Publix plans major renovation for its oldest grocery store in Columbus

The oldest Publix grocery store in the Columbus market is poised for a major renovation that will start this summer and be completed by the end of the year.

The supermarket at 1639 Bradley Park Drive, which anchors Bradley Park Square, opened in 1994 as that area of the city was being developed with commercial offerings to include retail, restaurants and service businesses. A city building permit dated May 4 shows Publix is spending $779,649 on construction at the location.

“We evaluate each store every five years to see if new technology, shelving, flooring, paint and other amenities need updating,” Brenda Reid, media and community relations manager with the Publix regional office in Atlanta, said via email Tuesday.

“This project will include a facelift on the outside of the store as well,” she said. “The process will begin this summer and should wrap up sometime this fall or winter.”

The store will continue to operate during the makeover, which typically includes changes in pharmacy and customer service areas, as well as the shuffling around of some grocery items. Much of the work performed during renovations is done at night after a store closes.

Reid declined to be more specific about the improvements and changes being made to the 55,000-square-foot supermarket, citing “competitive reasons.” The interior of the store has been renovated through the years, but she was not sure that the exterior had ever been refreshed.

As the work progresses, the Bradley Park Drive location has an open space near the front of its interior that will need to be filled, with a small SunTrust Bank office recently vacating the premises.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix operates four grocery stores in Columbus and one in Phenix City. The properties on Schomburg Road in Columbus and on Summerville Road in Phenix City have been renovated in recent years, while the company replaced an older store at Cross Country Plaza on Macon Road with a new and larger one in 2014.

Founded in 1930, privately owned Publix operates nearly 1,200 stores in seven Southeastern states, with nearly 800 of those in Florida. It has just under 200 stores in Georgia and nearly 70 in Alabama. Employing more than 190,000 people, the chain racked up sales of $34.6 billion in 2017.

This story was originally published May 15, 2018 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Publix plans major renovation for its oldest grocery store in Columbus."