Publix to Anchor Tenn. Shopping Center

The 5-acre Valley Forge Shopping Center site in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on which construction began earlier this year, will feature as its anchor tenant a 45,600-square-foot Publix store, set to open in early 2016. The location will be its first in Tennessee’s Sevier County as part of the Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer's continued growth in the eastern part of the state.

"Publix Super Markets will strive to become the supermarket of choice for the Pigeon Forge and greater Sevier County community next year," noted Brenda Reid, media and community relations manager of the company's Atlanta division. "Publix differentiates itself by providing excellent customer service and quality fresh products."

Publix is working on the project with Knoxville, Tenn.-based CHM LLC, with which it has collaborated on the redevelopment of Northshore Town Center in West Knoxville, and University Commons, Knoxville's first urban, vertical retail center, located next to the University of Tennessee campus.

The Valley Forge development's other retail tenants will occupy an additional 10,000 square feet.

Publix operates more than 1,000 stores across six states in the Southeast.