The Last Gooding's Store in Orlando... (Davie, Kissimmee: rent, eviction, house)

[DavieJ89]

After work today a friend of mine in Kissimmee invited me over to his house to help him with his car. As I was driving down I-4, he called and asked if I could grab a 6 pack of beer. I saw the sign for Gooding's right by the 535 exit so I decided to jump off and go there

Up to that point I didn't even know Gooding's still existed. I remember going to Gooding's on occasion in the 90s. My father worked in Maitland and sometimes we'd stop at their Maitland location to grab a few things on the way home, and I remember loving their cookies when I was a kid but....

OMG how far and hard Gooding's has fallen. It is barely even a shadow of its former self. The store was in desrepair, the main thing I noticed being the floor, dirty worn, stained carpeting; chipped and cracked tiles with chunks missing

Their Frozen food and meat cases their looked at least 20 years old. There were also several cash register areas that were partially disassembled and were just an eyesore

Judging by the interior decor of the store, it definitely looks like it has seen much better days sad to say. It looked as if it was once a very nice store

Their prices were surprisingly not too bad, some slightly higher than Publix, some slightly lower, some similar. The 6 pack of Bud Light I bought was $6.49, which I thought was fair (though not the best price) I walked their store a little bit just to see what kind of prices they had and they even beat Publix on certain items (ie Green grapes at Gooding's were $2.99 lb, Publix $3.69 lb)

It looked like they had a decent wine selection as well. I also noticed that they sold "Joose", Mike's Harder Lemonade and Fruit Punch as well as Four Lokos. If I'm ever going down to the Disney area it's fair to say they have earned my business in that field

Back on topic, I just thought I'd post this for those who remember Gooding's in it's hey day back in the 90s. And to say its a shame that its in the state that it is

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by DavieJ89

Their prices were surprisingly not too bad, some slightly higher than Publix, some slightly lower, some similar. The 6 pack of Bud Light I bought was $6.49, which I thought was fair (though not the best price)

Definitely on the high-end. I'd expect that price for a decent domestic brand, not BL. I pay that price for Killian's Irish Red

[brinkofsunshine]

As a kid I loved going to Gooding's- both the one you mentioned at Crossroads and the one in DP. It really was a nice store back then, and even though I was young I knew it was pretty expensive. It's sad to hear it's gone downhill since then. I'll have to go visit it sometime. I haven't been to Crossroads in a long time... does anyone remember when Jungle Jim's was there? That place was restaurant heaven to me when I was little.

Darn it, now you've made me all nostalgic!

[IAm_FloridaBorn]

DH is a Goodings?

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

As a kid I loved going to Gooding's- both the one you mentioned at Crossroads and the one in DP. It really was a nice store back then, and even though I was young I knew it was pretty expensive. It's sad to hear it's gone downhill since then. I'll have to go visit it sometime. I haven't been to Crossroads in a long time... does anyone remember when Jungle Jim's was there? That place was restaurant heaven to me when I was little.

Darn it, now you've made me all nostalgic!

I know they used to have close to 20 locations. I did some research on Gooding's (got curious after going there) and apparently in 2000 they sold 9 locations to Winn-Dixie, including the original in Maitland (which ultimately failed as W-D stores) they opened a store at Water Tower Plaza in Celebration which was doomed from Day 1

The one one I-Drive by the convention center closed down as well

They filed chapter 11 in 2006 and again in 2010 according to the Orlando Sentinel. They almost got kicked out of the Cross Roads because apparently they owed around $200,000 + in rent and also owed around $600,000 or $700,000 in unsecured debts

Last Gooding?s supermarket in Chapter 11, faces eviction - Orlando Sentinel

That was as of 2010. The Cross Roads Gooding's is still there (I went there yesterday for beer as I said lol)

Hey Brink, just curious, do you remember the "Gooding's Cookie Club" I remember being part of that as a little kid

And I remember the name Jungle Jim's but I dont remember going there. I hit the Buffalo Wild Wings there every now and again

[tiluha]

Originally Posted by DavieJ89

Up to that point I didn't even know Gooding's still existed. I remember going to Gooding's on occasion in the 90s. My father worked in Maitland and sometimes we'd stop at their Maitland location to grab a few things on the way home, and I remember loving their cookies when I was a kid but....

Wow I too thought ALL the Goodings were long gone...I used to love Goodings even though the prices were high! The Maitland store was my fav...Sad that it took a dive...

[LuvOrlando]

The shelves are always empty in the health & beauty section. I figured that their suppliers cut them off.

They must be in real trouble.

[HomesickFloridian]

Maybe they'll be visionary enough to take over one of the closing stores of Albertsons in a decent location and better quality store rather then consider refurbishing the old one.. That'd be my play.

[doom1001]

I remember being on vacation in 1992 and walking into the Goodings on International Drive,back then that was one of the nicest supermarkets I had seen.A couple of months ago I walked into the 535 location and it was pretty sad to see.First thing I noticed is the lighting was very dim,like maybe they're trying to save money.Another thing I noticed was that the shelves were half empty,carpeting and most everything inside looked like it needed to be refurbished about 10 years ago.And yes the prices were still expensive.I think back in the 90's there were obviously fewer supermarkets in the area to compete with,no Wal Marts,no SuperTargets,fewer Publix and Winn Dixie stores which were also not ad nice back then as they are today.Then with the economy going down 5-6 years ago it couldn't have helped Goodings.

[HomesickFloridian]

I hate to hear of Goodings downfall they have been a strong supporter of sportscar racing in the past in their heyday, there's not enough of those supporters..