Publix Plots a Course for Expansion in Virginia
It is now confirmed that a 9-acre, multi-parcel tract of land just outside Roanoke, Va., will be the home of a new Publix Super Markets location. The property, bordered by Brambleton Avenue and Old Cave Spring Road in southwest Roanoke County, was officially transferred to Publix as of Nov. 29, according to a local report.
The Roanoke Times reports that the project was approved by the county board of supervisors last December, but those county officials were not allowed to divulge information about the forthcoming tenant until recently. County spokeswoman Amy Whittaker confirmed the news earlier this week.
Publix currently operates nearly 20 stores in and around Richmond, Va., and will open a 46,791-square-foot location in the eastern Virginia city of Suffolk on Dec. 13. The grocer is expected to open a second location in the Hampton Roads area in early 2025, with a 48,387-square-foot store in the city of Chesapeake. Additional stores are slated for Carrollton and Virginia Beach.
Meanwhile, the Florida-based company signed a lease in Northern Kentucky last month, and plans to open a 55,701-square-foot store in the Richwood area, an approximately 25-minute drive from downtown Cincinnati, in 2025. Its long-awaited entry into the Bluegrass State will occur Dec. 10 when the Publix location at 2500 Terra Crossing Boulevard in Louisville officially opens its doors.
This past summer, Publix opened 11 locations throughout Florida and Georgia, and in August, made public its plans to build a $50 million technology campus near its headquarters as it looks to ramp up its focus on omnichannel options for customers.
Employee-owned and -operated Publix has close to 1,300 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix is No. 12 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company as one of its Retailers of the Century and one of its 2023 Best Regional Grocery Chains in America.
