LAKELAND – Heather Hoagland said since the automatic doors closed at Publix, she’s seen a decrease in customers at her full-service hair salon.
When the Publix at Lake Miriam Square closed for demolition and redevelopment on July 6, some business owners and plaza managers began to worry about a slowdown in business due to reduced traffic.
Hoagland, owner and hairstylist at Glam Color Bar, Lake Miriam Plaza, 4746 S. Florida Ave., said she’s seen a decrease in clients since the temporary closure. She said because her salon is an in-store service business, she doesn’t have online sales to rely on.
Hoagland said he is grateful to his regular customers and hopes business at the 3,000-square-foot Glam Color Bar, which has been at Lake Miriam Plaza for eight years, will soon pick up.
“It’s terrible. I’ve tried talking to Publix about it, and they don’t think it’s going to be a problem. It’s been empty since they started building it and before they closed it,” Hoagland said.
Less than a year after Publix Super Markets completed demolition and rebuilding of its Oakbridge Centre store on Harden Boulevard, a similar rebuild of its Lake Miriam Square store less than three miles away is underway.
The redevelopment is expected to take about a year. By the summer of 2025, future customers will be entering a new, larger supermarket.
In an email, Maria Brous, Publix’s communications director, said Publix is providing information to tenants through marketing materials posted on social media informing the public that the Publix at Lake Miriam is closed, though the tenant remains open. She wrote that once the facade signs are removed, tenant banners will be used to indicate that the tenant is still open and operating.
“Our tenants are communicating with our property management and tenant relations teams, and our customers will continue to see our communications regarding the shopping center. We are taking the same approach as we did with the Oakbridge shopping center,” Brous said.
But despite the decline in car and pedestrian traffic, some business owners in the plaza said business is still going strong.
Abd Qoran owns Lakeland SoFresh, a cafe that sells hot bowls, salads, wraps, smoothies and fresh juices at 4756 S. Florida Ave., about four stores south of Publix. He opened the cafe in January 2021 and said business was slow at first, but he has been relying more on online ordering.
“They order online, shop, come pick up their food, and then go home,” he said. “A lot of our business is online, so it’s been good.”
Qoran said foot traffic has been down, and to offset that, he started a “kids eat free” campaign, which he plans to run indefinitely for children 12 and under. He’s also printing more hard copy coupons to keep people coming.
“Online business was going well, but foot traffic was slow, so I made a special offer,” he said.
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Justin “Murph” Murphy, manager at Kirkland’s Barber Shop, 4816 S. Florida Ave., said the Publix renovations haven’t affected his average of 12 to 14 haircuts per day much.
“I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact, maybe a little bit for regular visitors, but for regular visitors, we’re going to be fine. For us, this development doesn’t stop people from coming to see us,” he said.
The Lake Miriam Plaza Publix was originally built in 1978 and was last renovated in the summer of 2014. That year, the Publix supermarket combined elements of Publix’s “hybrid” stores – a mix of traditional Publix markets and the grocer’s Greenwise Market locations, with a focus on natural and organic foods.
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Before the latest redevelopment began, several locations adjacent to Publix closed. The Publix Aprons Cooking School, which was adjacent to the main store, closed in mid-2023 as the Lakeland-based supermarket chain ended its cooking school program.
The Lakeland Public Library and Grapevine Liquors are also vacating their units near Publix to relocate elsewhere. The library is moving to the Kelly Recreation Center, and Grapevine is moving to the Merchants Walk shopping center, about a mile and a half north on South Florida Avenue.
While the main store is closed, the Publix pharmacy moved two doors down and opened at 4738 S. Florida Ave.
However, Lake Miriam Publix regulars may have to travel a bit to find a store of similar size. The chain’s Greenwise store has been converted into a traditional Publix, but it’s much smaller than the others. The Oakbridge store is 1.5 miles from Lake Miriam. The Publix in Southgate is 1.8 miles away. The Country Road 540A store is 2.5 miles away; the Shepherd Road store is 2.6 miles away; and County Line Road is 4 miles away.
