Publix opens a new store in Florida with a Pours area

Publix Super Markets is expanding its "Pours" concept in stores.

The Lakeland, Florida-based grocer opened its newest location Thursday in Neptune Beach, Florida, offering shoppers the option to sip and shop.

Located in the Neptune Beach Plaza at 580 Atlantic Boulevard, the 29,810 square-foot store features departments for grocery, dairy, frozen food, seafood, meat and fresh produce as well as a full-service bakery and deli and a pours area.

“We are pleased to open the doors of our newest Publix at Neptune Beach Plaza,” said Hannah Herring, Publix media relations manager, in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming new and existing customers and providing them with premier service and quality products.”

The in-store bar for shoppers features, coffee, tea, smoothies and alcohol. According to the grocery retailer’s website, a Pours area is in seven Publix locations.  In March, the grocer added its signature beverage Pours area, featuring locally roasted coffee; wine, beer and kombucha on tap; acai bowls and smoothies to its Gandy Shopping Center Publix in Tampa, Florida.

Publix Super Market’s focus on including a Pours area in its stores comes on the heels of the announcement last Friday that it is phasing out its eight-store GreenWise Market concept. Maria Brous, the grocer's director of communications, told WGB last Friday that all GreenWise Market locations will transition to traditional Publix stores.

Besides "Pours," the small-format GreenWise Markets house so-called "experience zones" bannered as "Cuts" (meat), "Produce" (fresh fruit and vegetables); "Eats" (foodservice and grab-and-go foods); "Finds" (wines plus gourmet and fine foods); and "Cares" (health and wellness).