The Southdale Shopping Center location at 828 Southern Blvd. in West Palm Beach will close at 7 p.m. on Sept. 26 so crews can demolish and rebuild the aging building from the ground up.
Store #50 first opened its doors in October 1959, according to the Albertsons Florida Blog. The blog also discusses the location's history. Publix spokeswoman Lindsey Willis confirmed the closure date and told WPTV that store associates will be transferred to other Publix locations in the area rather than laid off.
“We look forward to rebuilding this location and continuing to serve the community for generations to come with a store that meets our customers' needs today and into the future,” Willis said, per the same WPTV report. Publix has not offered a timeline for when the rebuilt Southdale store will reopen, the station reports.
A Mid-Century Landmark Facing the Wrecking Ball
Beyond its age, the Southdale store carries architectural history that's increasingly rare in the Publix chain. The building features hand-painted ceramic tile murals created by artist Pati Mills during a mid-1970s expansion, a design touch dating to the 1970s, according to the Albertsons Florida Blog. Whether those murals will be preserved, salvaged, or documented before demolition remains an open question that hasn't been answered publicly.
The rebuild has actually been years in the making at the municipal level. The City of West Palm Beach has a page for an Informal Site Plan Review associated with Southdale Plaza, but the page does not display approval, date or project details.
Where Shoppers Can Go in the Meantime
Publix is directing displaced shoppers to several nearby stores while the Southdale site is rebuilt. The nearest option is Belmart Plaza at 500 Belvedere Road, about 1.3 miles away, according to Willis. Other alternatives include the Publix at Village Commons Shopping Center on Village Boulevard, roughly 5.1 miles from Southdale; the Crosstown Plaza store on North Military Trail, about 6.2 miles away; and the Greenwood Shopping Centre location in Palm Springs, roughly 4.1 miles from the Southdale site, per WPTV's reporting.
The shopping center itself sits in a heavily trafficked stretch of Southern Boulevard, about a half-mile east of Interstate 95, where average daily traffic counts exceed 23,800 vehicles, according to a Cohen Commercial Realty property report. CVS Pharmacy and Pet Supermarket are among the shopping center's other major tenants, the report notes.
Part of a Bigger Publix Playbook
The Southdale teardown fits into a broader pattern Publix has followed across Florida, where it has planned a teardown in Eustis and considered a proposal in Gainesville. Hoodline previously reported on Publix's Eustis rebuild plans. The Eustis plan calls for a 46,223-square-foot store with a pickup lane and expanded service areas.
The move also comes just weeks after Publix eliminated its long-standing 10-item cap on express checkout lanes chainwide, a policy shift designed to cut customer wait times by giving cashiers discretion during busy periods rather than enforcing rigid item limits.
Publix's scale helps explain the appetite for these kinds of rebuilds. The company is a major supermarket chain in the Southeast.
