Publix Lake Miriam store is scheduled to close this summer for demolition and remodel
LAKELAND – Less than a year after Publix Super Markets finished work on the demolition and rebuilding of its Oakbridge store on Harden Boulevard, the same is planned at its Lake Miriam Square store a less than three miles away on South Florida Avenue.
The Lake Miriam store will close in June or July before demolition of the main store begins, according to an employee at the customer service desk. Rebuilding is expected to take about a year. By summer 2025, returning and new shoppers to that Publix, 4730 S. Florida Ave., will enter a sparkling-new, larger supermarket.
Originally constructed in 1978, the Lake Miriam Publix was last remodeled in the summer of 2014, when the store incorporated elements from its "hybrid" Publix stores, which blend traditional Publix markets with the grocer's Greenwise Market locations, with a focus on natural and organic foods.
Some of the adjacent spaces next to the Publix were shuttered in recent months. The Publix Aprons Cooking School, adjacent to the main store, was closed in mid-2023 as the Lakeland-based supermarket chain ended its cooking school program. The Lakeland public library annex and Grapevine Liquors also vacated their units near the Publix to move elsewhere. The library is moving to the Kelly Recreation Center, and Grapevine moved to the Merchants Walk shopping center, about a mile and a half north on South Florida Avenue.
Those storefronts have been boarded up for months, and demolition of those units has already started, as daylight can be seen through the boards.
According to a site plan submitted by Publix and Shagbark Properties LLC Tampa, the project involves the demolition of the existing 59,533-square-foot supermarket and adjacent retail space.
In its place will be a 63,830-square-foot supermarket. The site plan appears to show the new store expanding into the space where Aprons used to be. Next to that, a Publix liquor store and Publix pharmacy will be located in the two retail spaces immediately to the south.
Similar to some recently built stores, including the stores on County Line and Kathleen roads, the plan calls for a 3,202-square-foot mezzanine overlooking the parking lot with seating for deli customers. The plans do not show details such as where the deli and bakery will be located.
According to the plan, the parking lot alignment doesn't appear to change munch. Cart corrals are located on every aisle and a cluster of curbside pickup spaces are located at the front near the store's south side.
During the renovation, regular customers of the Lake Miriam store might not have quite the same dilemma as Oakbridge regulars did during its rebuild. Publix announced last year that it's converting all of its Greenwise stores to regular Publix stores. In Lakeland, a Greenwise sits just across South Florida Avenue from the Lake Miriam shopping center, and work has already started to convert that store.
On Wednesday, the hot-food and salad bars had been removed and the service island where Greenwise once made pizzas, Tex-Mex and Asian bowls had been covered up. A sign at the front door told customers that the store would remain open during its conversion.
Other full Publix stores in the vicinity include the Oakbridge location and the store at County Road 540-A and Lakeland Highlands Road.
Publix communications department had not responded to requests for more information by Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Publix Lake Miriam store set to close soon for demolition and remodel
