received some new display cases paired with what appears to be a decommissioned WD coffin cooler just in front of us.
Other interesting finds of the day included some dried baby shrimp used for umami in Korean cuisine . . . and . . .
. . . can you believe that this 2/4 cleaned octopus costs $104! I wonder what a 1/2 cleaned octopus would cost! For that price, this octopus better tell me who's going to win the World Cup and the lucky Powerball numbers!
Let's take one last look toward the mishmash of departments before continuing on. Also, what in the world is up with those creepy figurines?
At least the new tenant had invested in some more modern, enclosed chest freezers to replace the open-topped ones used by The Beef People.
The frozen meat (formerly fresh poultry) department looked like it needed to chill out for a bit before returning to service.
Based on my initial notes from the Sing Oil Sidekick, the Winn-Dixie upright freezers in the center of the store were universally broken, and chest freezers were shoved in front of them. Is it possible that all the refrigerant leaked out while the store was abandoned? I'll be interested to check out Charles' photos to see what has changed in the years since.
As of 2022, the restroom signage was unchanged, and you could even see some of the old cream-colored paint showing between the wall lettering.
Most of the change, however, was happening in the old dairy aisle and bakery department. It looked as if Asian Supermarket was installing a food court along the entirety of the left wall of the store and received a steal of a deal on some used chairs from The Juicy Crab. Surprisingly, they don't appear to be from the short-lived Columbus location on Manchester Expressway.
The work had not been completed by the old bakery counter where we could still easily see Peter Lynch-era "SPILL SPILL SPILL" card and the old checkered tile.
I believe that stock image is the one piece left behind from a hanging graphic Winn-Dixie used. If you look in the photo below, you can see a burgundy sign hanging in roughly the same part of the ceiling.
According to a comment from Charles Burgess, Asian Supermarket has since opened up a small bakery in this space and also now has a restaurant featuring roasted geese.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
This place looked much more put together back in the day!
Continuing toward the old pharmacy space, we see that the walls appear to have been painted blue in preparation for some other new department.
Charles also mentioned that this space is now home to several toy claw machines.
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| Courtesy C L (Google Maps) - March 2018 |
At least the failed "macy" neon can't be blamed on Asian Supermarket, either. "It was ruined when she bought it!"
I thought companies were supposed to remove any pharmacy signage if they were no longer filling prescriptions; is that true?
What I do know to be true is that Asian SuperMarketplace was still using the old Winn-Dixie shopping carts.
If you don't believe me, just take a look at the "W/D" text etched into the frame!
Our last look at a bygone era comes from an old gas station sign overlooking the parking lot. If you zoom in, you can see an old Spectrum logo peeking through the black paint – just like the Spectrum gas station we saw last time on Macon Road. The Milgen Road Spectrum was also purchased by Circle K, but the Canadian corporation decided to divest of the property around the time this Winn-Dixie closed. It has operated as an independent convenience store ever since but still bears the current Circle K colors and a portion of an old Shell canopy.
The newer Spectrum sign was still visible in 2007, just before Circle K rebranded the filling station.
Anyway, that will conclude this week's coverage, but make sure to check out Charles' Flickr page to see how the Asian Supermarket looks in 2025.
Until next time,
- The Sing Oil Blogger
