WEST PALM BEACH — The Publix supermarket on Southern Boulevard — one of the oldest in the region and the primary grocery on the city’s south side — soon may close for several months for renovations, employees say.
A teardown of the stretch of the Southdale Shopping Center where the Publix is located has been in the works for years. After a series of postponements, employees recently have been telling customers it could close as soon as September.
Publix’s corporate leaders have been mum on the plans, and a company spokesperson declined to comment. But store workers have been alerting shoppers to prepare for a long-term closure.
Three employees told The Palm Beach Post the store may shutter in upcoming weeks, mirroring the message being relayed
to many customers.
The closing of the store at 828 Southern Blvd. would be 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, from parts of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach’s wealthy coastal enclaves to the immigrant-heavy, predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods that surround the store.
The parking lot buzzes with activity from the early morning hours as tradesmen arrive to buy breakfast at the store’s Cuban-style café and students traverse the property on their way to nearby Conniston Middle School.
The sidewalk in front of it is a frequent gathering spot for President Donald Trump’s supporters and detractors as he travels between the airport and his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The store’s long-term closure would steer thousands of shoppers to other grocers on the city’s south side. A smaller Publix sits 1.5 miles north on Belvedere Road. Two and a half miles south sit a Winn-Dixie supermarket and a new Trader Joe’s grocery.
Nancy Pullum, who lives in West Palm Beach’s El Cid neighborhood, said a store pharmacist told her recently to make sure to fill her prescriptions before the store closes in the coming weeks. Pullum later took to Facebook to warn fellow city residents to prepare.
“Guess the big makeover we have been hearing about for a few years is about to start,” she wrote.
In 2021, the company that owns the plaza, BET Investments, filed plans with the city to tear down the 45,675-square-foot Publix and replace it with one that is 10,000 square feet larger.
It was not clear if the renovation plans have changed since then. Bryan Cohen, the plaza’s leasing agent, did not respond to a request for comment.
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.
The mural, painted in the 1970s, depicts idealized scenes of food and Florida’s agricultural landscape, including a citrus grove, a farmer driving a tractor and a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is West Palm’s oldest Publix closing for renovations? Whispers say yes
