Sweetbay closures present new challenges

The grocery industry is abuzz with the announcement made by Sweetbay, that it will shutter 33 underperforming Florida stores by the middle of February.

At least 1,000 employees will be out of work. Consumers who choose Sweetbay for an alternative to Publix, the dominant market leader, will have to look elsewhere.

But another big potential victim of the Sweetbay retreat: The just-starting-to-comeback Gulf Coast retail commercial real estate market, which will receive a new chunk of vacant properties. Indeed, 27 of the 33 stores marked for closure are on the Gulf Coast, from a 16,000-square-foot location in Tampa to a 50,964-square-foot store in Naples.