Williamson’s Food Store to close after 53 years  

Williamson's Food Store.
Williamson's Food Store in Melrose.
Photo by Seth Johnson

After 53 years as the local grocer for Melrose and surrounding areas, Williamson’s Food Store will close in February after the owners decided to sell the property.  

Bruce Williamson said he doesn’t know how the new owner plans to use the space, but he hopes it’ll remain a grocery store for the community that, after so many decades of interaction, has grown close.  

“Everybody’s pretty much family here in Melrose,” Williamson said.  

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Williamson said running the store requires long hours. His father started the store and helped run it until passing away in 2018. Williamson said he considered stopping then, but they decided to keep going.  

With the other meat cutter retiring, Williamson said he’s going, too. The work wouldn’t be feasible with just him working in that department, he said.  

Plus, Williamson bought an RV last year and is ready to explore the country.  

Williamson, like his father, served in the Navy for five years. In that time, he got to see more of Europe and other countries than the United States, he said.  

He saw his first hockey game in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia. It was a match between the local team and Moscow. His ship, the USS Tattnall, got delayed in the port, earning a spot in newspaper headlines.  

Memorabilia from Bruce Williamson's time in the Navy. Photo by Seth Johnson
Photo by Seth Johnson Memorabilia from Bruce Williamson’s time in the Navy.

Williamson’s mother clipped the stories, and framed versions sit along the back wall with photos of the Tattnall and his father’s ship, the USS Hazelwood.  

After returning to Melrose in 1979, Williamson said he’s not left the U.S., but now he wants to see more of the country. The first stop: Ohio to see his granddaughter.  

After that, there’s a lot of options. He’s got a Navy buddy in Illinois and wants to see Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon and the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge.  

His RV won’t help him with the top item on the bucket list. Williamson said he wants to go to Hawaii and visit the Pearl Harbor memorials.  

Williamson expects to sign the official paperwork on Friday to sell the store. He said the owner is giving him two months to sell the rest of the inventory. But he’s hoping to get finished by the end of February and enter retirement.  

A lot of customers, he said, have congratulated them on retirement. 

“Some people, they say, ‘We’re going to miss you, but we understand’ and then some people say, ‘no, you can’t go yet,'” Williamson said. 

Williamson said the store served customers from Hawthorne, Keystone Heights and rural areas. The next closest grocery store is a Winn-Dixie four miles north of Melrose, halfway to Keystone Heights. After that would be Hitchcock’s Market in Keystone Heights. 

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Derek

That is unfortunate as most of the eastern side of both Gainesville & the county is a food desert, but congrats on retiring!

USS KIDD Veterans Museum

We’ll be happy to have you aboard, Mr. Williamson. Just as soon as we get back from drydock. 🙂

Dee

Will miss the store, and unusual postings on their sign. Many laughs while driving by over the years.