{"id":213232,"date":"2026-03-31T16:49:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213232\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:49:07","slug":"treasure-coast-residents-push-for-trader-joes-after-winn-dixie-closure-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213232\/","title":{"rendered":"Treasure coast residents push for Trader Joes after Winn-Dixie closure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/usearch.com\/dataset\/winn-dixie-stores-closing-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">closure of a Winn-Dixie<\/a> is fueling fresh frustration across Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce, as residents say grocery options aren\u2019t keeping pace with the region\u2019s rapid growth.<\/p>\n<p>After the news broke Saturday, many took to social media to voice concerns, with some suggesting that a Trader Joe\u2019s could help meet demand and reduce the need to travel to Palm Beach County for more variety.<\/p>\n<p>Port St. Lucie, now home to nearly 255,000 residents, has become Florida\u2019s sixth-largest city, according to the U.S. Census\u2014an increase of about 50,000 people since 2020, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/port-st-lucies-population-boom-reshapes-city-planning-and-infrastructure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> previous reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/authorities-address-man-open-carrying-assault-rifle-and-pistol-on-treasure-coast-mcdaniels-v-state-open-carry-ruling-st-lucie-county-incident-rifle-in-public-pistol-carry-911-calls-community-concern-law-enforcement-response-constitutional-rights-t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Authorities address man open carrying assault rifle and pistol on Treasure Coast<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With Winn-Dixie\u2019s departure, five major grocery chains remain serving the city: The Fresh Market, Publix, Sprouts Farmers Market, and ALDI.<\/p>\n<p>Supermarket threshold is defined at a minimum of 2,500 people and a maximum of 40,000 according to a study from the <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/file:\/\/\/C:\/Users\/gbellinghausen\/Downloads\/5460_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">University of Texas at Arlington<\/a>. Based on current population levels, that would leave roughly 45,000 residents per store if demand were evenly distributed \u2014 suggesting there is ample room for an additional supermarket.<\/p>\n<p> While they are starting to see more businesses like Costco, Buc-ee&#8217;s, and Yard House in the area, comments show they still want more variety in their hometown, so they don&#8217;t have to keep driving far away and can keep business local.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The closure of a Winn-Dixie is fueling fresh frustration across Port St.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-213232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}