After a year of sometimes dramatic expansion for grocery chains in Florida, what can we expect in 2026?
Here’s a look at what’s ahead for the first few months next year.
Aldi plans in Florida for 2026
Aldi exploded in Florida this year.
The discount, no-frills grocery chain opened about 60 locations in the Sunshine State this year, many of them converted Winn-Dixie locations from Aldi’s brief acquisition of that company in 2024-2025. It was part of a push for the chain to open 225 new stores nationwide in 2025, the most the company has ever opened in a single year.
There are four more opening soon, according to the company’s coming-soon page:
Several more Winn-Dixie conversions in Florida are still ongoing, including locations in Sebastian and Vero Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, DeBary, Pensacola and more, with openings likely in 2026.
Publix continuing to bring new store design to Florida stores
Publix Super Markets also had a surge of openings this year as the Lakeland-based chain launched new stores and closed, renovated and reopened several existing locations with its new, expanded format.
The new stores feature a variety of customer-friendly changes including wider lanes, canopied outdoor seating areas, self-checkout lanes, expanded deli options, a Pours counter with beverages, smoothies and acai bowls, a salad bar, a hot food buffet, olive bar and popcorn stand, and larger displays in the bakery, meat and seafood departments. Some locations have gotten a second story with a mezzanine seating area.
“We hope existing and new customers will enjoy the larger store format, quality products and friendly faces,” Hannah Herring, Publix media relations manager, said in a release.
Two locations opened in Jacksonville in November and December, more in Naples and Lakeland in November, and stores opened in Palm Bay and Tampa in October. While Publix rarely comments on new locations until just before they’re ready to open the doors, we do know about some of the new stores coming up:
Trader Joe’s continues Florida expansion
Trader Joe’s, a more upscale grocery destination, opened a location in Daytona Beach in November and another in Melbourne on Dec. 3, two of dozens of new stores it opened across the nation this year.
The company confirmed to USA TODAY that 10 other locations in eight states are scheduled to open in the future, but no opening dates have been set.
Winn-Dixie making comeback after ownership shuffle
Winn-Dixie has gone through some big changes lately. In 2024, Aldi U.S. acquired Southeastern Grocers Inc., which owned Winn-Dixie and Harvey’s Supermarket and the discount grocer began converting them to the smaller Aldi format.
Less than a year later, a consortium of private investors led by Anthony Hucker, the CEO and president of the former company, and C&S Wholesale Grocers, a wholesale supplier that served Winn-Dixie, bought the company back and formed a new one. Aldi kept the approximately 220 stores it had already converted or was in the process of converting.
The newly renamed Winn-Dixie Co. announced in October it would close all of its stores outside of Florida and Georgia. The company now plans to focus on the Sunshine State, where the chain that became Winn-Dixie was founded in Miami in 1925. The company acquired three Hitchcock’s Markets to convert to Winn-Dixie locations. One of them, in Williston, opened on Dec. 6.
The company announced plans to remodel dozens of existing locations and new store projects designed to make more welcoming community stores with a larger liquor store portfolio, more store-branded products such as the return of Lip Lickin’ Chicken in early 2026, and new conveniences customers have come to expect from other chains such as third-party online grocery delivery and return kiosks. The other two Hitchcock’s Markets are in:
Sprouts opening more Florida stores after 2025 surge
Sprouts Farmers Market, an Arizona-based upscale grocery chain specializing in fresh, natural and organic food, has plans for Florida. In the beginning of the year the chain announced a “significant expansion in 2025, with a large focus on Florida.”
And the company came through with new Sprouts locations opening in Largo, Boynton Beach, Poinciana, Lutz, Deerfield Beach, Ocala, Venice and St. Petersburg. So far, new locations in 2026 include:
Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets coming in 2026
Walmart has more stores in Florida than (almost) any other state, and four more are coming in the next few months, the company said.
Per Walmart and social media posts from city officials, Walmart will open store locations in:
Bravo Supermarkets growing
The Latin grocery chain Bravo isn’t growing as rapidly as the rest of the chains on the list. But more than half of the New York-based company’s locations are in Florida, with another new store that opened in November in Ocala. Nearly 50 of the 88 locations are in the Sunshine State, according to data site ScrapeHero.
Another new Bravo is coming to Clermont in 2026, according to The Business Journals.
Costco has new Florida stores in the works
Warehouse store Costco opened two new locations in Florida this year, in The Villages and Stuart.
Another new Costco is reportedly coming to Sanford, and talks are in the works for more potential spots, including Port St. Lucie, Pensacola and Miami, but no opening dates have been announced.
BJ’s Wholesale Club opens new stores, new one planned
BJ’s Wholesale Club has been steadily increasing its footprint in Florida, with new locations this year in Brooksville and Casselberry.
The company confirmed to USA TODAY that eight new locations will be opened in 2026, including one in Delray Beach, although no opening dates have been announced.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Publix, Aldi, Winn-Dixie, more Florida grocery stores opening in 2026
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
