Gold Triangle, 2525 N Dale Mabry

Gold Triangle, 2525 N Dale Mabry. Circa mid-1970s. Gandy Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

EOS Fitness 2525 N Dale Mabry. 2023. © Chip Weiner.

Miami-based Gold Triangle, a division of Federated Stores, opened its fifth store in Tampa in May 1973. The 80,000-square-foot store at 2525 North Dale Mabry, south of Columbus Dr., reportedly employed 150 people staffing 25 departments and 25 cash registers. The companies’ investment in the location was around $5 million, with $3 million of that spent on inventory. Gold Triangle offered innovative consumer policies, such as providing customers with a loaner TV if the one they purchased needed servicing during the “Labor Guarantee” period. After eight years of a marginally profitable business, the company closed all six Florida stores in 1981, despite the Tampa store being more successful than the others. Large crowds lined up in front of the Dale Mabry location to take advantage of huge markdowns during the liquidation.

In 1984, the store was converted into a Pak ‘n Save grocery store, a division of Safeway Markets. Calling itself a superstore, it merchandised products in bulk on warehouse shelving to provide lower prices. Around 1986, the brand changed to Save ‘n Pack. In 1992, Kash and Karry bought the Tampa stores, adding their moniker, and in 2006, they were rebranded as Sweetbay. The ownership shuffle continued in 2013 when Winn-Dixie acquired Sweetbay. Winn-Dixie filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 and subsequently closed all five of its Bay Area stores. The store sat empty for three years, and in 2022, EOS Fitness moved in.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved