Publix is closing seven stores in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in 2026, and three will be rebuilt. The news lands as the grocer’s sales growth has slowed to a crawl.
Publix is closing seven stores in 2026, and the list is getting a lot of attention across the Southeast.
The stores are in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Three of them are being torn down and rebuilt, so those neighborhoods should get a new Publix down the road.
The closings come as Publix’s sales growth has stalled. Several outlets have tied the two together. Publix describes closings like these as a normal part of running a grocery chain.
Which Publix stores are closing in 2026?
Here are the seven stores, as reported by Supermarket News and Rolling Out:
St. Petersburg, Florida: 5577 Park St. N.
Miami, Florida: 8250 Mills Drive
West Palm Beach, Florida: 828 Southern Blvd. (to be rebuilt)
Palm Bay, Florida: 4711 Babcock St. NE (to be rebuilt)
Atlanta, Georgia: 1380 Atlantic Drive NW
Chamblee, Georgia: 2562 Shallowford Road NE
Goose Creek, South Carolina: 208 Saint James Ave. (to be rebuilt)
Supermarket News said the stores will close by the end of the year. Specific dates haven’t been announced for most of them. The West Palm Beach store has already closed, and Publix hasn’t said when its replacement will open.
Why is Publix closing stores?
Publix hasn’t given store-by-store reasons. In an investor filing quoted by Inc., the company said it “regularly replaces supermarkets and closes supermarkets that are not meeting performance expectations.”
In other words, some of these are about old buildings and some are about stores that weren’t pulling their weight.
The rebuilds follow a common pattern, a real estate expert told Inc. Once fixing up an aging store costs nearly as much as building a new one, tearing it down starts to make sense. A new building can also get things that are hard to add later, like higher ceilings, modern refrigeration and a pharmacy drive-thru.
Inc. also reported that Publix closed at least 10 stores in 2025, so this isn’t new behavior for the chain.
Are Publix sales down?
Total sales are still growing, just barely.
In the second quarter, which ended June 27, Publix’s sales rose 1 percent to $15.7 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key number for retailers, fell 0.5 percent. A year earlier, those same-store sales were up 6 percent.
Publix pointed to two problems: weaker consumer spending and changes from the Inflation Reduction Act that lowered Medicare payments for some prescription drugs.
Analysts see more going on. Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail told Grocery Dive that “Publix overall, including in core grocery, is fairly soft.”
Others pointed to shoppers buying more of their basics at Walmart and Costco, with Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Amazon also in the mix.
Is Publix in trouble?
Not by most measures. Publix still runs 1,444 supermarkets across eight Southeastern states, and Florida is its biggest market by far.
It’s also employee-owned and based in Lakeland, Florida. Seven closings out of more than 1,400 stores is a small trim.
The bigger question is whether the sales slowdown keeps going. Rivals are feeling it too. Grocery Dive noted that Kroger‘s same-store sales were nearly flat and Albertsons reported a decline.
Is a Publix near Disney World closing?
No. None of the seven stores are in the Orlando area. The closest one to the parks is the Palm Bay store on the Space Coast, and that one is being rebuilt.
So the classic Publix stop on the way to a Disney resort, for water, snacks and a Pub Sub, should be safe. If your Disney trip runs through Atlanta, Miami or the Tampa Bay area, check the list before you plan a grocery run.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Grocery Dive, Oct. 5, 2026: second-quarter sales, same-store sales, Neil Saunders quote, competitor context, 1,444 stores
Supermarket News, Oct. 7, 2026: list of seven stores, end-of-year timing
Inc., July 15, 2026: Publix investor statement, at least 10 closings last year, rebuild context
Rolling Out, Oct. 6, 2026: rebuild locations, West Palm Beach store already closed
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.