LAKELAND – Heather Hoagland said she's seen fewer customers at her full-service hair salon since the automatic doors at Publix closed.
When the Publix at Lake Miriam Square closed for demolition and replacement on July 6, some business owners and managers at the plaza worried about a slowdown in business due to reduced foot traffic.
Hoagland, owner and stylist at Glam Color Bar in Lake Miriam Plaza, 4746 S. Florida Ave., said she has seen a decline in customers since the temporary closures. She said her salon is an in-store service business, so she doesn't have online sales to rely on.
Hoagland said she's grateful for her regular customers and hopes sales will pick up soon at Glam Color Bar, the 3,000-square-foot establishment that's been in Lake Miriam Plaza for eight years.
“It's a terrible situation. I've talked to Publix about it and they don't think it will be an issue. The store has been lackluster since construction began and even before the store closed,” Hoagland said.
Less than a year after Publix Supermarkets finished demolition and reconstruction of its Oakbridge Center store on Harden Boulevard, similar reconstruction work has begun at its Lake Miriam Square store just three miles away.
The rebuild is expected to take around a year, with future customers set to enter an entirely new, larger supermarket by summer 2025.
Maria Braus, director of public relations for Publix, said in an email that Publix is keeping tenants informed through marketing materials on social media and letting the community know the Lake Miriam Publix is closed, but that tenants remain open for business. She wrote that once the facade signage is removed, tenant banners will be used to show tenants they are still open for business.
“Our tenants have been in contact with our property management and tenant relations teams and our customers will continue to see communications from us regarding the centre. We are taking a similar approach to what we did with Oakbridge Shopping Centre,” Mr Braus said.
But despite the decline in car and pedestrian traffic, some merchants at the plaza say business is continuing.
Abd Quran owns Lakeland SoFresh, a cafe that sells hot bowls, salads, wraps, smoothies and fresh juices at 4756 South Florida Avenue, about four stores south of the Publix. He opened the cafe in January 2021 and said sales at the store have slowed a bit at first, but he's relying mainly on online orders.
“Customers order online, shop, pick up their food and go home,” he said. “A lot of our business is done online, and it's working.”
To make up for the decline in foot traffic, Colan said he has launched a “kids eat free” promotion that he plans to continue indefinitely for children under 12. He's also printing more paper coupons to entice customers to stop coming to his restaurants.
“Online sales are good, but foot traffic has decreased so we are offering special sales,” he said.
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Justin “Murph” Murphy, manager of Kirkland Barber Shop at 4816 S. Florida Ave., said the Publix renovations have had little impact on the average of 12 to 14 haircuts he gets a day.
“I don't think it will have too much of an impact. It might affect walk-ins a little bit, but our regulars will be fine. The construction won't stop people coming,” 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 incorporated elements of a “hybrid” Publix store that blends a traditional Publix Market with a grocery store, GreenWise Markets, with an emphasis on natural and organic foods.
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Before the latest reconstruction began, some of the space adjacent to Publix was shuttered: Publix Apron Cooking School, adjacent to the flagship store, is set to close in mid-2023 after the Lakeland-based supermarket chain ended its cooking school program.
The Lakeland Public Library Annex and the Grapevine Liquor Store also left their stores near the Publix and relocated to other locations: the library to the Kelly Recreation Center and the Grapevine to the Merchants Walk Shopping Center, about 1.5 miles north on South Florida Avenue.
While the flagship store is closed, the Publix pharmacy has relocated and is open two doors down at 4738 S. Florida Ave.
But Lake Miriam Publix patrons may have to travel a little farther to find a similarly sized store. The chain's Greenwise store has been converted into a traditional Publix but is much smaller than the other locations. The Oakbridge store is 2.5 miles from Lake Miriam. The Publix in Southgate is 2.8 miles. The Country Road 540A store is 4 miles, the Sheppard Road store is 4.1 miles and the County Line Road store is 6.4 miles.
