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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
THE MATHIS REPORT
Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island reduces staff, cuts hours
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
GreenWise Market opens first area store in Nocatee
That means almost 1,250 area hotel jobs are affected by layoffs or reductions in hours because of COVID-19.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
JACKSONVILLE
The specialty, natural and organic store is the first of at least two in St. Johns County.
Publix Super Markets Inc. opened its first Northeast Florida GreenWise Market at 7 a.m. June 20 in Nocatee Town Center in St. Johns County. GreenWise is Publix’s specialty, natural and organic foods and products brand. “We’re thrilled to offer a brand new product not just to Nocatee but to Northeast Florida,” said Riley Skinner, vice president of Jacksonville-based Skinner Bros. Realty. Skinner Bros. Realty is developing the Nocatee retail center with The PARC Group, Nocatee’s master developer. “We’re happy to be a part of it,” Skinner said. “We’re particularly happy to be the first one in Northeast Florida.” Lakeland-based Publix already operates a 55,000-squarefoot supermarket in Nocatee Town Center and opened the 25,150-square-foot GreenWise Market across the street at 250 Pine Lake Drive. Nocatee is in Ponte Vedra. The Nocatee store is the ninth GreenWise Market and its fifth
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Shoppers check out the 25,150-square-foot GreenWise Market at its June 20 opening in Nocatee Town Center. GreenWise is Publix Super Markets Inc.’s specialty, natural and organic foods and products banner.
Above: The GreenWise Market is at 250 Pine Lake Drive in Nocatee Town Center. Right: Shoppers line up to enter the store June 20. Hours are 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.
MORE ONLINE For more images of the new store, see a photo gallery at JaxDailyRecord.com
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC filed a notice with state and local officials reporting temporary layoffs or reductions in hours for 638 of the 649 employees at its Amelia Island resort hotel. The Ritz-Carlton, which filed its notice June 2, joins two other major Northeast Florida hotels that filed layoff notices in the first week of June under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Downtown, the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa and the Ritz-Carlton filed their notices before the Republican National Committee announced June 11 that the Republican National Convention is being moved to Jacksonville. All three hotels are likely to receive a large number of visitors during the Aug. 24-27 convention. The Ritz-Carlton’s WARN letter was addressed to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and also to Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny Miller. However, it addressed Miller at “City Hall @ St. James Building” in Downtown Jacksonville. The letter said the resort’s temporary actions began March 28 as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of visitors to the hotel. The Ritz-Carlton said it expects business to return to normal within six months. SEE RITZ-CARLTON, PAGE 2
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
‘Encouraging signs’ in unemployment report Jacksonville’s unemployment rate was unchanged from April to May, but University of North Florida economist Albert Loh said there were encouraging signs in the latest report. “Although the unemployment rates in May remained largely unchanged from last month, both the labor force and employment grew considerably,” Loh said. “The extent of the increases clearly reflects the return of jobs and workers, resulting from the reopening” after COVID-19 closures, he said. The unemployment rate for the Jacksonville metropolitan area of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties was 11.2% in May, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported.
VOLUME 107, NO. 154 • ONE SECTION