WEST PALM BEACH – It’s official: The Publix supermarket on Southern Boulevard will close toward the end of September so the store can be rebuilt.
The Publix in the Southdale Shopping Center — one of the oldest Publix stores in the region and the primary grocery on West Palm Beach’s south side — will shut its doors Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m., according to notices posted at the store this week.
Signs inside and outside the store say the Publix is closing “to build a new store on-site.” A timeline for the closure was not given, but building a new store could take more than a year.
The shutdown was long expected, and employees have been quietly warning customers for weeks. But the company until now has been mum about the timeline.
A Publix spokesperson
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The closing of the store at 828 Southern Blvd. is sure to scramble shopping routines for thousands of families across the city.
The Southdale Publix sits squarely in the heart of the city’s south side and serves a diverse swath of neighborhoods.
In 2021, the company that owns the plaza, BET Investments, filed plans with the city to tear down the 45,675-square-foot store and replace it with one that is 10,000 square feet larger.
The Southdale Publix is one of the original five Publix stores that opened in Palm Beach County in 1959.
It underwent renovations and expansions in the 1970s and 1990s. Today it is one of a dwindling number of Publix stores to feature large hand-painted tile murals at its entrances.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Exclusive: Publix announces closing date for West Palm's oldest store
