Publix opens 2 new stores in Florida as Southeast grocery battleground heats up

Publix Super Markets opened two new stores in Florida on Thursday, widening penetration in its home state as the Southeast grocery battleground heats up. 

The Lakeland, Florida-based grocer opened its newest locations in Winter Garden and Coral Springs, Florida.

The 48,387-square-foot store located in Winter Garden is at 10650 Avalon Road, while the slightly larger 54,964-square-foot store in Coral Springs is located at 1285 North University Drive.

“We are excited to welcome our customers to their new store at Ramblewood Square at Coral Springs and look forward to providing them with the premier service and quality Publix is known for,” said Lindsey Willis, Publix media relations manager, in a statement.

Publix now operates 1,348 stores in the Southeastern U.S., the fastest-growing part of the country. In fact, nine of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau data. 

From a grocery standpoint, the battleground of the Southeast region is becoming even more hotly contested after Aldi U.S. on Wednesday announced it was acquiring the Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets chains from Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers (SEG).

“The acquisition will add 400 locations to Aldi's store footprint in the Southeast and greatly expand the company's presence in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia—states that have seen increases in population due to recent migration trends,” said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at foot-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai.

Compared to last year, food inflation is moderating but that has not stopped shoppers from continuing to seek out value. 

"Aldi's acquisition of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets is representative of consumers' heightened focus on value,” Hottovy said. “Although food inflation has started to moderate compared to last year, lower and middle-income consumers continue to seek out value through value-oriented grocery chains like Aldi and Grocery Outlet, dollar stores, and c-stores. In turn, this has put pressure on traditional grocery chains, where visit trends have lagged their value-oriented counterparts since early 2022.”