The corner of Central Avenue and Lambright Street has housed a grocery store since the mid-1920s. T.H. Spear opened his Self Service Store when he acquired the building from Lively Stores of Tampa in 1933. He and his son ran the store for a decade. By 1943, the building had a tax lien, and the lot was for sale for $3,000. By 1944, it held an evangelistic temple. In 1946, it sold again, this time for $6500. By the early 1950s, it had returned to its grocery roots, and Sandlin’s Sundries opened. Sandlin’s sold in 1955 for $22,000, but the new owners kept the name and ran it until the mid-1960s.

In 1975, Chatter Box Nursery opened its doors here, and by 1980, it was the Children’s Adventure Center. It has remained a daycare and is now called All God’s Kids Academy. 

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved