When Jannah, photographer Charmaine George and I visited the new Publix supermarket at 32265 Overpass Rd. (at the corner of Curley Rd.) in a new shopping center called Innovation Springs, I didnโt know what to expect. I mean, drinking beer and wine at a supermarket isnโt anything new โ Iโve had free samples at other Publixes and been able to walk around with wine at the local Samโs Club โ so I just had to go check it out and report back to you.
First of all, even though thereโs no hard liquor being sold (despite the fact a Publix Liquor Store is adjacent to the grocery store), this is the first time Iโve seen an actual bar inside a supermarket. And, the prices for the name label beer and wine are not only great, Publixโs policy of not allowing tipping of employees โ although foreign to me at any bar โ keeps the prices on everything even lower.ย
For example, nice pours of popular Lamarca prosecco are only $6, glasses of two different kinds of Santa Margherita pinot grigio are just $8, 16-oz. pours of Keel Farms Agrarian Strawberry-Lime Cider are only $5 and my 32-oz. growler of Florida Ave. Dead Parrot was only $9, plus $4 additional if you keep the growler. If you return it at the end of your visit (or even sometime in the future), you get the $4 back. And, there also is covered outside and even private upstairs seating so you can watch shoppers checking out everything in the store.
This 55,000-sq.-ft. Publix between Epperson and Watergrass is only the third such prototype store in Florida, and it is so much more than just a beer and wine bar. Itโs clear that Publix is attempting to emulate the success of Whole Foods and other usually more upscale โgreenโ grocers with not only an olive bar and expanded deli and hot foods sections (although a large portion of the prepared hot foods section wasnโt available when we visited), but also really decent (albeit not hot when we got it) pizza by the slice, a craft-it-yourself burrito and โbowlโ bar and much more.
The bottom line is that the new store is very cool and the prices overall didnโt seem higher than what I pay at my now-old-hat, closer-to-home Publix stores. So, even though itโs kind of far away from where we live, Janna h and I will surely be back.
Thanks, Alexis!ย
After 30 years of successfully serving the communities of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, there are very few Tampa Bay-area media members I truly look up to in terms of their accomplishments.
One of those, however, is definitely Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ) editor-in-chief Alexis Muellner. Now in his 25th year with American City Business Journals and 20th year in his position at the TBBJ, I have spoken with this Wesley Chapel resident on numerous occasions throughout his tenure and he is a well-respected reporter and editor whose knowledge of the business climate throughout the Tampa Bay region is second to none.
I truly enjoyed his โfireside chatโ with North Tampa Bay Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy at the Feb. 6 NTBC Business Breakfast at Pasco Hernando State Collegeโs Porter Campus and I was glad to be able to provide him with some additional information about Pasco Countyโs struggle with the stateโs new Live Local Act. Great job, Alexis!