The fourth new Publix store in Polk County in 2026 is set to open July 16 at the Mariana Acres shopping center on Havendale Boulevard between Winter Haven and Auburndale.
The Publix at Mariana Acres is a 55,000-square-foot prototype that is being built at Jersey Road and Havendale Boulevard. It will replace the store at 606 Havendale Blvd. in south Auburndale, just a few hundred yards away in a former Albertson’s building.
The official address for the new store is 1075 Brookstone Road, and it has a Winter Haven postal address.
Four new Publix supermarkets for Polk County
Two new stores opened last month, including the Publix at Thompson Nursery shopping plaza on June 18 at 8710 W Lake Ruby Drive in Winter Haven, and the Shoppes at Citrus Creek on June 25 at 42660 U.S. 27 in Davenport.
Another Publix opened April 30, the first in 2026, in the The Shoppes at Country Club plaza at 4267 Dundee Road in Winter Haven.
As of July 14, the Publix website says it operates 1,441 stores in eight states. Publix is one of the 10 largest-volume supermarket chains in the United States.
According to Publix 2025 filings with the Security Exchange Commission, the grocery store chain, opened 52 new supermarkets last year, replaced 13 of them, remodeled 89 locations and two stores were permanently closed.
Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc. is the largest employee-owned company in the United States with 260,000 employees, its website said.
In addition to supermarkets, Publix also operates 10 distribution centers, with seven in Florida and one each in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. It has 10 manufacturing facilities in Georgia and Florida and 33 warehouses.
What’s next?
At least one other Publix store is under construction in Polk County, this one in Lake Alfred.
The plan shows a 54,964-square-foot grocery store with a Publix liquor store and a drive-thru pharmacy anchoring the Lake Alfred Square shopping center at County Road 556 and Old Lake Alfred Road. Its design is similar to the Auburndale store that opened in February 2023 at the Lake Juliana Shopping Center along County Road 559.
The store could open as early as mid-2027, according to Lake Alfred officials.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Publix set to open its fourth Polk County store 2026. Here’s where
Reporting by Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
