Then, two years later, the Sweetbay Supermarket anchoring his pharmacy’s shopping plaza closed, zapping its biggest source of customers. The lack of foot traffic has prompted some of Shah’s neighboring businesses to fold. Shah says he’s barely hanging on.

“We used to do 3,000 prescriptions when Sweetbay was here. Now I’m lucky if I do 1,800,” in a month, Shah said.

Shah isn’t alone. Across the Tampa Bay area, at least 18 buildings formerly occupied by Sweetbay remain vacant, causing many of the small businesses around them to struggle or close.

Though grocers and other businesses are interested in moving into some of those spaces, the company that bought Sweetbay in 2013 — Southeastern Grocers — won’t let them because it doesn’t want increased competition for their Winn-Dixie stores. The company continues to pay rent for the empty stores, tying up the engines that power other business in the centers.

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