The Sweetbay supermarkets in The Villages closed their doors at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The grocery stores in Lake Sumter Landing and Pinellas Plaza will reopen Friday, April 18 as Winn-Dixie supermarkets.
Customers were still trickling in and out of the Sweetbay stores right up until the final hour before closing.
The Sweetbay stores were purchased last year by the parent company of Winn-Dixie.
The Winn-Dixie on Bichara Boulevard in The Villages was the first grocery store to locate in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
Early residents of The Villages still remember a time when they drove to nearby cities like Leesburg to do their grocery shopping.
