Dive Brief:

• Publix’s newly opened store in Wesley Chapel, Florida, is the latest under its new store prototype, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email. 
• At 55,701 square feet, the Innovation Springs store, which opened Jan. 25, is larger than Publix’s usual store size of 45,000 to 50,000 square feet. 
• The store has a large selection of foodservice items, upstairs and outdoor seating, and an adjacent Publix Liquors, according to an emailed press release. 

Dive Insight:

The new store opening marks Publix’s third under this larger, more experience-focused prototype. Publix opened the first of this kind in early 2023 in Tampa, Florida, and then its second in Louisville, Kentucky, which also marked its debut in the state. 

“We don’t have a complete listing of future stores of this format. It’s one of our store prototypes and will be used as space and opportunities allow,” a Publix spokesperson wrote in an email.

Last year, Publix said it would transition the locations under its small-format GreenWise Market banner to its traditional supermarket brand and integrate some elements of its GreenWise locations, such as its Publix Pours in-store bar area, into its new store prototype.

At the time, Publix said that the move aimed to address customers’ desire to enjoy aspects of a specialty banner while also having a more traditional grocery shopping experience. 

Located at 32265 Overpass Road, the Wesley Chapel store has several nontraditional grocery features, including a burrito bar, an olive bar and a full-service pharmacy with a drive-thru, in addition to the typical perimeter and center store departments. 

At the deli, shoppers can find an international selection of olives, antipastos and hummus; more than 200 artisan cheeses; fresh pizzas; sushi; and ramen. The full-service deli counter also highlights Boar’s Head meats and cheeses.

The Publix press release notes that the floral department “stocks bouquets bursting with colors depicting the changing seasons.”

The store features a bakery with fresh-made bread and rolls daily and a full-service seafood department with sushi chefs available to make hand-rolled selections daily. The meat department features custom meat cuts, Publix private label all-natural and organic GreenWise chicken, and GreenWise bacon, according to the press release. 

The store’s wine department has an expanded variety of domestic and imported premium and specialty wines as well as fine wines made with organic grapes. Customers can find wine, beer and kombucha on tap at the Pours area, which also has locally roasted coffee, acai bowls and smoothies.

The store also has a salad bar, a hot food buffet, a bigger scratch bakery and larger displays in the meat and seafood departments, Tampa Beacon reported. 

Over the last year, Publix has tinkered with its foodservice offerings. From April through June, Publix deli departments offered a limited edition Nashville hot chicken sandwich, giving customers the grocer’s take on a Tennessee classic with a milder spice level. Publix ceased operations of its in-store Aprons Cooking Schools last summer but has continued its online cooking classes.

Publix has been working on a more than $50 million effort to convert a 140,000-square-foot building in Lakeland, Florida, into a hub for hundreds of information technology workers to attract tech talent for the grocer’s growing omnichannel capabilities.

Publix has 1,365 stores across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. The Florida-based grocery chain is pushing its way further up north, entering Kroger’s home turf in the Cincinnati area with a store in Boone, Kentucky, and inching closer to Washington, D.C., with its store in Stafford, Virginia. 

Publix has been making more investments in its stores. The grocer predicted at the start of last year that its capital spending would total $2.3 billion in 2023, according to a 10-K filing — a nearly 28% increase over the nearly $1.8 billion it spent in 2022.

The grocer opened 33 supermarkets, including nine replacements, remodeled 79 locations and closed four during the nine months that ended Sept. 30, 2023, according to an SEC filing, noting that it plans to replace those four closed locations.