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Publix Makes Moving Easy

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By LAURA KINSLER

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

Published: January 22, 2009

ZEPHYRHILLS - Think moving to a new home is a pain? Imagine shifting the contents of an entire grocery store in a single night.

Even Publix wouldn't dare try. When the Lakeland-based grocer opens its new store in Zephyr Commons this April, the supermarket will be fully stocked before the old store closes.

"The existing store will close at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday, and the new store will open at 8 a.m. the next morning," Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten said. "None of the product or equipment will be moved."

With 54,000 square feet, the new store is 22 percent larger than the existing store, one block away at Townview Square.

"That gives us the opportunity to expand our product offerings," Patten said. "This store will have a full-service floral department, full-service sushi and a meat case, which is more like a traditional butcher shop. The seafood department will have a lobster tank."

The store also will have a demonstration kitchen and expanded sections to accommodate a greater variety of ethnic and organic products.

Shoppers will see plenty of familiar faces, though. The majority of employees will relocate to the new store. Townview Square, just south of Zephyr Commons, was home to Publix since it opened in 1990.

George Trujillo, leasing agent for Primerica Group One, said the shopping center's second anchor, and an 18,000-square-foot Staples office supply store, should be ready to open by May.

Built on 60 acres of the former Gore Dairy, the shopping center will be the first major retail development in the city since the Lowe's Home Improvement Store opened in early 2005.

The first phase, which began construction last fall, includes a total of 110,000 square feet of retail space. Primerica also is preparing the site's 13 outparcels and expects to announce additional tenants in February.

Trujillo said the company doesn't have a construction timeline for the second phase, which would include a mix of retail space and medical offices.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 779-4617.

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