Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 059 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
W-D’s new shopping experience
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor Southeastern Grocers launched its pilot Winn-Dixie supermarket Thursday morning, reopening the to-the-walls renovated Baymeadows location that President and CEO Ian McLeod said will be a springboard for more remodeling. “If it works well, we’ll roll it to other stores in the Southeast,” he said. Shoppers entering the Baymeadows prototype will see a lot more than they might have
expected. At the start, they’ll see the main entrance was moved from the checkout area to open into the large produce section. To their right and beyond produce, they’ll find the floral, sushi, kitchen, coffee (with tables), bakery, seafood, butcher, cheese and deli departments. And to their left, they will see clearly across all eight checkout lanes designed with an unobstructed view. “I always like a sense of arrival,” McLeod said. Departments are clearly iden-
tified on the top of walls, part of Southeastern Grocers’ aim to make store navigation easy, especially for busy shoppers. The store is designed with the traditional Winn-Dixie colors of red and white, with accents including woodgrain, brick and tile. Most of all, McLeod said, is “the impression of freshness.” The store at 10915 Baymeadows Road in the Point Meadows shopping center, just off of Interstate 295, will operate 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Winn-Dixie continued on Page A-2
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Wi-Fi, local products and more in pilot store
Winn-Dixie Baymeadows features a deli with more than 350 local and international artisanal cheeses as well as a trained American Cheese Society-certified steward to assist customers.
Northbank project impacts water taxi
Showing their moves in Hemming Park
DIA wants more oversight of service
Photo by Fran Ruchalski
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Children of The Dance Ensemble from the Pine Forest Elementary School for the Arts dance their hearts out for a large audience in Hemming Park at First Wednesday Art Walk. See more photos on Page A-4.
Lackie making sure she pays it forward
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Audrey Lackie pensively refers to her 13 years of Women’s Council of Realtors involvement and leadership as “the journey.” And easily the smartest thing she’s ever done in real estate. A 32-year veteran, Lackie is owner-broker of the 2-year-old The Legends of Real Estate East Coast. She’s also this year’s Florida Women’s Council of Realtors president. Lackie says WCR’s training, networking and leadership opportunities have directly contributed to her career triumphs, including successfully launching her Jacksonville Beach-based real estate company. The resolve to pursue her dream of entrepreneurship was advanced by a huge push from WCR peers throughout the
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By Kevin Hogencamp Contributing Writer
My message is, ‘Whatever you are doing and whatever your goals are, roll up your sleeves and make it happen. It’s time to do it.’ Audrey Lackie Florida Women’s Council of Realtors president
state, she said. “When you are going to step out and do something like start a company, it’s scary at first,” she said. “But everyone kept saying, ‘This is something you can do.’” Lackie is paying that help forward. After observing in recent years that Northeast Florida was underrepresented in WCR Florida, Lackie began paving the
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way — through encouragement, mostly — for her peers to serve as leaders in the organization. Now, two other Jacksonville real estate professionals also are state WCR officers, signifying a huge climb up the leadership ladder for a Florida region that hadn’t produced a state president in 24 years. Lackie continued on Page A-4
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January is the cruelest month for the Jacksonville water taxi. Colder weather and a lack of events often mean lower ridership numbers. But a sewer rehabilitation project at the Jacksonville Landing has made ridership plummet by more than 30 percent from January 2015. Four days didn’t have a single rider. Single-digit days weren’t uncommon. In all, just 2,432 people rode — numbers buoyed by New Year’s Day (201), the Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl (1,667) and Saturday’s Carrie Underwood concert (138). The sewer project closed the stretch of the Riverwalk that includes the service’s main stop and shifted it to near the TimesUnion Center. The next closest is at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, on the other side of the Main Street Bridge. “That’s been a little bit problematic,” said Heather Surface, a partner with Lakeshore Marine Services that operates the service. And before that, the Southbank Riverwalk renovations wiped out several stops in 2014 until the walkway reopened in February 2015. Yet, despite the setbacks, Surface says things have been going well since Lakeshore took over the service in August 2014 on a temporary deal. The company secured a long-term agreement with the city until 2020 and through its public-private partnership has secured $201,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to help sustain operations. That’s assisted by city funds of up to $120,000. For example, the January report shows more than $47,000 in city dollars from July-December 2016. Year-over-year numbers have seen ebbs and flows, but December figures — the last before Landing construction — showed an almost 1,200 increase. Surface wants to see more improvements made. Water taxi continued on Page A-3
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