Winn-Dixie In St. James City, Fl (Cape Coral, McGregor: to buy, taxi, live)

[seansully]

I will be visiting North Captiva, FL in early February with my family and need to make a fairly large grocery purchase for our stay. How is the Winn-Dixie in St. James City in terms of cleanliness, selection, etc.

The shuttle service we're going to use tried to steer me towards Publix in Cape Coral, but Publix assesses a surcharge for prepacking your order, whereas Winn-Dixie does not. I also expect that the taxi service gets a "commission" for bringing guests to Publix, because they said be sure to tell Publix that we're using shuttle service XYZ.

Would we be making a bad decision by going with Winn-Dixie in St. James?

[yachtcare]

Ummmm, Staying in Captiva, and using the Winn Dixie in St James city (actually just south of Pine Island Center, about 8 miles north of StJC)would have you passing probably 35-50 other closer grocery stores. Shopping at one of the closer stores would very likely offset the cost of the Taxi several times over. Unless..you are using a water taxi. IF, there is one running from Cap to StJC. And then you still got that 8 mile hike, each way. Look carefully at a map of the area. While you can look across a short expanse of water, to see StJC from Captiva, it is an approximatley 30 mile trip(one way) to get there by car.
There are two, long time, independant grocers on Sanibel Island. Jerry's and Bailey's. To get to Captiva, you WILL have to drive right past their doors. They cater to the tourists on the islands, and have for decades. Jerry's used too, and probably still does, allow you to call in your order, they will have it packed and ready to go when you drive up to their loading area. They would likely be your best source.

Oh, and BTW, there's a Winn Dixie, at the corner of Summerlin and McGregor, about four miles off the causeway onto Sanibel/Captiva, and a Publix between those two points as well. No need to even go as far as Cape Coral.

EDIT: link to jerry's... Jerry's Foods Grocery

[Roadrunner69]

yachtcare, I think the OP may be speaking about Upper Captiva Island the one you can only get to by boat or plane. I took a truck load of new furniture over there quite a few years ago and put the whole truck on a barge and went to the island from St. James City but now I think they run out of Bokellia. Maybe thats why the OP is asking about Pine Island. ???

[seansully]

Thanks for your responses. Yes, sorry, you're correct. We'll be staying in Upper Captiva/North Captiva Island (as opposed to Captiva proper), taking the ferry from Pinelands Marina on Pine Island over to the North Captiva Island Club.

We've used Publix in Cape Coral before, but the last time the order ended up being incredibly expensive, like $700 for 5 relatively thin adults and a toddler for a week's food, and we didn't even buy any fancy items. That may have had something to do w/ the amount of food one needs to haul in, since North Captiva Island has no supermarkets. That being said, the same amount of groceries would have cost around $400 - $450 in the Philadelphia area where I live, and where I use a competively priced mainstream supermarket called Shoprite (I think they used to have Shoprites in parts of Florida, but they didn't succeed financially and closed).

Publix in Cape Coral used to charge $10 to pack any order, and now it's 10% of the price of the entire order for packing, which adds up on top of an otherwise costly order. Unless Winn-Dixie in St. James City is dirty or has a poor selection, we'd like to go with them because they charge no packing fee and their prices seem to be slightly better based on their online weekly circulars. At any rate, we'll be using a frequent shoppers card (which Publix doesn't appear to offer, but Winn-Dixie does).

If you have shopped at this particular Winn-Dixie, I'd be interested in your feedback. (BTW: When I refer to St. James City, the W-D location actually appears to be about mid-island on Pine Island, at 9706 Stringfellow Road).

Also, if you know of any other, discount supermarket on the way from the airport to North Captiva Island (we'll be using a taxi), I'd much appreciate the name, approximate location, and your other reasons for why it's a good deal. Unfortunately, a place like Walmart probably does not offer the normal produce or meats we need, but perhaps your Walmarts in Florida are better in that regard verus the Walmarts we have here in the N.E. (which often offer only dry goods/food and frozen foods).

Many thanks for your help.

[yachtcare]

ooooops! Sorry, my bad. That "north" part didnt compute first time I read it. Been a long time since I've been in the Winn Dixie on Pine Island, so I cant really give any recent intel on it. As stated, it really isnt in StJC, it's just a bit south of Pine Island center, where you would arrive on the Island.
Sorry cant be more helpful.

[fernanda1520]

Hi,

I have been in the Winn-Dixie in St. James, it is very nice. (They just remodeled it) I know they fill orders for the residence of N Captiva and they do not charge.

Hope this helps!

Fernanda

[MikeP]

The old Winne Dixie was sort of old and dirty looking. After Hurricane Charley the place was totally remodeled and is now very nice. I live on Pine Island and go there all the time. I think it will be fine for you.

[motoracer51]

I also have been on the island for about 3 weeks now, and I find the place nice, clean, and the prices are pretty much the same as everywhere else.

There is no reason not to buy your groceries there.