Publix wants to demolish and rebuild the South Tampa store at Gandy and Himes
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 3, 2020

Publix Super Markets Inc. is planning to redevelop a busy store in South Tampa.

The Lakeland-based grocer has filed plans with the city to demolish the store at 3615 W. Gandy Blvd. and rebuild a slightly smaller store in its place. The current store is 61,887 square feet; the proposed store is 61,409 square feet (a decrease of 478 square feet).

A time frame for the project isn't known; a Publix spokeswoman said she had no information on the proposed redevelopment. The plans come as Publix is about to open a new store nearby at 4315 W. Gandy Blvd., at the intersection of Gandy Boulevard and South Manhattan Avenue. The grand opening for that store is slated for Dec. 10, according to the grocer's website. That location is also a redevelopment: Publix tore down a former Winn-Dixie Inc. store to make way for a 48,848-square-foot grocery store.

Publix owns the Gandy and Himes store, which was built in 1986, according to Hillsborough County property records. That location is in a high-traffic shopping center fronted by a drive-thru Starbucks and adjacent to a Target Inc. store.

Beyond rebuilding the store, Publix is also planning to reconstruct the entire parking lot because of storm pipe and pavement failures.

At more than 60,000 square feet, the Gandy and Himes store is among the largest in the Publix chain. Publix prototypes range from about 28,000 square feet to 60,000, with very few stores over 55,000 square feet.

In 2015, Publix demolished another of its large stores in South Tampa: the Britton Plaza location. The demolition-and-rebuild process for that store took about eight months.