HAINES CITY, Fla. – On Thursday, Publix celebrated the opening of its latest store located in Central Florida.
According to the company, the new location is situated at 4112 E. Johnson Ave. in Haines City — the second Publix store so far in the area.
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“We look forward to welcoming new and existing customers and providing them with premier service, quality products and a pleasurable shopping experience,” said Hannah Herring, Publix’s media relations manager.
Aside from the traditional deli, produce, bakery, meat, seafood and pharmacy sections found in most Publix stores, this latest location is offering three special services:
- Adjacent Publix liquor store
- Publix Delivery, powered by Instacart
- Pharmacy Drive-Thru for convenient prescription pickup
To celebrate the grand opening, Publix announced that the company is donating $1,000 in gift cards and non-perishable items to Well of Hope Food Bank and Thrift Store, a nonprofit that provides food assistance and resources to those in need.
According to Forness Properties, the Publix store now serves as an anchor for the Shops at The Grove, being flanked by a Circle K gas station, a McDonald’s restaurant, and a Mavis Tires & Brakes.
“Plans are in place to increase both Johnson Ave & Power Line Rd to 4-lanes to accommodate the expected growth,” the release reads. “The closest grocery stores are Winn-Dixie and Aldi approximately 3 miles to the west.”
Publix lists the Haines City grocery store as being over 48,000 square feet, much in line with its other standard locations.
This marks another step in the company’s continued expansion across the Sunshine State, with some new stores last year featuring parking garages, upstairs dining, and even a three-story location with a boat dock.
However, these new stores will be missing out on a key element of many original Publix grocery shops: the chain’s signature scales.
The scales date back to 1930, when the first-ever Publix store was opened in Florida. As part of a business tactic, the scales were made free for customers to use, as they typically required money during this time because they weren’t often found in homes.
But customers won’t find any scales in Publix stores outside of Florida and Georgia. And that’s because there are only a few left. Publix officials told News 6 that the scales’ manufacturer — Mettler Toledo — stopped making them a few years ago.
“The manufacturer ceased production in 2015, meaning that one day — although our wonderful repair shop keeps our remaining machines in great shape — the last Publix scale will retire,” Publix wrote. “When scales are taken out of a store, they go for a spruce-up in our repair shop. They could wind up going to another store, or they may be held for parts to utilize in other scales.”
As a result, these scales won’t be coming to new Florida stores, the company explained.
Publix bought up as many of these scales as it could before Mettler Toledo stopped production, and the remaining scales are kept in stores or at a warehouse in Lakeland.
According to Publix, the scales will stay in the Florida stores as long as the technicians can keep them operational.