WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Publix is a popular supermarket chain for many in the southeast U.S., having its roots right here in Florida.
But where exactly did it start?
According to the company, the first Publix store opened in 1930 in downtown Winter Haven.
The business was started by founder George W. Jenkins, who moved from Georgia to Tampa in 1925 at the age of 17 to make his fortune in real estate.
However, he instead took a job as a Piggly Wiggly store clerk, and Jenkins was later promoted to manager at the chain’s largest store in Winter Haven.
In 1930, Jenkins left his position and started his own grocery store — dubbed “Publix” — at 58 4th Street NW.
Five years later, Jenkins opened a second Publix store across town.
And roughly five years after that, Jenkins closed both of his stores to open up the first full-size Publix Supermarket — again located in Winter Haven.
The supermarket was the first in the state to offer air conditioning, and it also featured electric eye doors (devices used to open doors automatically upon detecting motion), which were popular with customers.
As Jenkin’s popular supermarket chain took off, property records show the original building at 58 4th Street NW went through a few different hands over the decades. Eventually, the 3,060-square-foot property was bought in 1988 by Six/Ten LLC, a commercial property management company operating in the county.
The first of Six/Ten’s tenants was The Silver Ring Café, a regional franchise that came to Winter Haven in 1990. The café was known as a place where locals could grab lunch and listen to live bands.
But according to the Lakeland Ledger, Six/Ten most recently leased the building in 2017 to “Tempo 1930,” a New Orleans-styled restaurant featuring burgers, sandwiches, and specialties like étouffée and crayfish boils.
In fact, the “1930″ in the restaurant’s name was meant as a nod to when the building was initially opened as a Publix grocery store.
Publix officials announced that the restaurant owners created a huge photo mural inside of the building, which showed people and places from across the city’s history — including photos of Jenkins and his myriad of Winter Haven stores.
And on Sept. 6, 2018 — the day of Publix’s 88th anniversary — the building was deemed a historical site thanks to the efforts of Six/Ten and Publix.
By 2023, though, Tempo 1930 had shut down. Six/Ten told News 6 that the owners closed the restaurant to “focus on other endeavors,” leaving the building vacant.
“We are working to find the best curation for the space,” Six/Ten Director Joe Bogdahn said. “No timeline as of yet.”
Now, the company is using the vacancy as an opportunity to rework the plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems within the building as it considers what the structure should be used for going forward.
“I always thought that the best use would be for a Publix deli/history museum, but they do not seem to have an interest,” Bogdahn added.
Six/Ten’s offices are currently located on the second floor of the building (as well as another at 56 4th Street NW). There’s no information yet about what it might become.