4 Publix Stores in Florida That Look Nothing Like the Publix Your Grandparents Shopped

Take your grandparents back to their old neighborhood Publix, and they might not recognize it.

Some Florida stores have been torn down and rebuilt into something much bigger.

Here’s how a few rebuilt Publix stores compare with the ones Floridians remember.

1. Briar Bay in Miami

Publix replaced its Briar Bay store in Miami with a two-story building.

The Miami Herald reported that the old store was a single-story, 32,000-square-foot Publix in a shopping center built in 1974.

Publix bought the shopping plaza in 2015, and the store was shuttered as demolition began in 2022.

The new one opened Feb. 27, 2025, and Publix lists it at 53,287 square feet.

Publix told ClickOrlando in 2024 that the main store would sit on the second floor, above a first-floor parking garage.

If you remember the old store, picture it with a second floor and a parking garage underneath.

If you want to eat there, the plans also included a seating area on the second floor.

The plans also put a liquor store on the ground level, beside the garage.

2. Riviera Plaza in Coral Gables

Publix opened a two-floor store at Riviera Plaza in Coral Gables on Sept. 25, 2025.

The Miami Hurricane, a student newspaper, said the older Monza Avenue store, which opened in 1963, had small, narrow aisles and one long checkout line, and that the new store is double the size.

The building covers 45,881 square feet.

If you park in the two-level garage, elevators and escalators run between the levels.

Inside, you’ll find a customer seating area with window dining.

Publix still lists the Monza Avenue store, a short distance from the new one.

3. Lake Miriam Square in Lakeland

The Publix at Lake Miriam Square in Lakeland opened as a Food World in 1977, LkldNow reported.

Food World was a different Publix format, with a giant rotating globe out front and associates in blue uniforms.

The site became a Publix in 1988.

If you shopped there between 1977 and 1988, you were shopping at a Food World.

The store closed in July 2024, and the old building measured 56,313 square feet.

Publix said at the time that the almost 50-year-old store would look nothing like the old one once rebuilt.

Publix reopened its Lake Miriam Square store in Lakeland on Nov. 13, 2025, after a 16-month rebuild.

Publix lists the reopened store at 55,701 square feet.

If you want to sit down, you'll find a second-story mezzanine with café seating and Wi-Fi.

The deli and hot bar sit downstairs.

The store also features a mural that came from the original Grove Park Publix.

4. Palm Lakes Plaza in Margate

Publix's old Margate store at Palm Lakes Plaza covered 39,658 square feet, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

The store closed Dec. 30, 2023, and Publix had decided it was outdated.

Publix reopened the rebuilt store on April 17, 2025.

Publix puts the new store at 51,390 square feet.

Before it opened, the figure was 48,800 square feet.

Publix's figure after opening is about 12,000 square feet more than the old store.

You'll find an upstairs dining area, along with indoor and outdoor seating.

If you head upstairs, the plans before the opening included a patio, plus stairs and an elevator.

Older Store Designs

Publix describes its Nov. 8, 1940, store as a "food palace" of marble, glass and stucco.

That store had air conditioning, fluorescent lighting, electric eye doors and terrazzo floors.

The art deco look carried into the 1950s.

Publix stores took on a winged design by architect Donovan Dean in the 1960s, with neon lights in the wings that blinked downward.

If your family shopped a Publix in the 1960s, the winged design is the look to picture.

In the 1970s, the exterior sign changed from wings and neon lights to a squared P with the word Publix spelled out.

If you shopped a Publix in the 1970s, that squared P was on the sign outside.

The 55,701-Square-Foot Prototype

Publix reopened its rebuilt Island Walk store in Fernandina Beach on July 2, 2026.

The Jacksonville Daily Record reported the old store at 57,086 square feet, in a shopping center built in 1987.

Publix lists the reopened store at 55,701 square feet, slightly under that figure, though The Shelby Report called it expanded.

Publix opened its Silverleaf store in St. Augustine on March 26, 2026.

It was the largest grocery store in Northeast Florida at the time.

Publix gives Silverleaf the same 55,701 square feet.

According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, the average Publix footprint is about 50,000 square feet.

Supermarket News reported in April 2026 on a separate, smaller layout in Winter Haven that spans almost 47,000 square feet, with wider aisles and self-checkout lanes.

Publix had opened other stores with the new look over the previous few months.