The rebuilt Publix at Spanish Plaines Plaza will hold its grand opening Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The store, located at 1566 Bella Cruz Drive near The Villages Regional Hospital, shut down last year and was bulldozed a short time later. Crews spent a good part of the past year rebuilding the store that previously had been an Albertsons supermarket.
In 2008, Publix Super Markets Inc. purchased 49 Albertsons stores in Florida, including the store at Spanish Plaines. After the purchase, that Publix had retained an Albertsons-style interior layout.
Publix was founded in 1930 in Winter Haven by George W. Jenkins. It is the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the United States, with more than 190,000 employees. Publix owns 1,179 stores in seven states, with the bulk of them, 782, located in Florida.
