Several more residents wrote in to share their thoughts on Ocala/Marion County’s grocery shopping options.
“I live in Oak Run. There are three Publix supermarkets within an 8-mile radius of my home. There’s also a Walmart Super Center within two miles, a Winn-Dixie within 5 miles in Marion Oaks, and now I understand that Bravo is taking over the spot where the Sav-Mart on 200 was located. What’s with the Ocala city planners? Have they no sense of planning or imagination? If you drive through other areas of Ocala, including Silver Springs Boulevard, you’d be hard pressed to find a supermarket, or grocery store for that matter, but there sure are an awful lot of gas stations and car washes,” says Ocala resident Carol Shalaew.
“We would definitely like to see a Publix come to the Forest. We currently drive to the Publix on Highway 40, and we would totally support one coming to our area. The only grocery store we have here is Winn-Dixie and they just remodeled, but it is still very outdated. The produce is not fresh and they lack a lot of products that Publix has,” says Mary Davis, Silver Springs resident.
“I think what we need is a regular grocery store to compete against Walmart or Publix. Warehouse stores have a purpose. However, when there are only two of us, warehouse stores don’t really benefit us. Kroger or Ingles would be a nice addition,” says Ocala resident Shirley Hastings.
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