By Wayne Grant
wgrant@hometownnewsol.com
ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA - The crowds are returning to the Ormond Beach Mall on State Road A1A in Ormond-by-the-Sea. The Publix Super Market has been operating since March 11, when a grand opening packed the store with residents eager to have the store back.
The Publix has been closed since last May. It was completely remodeled and the mall received a new façade and other improvements.
"It's beautiful," Sabrina McDonnell of Ormond Beach said recently. "It was worth the wait."
She said although it was not a great hardship to travel to other stores, she missed her neighborhood Publix during its absence.
"You get used to your own store where you know where everything is," she said.
But she admitted that the redesign of the Publix had her feeling lost because it has all been rearranged.
"I was kidding the employees," she said. "I told them I need a map, and they said they have a map."
Maps of the new layout are available at the front of the store.
In addition to being rearranged, it's also larger. Duane Stevens, spokesman for Publix, said the store has been expanded from 41,500 to 45,000 square feet.
"We are pleased to have our new facility open and it has been well received by our loyal customers," Mr. Stevens said. "We appreciate their patience during the construction phases."
Peg and Roger Schmitt, who live in a nearby condo, said they are glad to have the grocery store back.
"It's nice and clean," Mr. Schmitt said.
There is something they miss, however: the restaurant that was closed last year when remodeling began.
"We had breakfast or lunch there and then went shopping," Ms. Schmitt said.
The Schmitts said the restaurant, the Gourmet Kitchen, was a meeting place for the "locals."
Kathryn Crownover of Century Retail, which owns the mall, said a Chinese restaurant recently opened in the mall and they are hoping to add another dining spot.
There are also a few retail/office spaces available.