ORLANDO, Fla. – With roughly 900 locations already available in the Sunshine State, Publix has revealed its next lineup of locations that will soon open. And one of them will be right here in Central Florida.
Per company officials, the upcoming opening locations are as follows:
- May 21 — Palm Beach Gardens
This location will span 48,388 square feet, and it’ll open in the Avenir Town Center at 12535 Northlake Blvd.
Like many other Publix locations, this one is set to feature a pharmacy and liquor store for guests.
- June 4 — Ft. Lauderdale
The next location on this list will be a bit smaller than many other stores, coming in at a measly 29,365 square feet.
That said, while it won’t have a pharmacy upon opening, it will still have a Publix liquor store for customers to peruse.
Guests can expect to find this location in the West Broward Shopping Center at 3901 W. Broward Blvd.
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- June 11 — Bradenton
Third is a Publix store in Manatee County, coming in on the larger side with 55,701 square feet.
It will open in the Northchase Center at 16642 State Road 64 E., featuring a pharmacy and liquor store for customers.
- June 18 — Winter Haven
The last of the revealed Florida stores (so far) is right here in Central Florida: Publix at Thompson Nursery, situated at 8710 W. Lake Ruby Drive.
Similarly to other locations on this list, the upcoming Winter Haven store will offer a pharmacy and adjacent liquor store, and it’ll span 50,325 square feet.
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That said, the Tallahassee Democrat reports that new Publix stores feature wider aisles, self-checkout lanes, and expanded delis, in addition to larger bakery, meat and seafood displays.
But there is one thing all of these upcoming locations will likely be missing.
WHAT’S MISSING IN NEW STORES?
More specifically, the company announced a while ago that its signature scales will not be made available in any of its new locations.
These scales date back to 1930, when the first Publix store was opened in Florida.
In the chain’s early years, it decided to make these scales free for customers to use — something that typically required money during this time because people didn’t have scales in their homes.
“Our founder, having the vision to be a customer service expert, he thought having scales in the store without having our customers pay for it would be a treat — and it was,” said Dwaine Stevens, who worked for Publix for around four decades.
However, 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.
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The main technician at the warehouse said the scales last quite a long time. He worked on one that was built in 1971.
The technician uses a Publix People Weigher Repair handbook. He said there are all types of repair issues, like when children swing on the arms and treat them like playground equipment.
A Publix manager said the second most common reason people use the scales is to weigh their luggage on the way to the airport. That way they can know if it’s too heavy before checking it with the airline.
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According to Publix, the scales will stay in the Florida stores as long as the technicians can keep them operational.