Publix opens 2 new stores this week, eyes Q4 opening date for 1st Kentucky store

Publix Super Markets on Wednesday opened its newest Georgia location at Covington Town Center in Covington and another store in its home state of Florida in Pembroke Pines on Thursday.

The 48,000-square-foot-store located at 12701 Town Center Dr., is in Newton County, which is located east of Atlanta.

“We are very excited for the opening of our newest Publix at Covington Town Center,” said Nicole Krauss, Publix media relations manager, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to provide premier service and quality products to new and existing customers in this growing market.”

The Lakeland, Florida-based grocery retailer, which operates 1,324 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, opened its newest Florida location on Thursday in Pembroke Pines. The 23,168-square-foot store is in Pines Market at 16024 Pines Blvd.

“We are excited to welcome our customers to their new store in Pembroke Pines and look forward to providing them with the premier service and quality Publix is known for,” said Lindsey Willis, Publix Miami Division media relations manager, in a statement. Angela Hull, who has worked for Publix for 17 years, will be the store manager of the Pembroke Pines store.

Both stores offer departments for grocery, dairy, frozen food, seafood, meat and produce, pharmacy, as well as contactless pay options, grocery delivery via Instacart and pharmacy delivery.

Last month, the grocer announced it had acquired property for a fourth store in Kentucky. “We are excited for Kentuckians to begin experiencing the Publix difference as we continue to expand our footprint in the Bluegrass State,” Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous said in a statement. 

Publix first made the announcement of its march into Kentucky in 2021. Last June, the grocery retailer broke ground in Louisville, at 2500 Terra Crossing Blvd., in The Terra Crossing Shopping Center, which will be the grocer’s first Kentucky location—an area with long-established market leaders Kroger and Walmart. The store is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, Publix said in a statement.

Publix is one of the country's largest employee-owned grocers, with more than 240,000 associates on its payroll.